Sunday, August 31, 2014

Microsoft Surface PRO 3 vs Apple iPad Air

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The Microsoft Surface PRO 3 and the Apple iPad Air are two of the most successful tablets in the world. Today we look at the overall e-reading experience plays out on both devices.  You will get a sense on how the eBook, PDF and digital comic experience plays out.

The Surface Pro 3 has a 12 inch screen,which allows image based content, such as magazines and comic books really shine. The one advantage the iPad has is the seamless pinch and zooming to isolate particular regions.  The Surface tends to be a little bit more sluggish when it comes to non-native apps, like Adobe PDF Reader.

The video below we look at how both of these handle the same book, same comic and PDF file. We tend to look at these devices from an e-reading prospective, because we know you inevitably read the news or read a comic digitally.


Microsoft Surface PRO 3 vs Apple iPad Air is a post from: Good e-Reader

Should eBooks Only Cost a Penny?

Young woman reading ebook on an Amazon Kindle, London, England, UKAustralian author Germaine Greer proclaimed on a recent BBC Radio broadcast that eBooks should only cost pennies and that people have a irrational attachment to print.

Germaine was reflecting on the entire Hachette eBook dispute and was in favor of Amazon. "Amazon wants to sell e-books at less, so they should. They should cost less because they don’t have to be put together, stitched, printed, designed, blah, blah, blah. If you skip all that and all you have got is a ribbon of text on a Kindle then it should cost you pennies frankly."

Printing a physical book obviously costs more due to the industrial-age process involving paper mills and printing presses manufacturing the title and then its distributed by ships,trains and trucks delivering them your local bookstore.

Should eBooks only cost a few pennies? It costs Amazon almost nothing to make and distribute 100 copies of an ebook file to sell to 100 different customers. Credit cart fees are probably the largest per-ebook cost for each incremental sale. Distributing an eBook has no industrial-era components and no industrial-era advantages for Big Publishing.


Should eBooks Only Cost a Penny? is a post from: Good e-Reader

US University Opens Up the First All eBook Library

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Florida Polytechnic University has just opened their doors and instead of dusty bookshelves full of books, they are embracing digital. This marks the first time diligent young scholars can borrow eBooks on their Kindles, Nooks or iPads and there is not a tangible book in sight.

The inaugural class of 500 students will have access to over 135,000 eBooks and digital textbooks for the upcoming September semester. “Our on-campus library is entirely digital,” said director of libraries Kathryn Miller. “We have access to print books through the state university system’s interlibrary loan program. However, we strongly encourage our students to read and work with information digitally.”

The new university is primarily focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students are better prepared for lives in the technology sector by being able to read, absorb, manage and search digital documents and conduct digital research.

Florida is not the only intuition to embrace eBooks at the expense of physical books. Bexar County opened up the first all digital library a few months ago. Patrons can easily access over 10,000 eBooks and residents will be able read them on one of the 600 E-readers, 9 laptops or 40 tablets that are available for loan.

US University Opens Up the First All eBook Library is a post from: Good e-Reader

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 vs. Kobo Aura H2O

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In this video comparison we look at the flagship Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 and the Kobo Aura H20. This two e-readers have fairly similar technology, as they are both rocking  e Ink Carta, which result in faster page turns.

The Kindle Paperwhite 2 is certainly one of the most popular e-readers in the world, and Amazon currently controls 70% of the global eBook market. Now that Sony is out of the picture,  it is a two horse race with Amazon and Kobo.

The Purpose of today’s comparison is to give you a sense on how these two devices fare head to head. We look at Beyond the Book and Amazon X-Ray, GoodReads, PDF files, eBooks, menus, settings and the how the online bookstores perform.


Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 vs. Kobo Aura H2O is a post from: Good e-Reader