| There are two different kinds of companies that manufacture and sell e-readers. On one hand you have the ones that merely sell the hardware and leave it up to the users on purchasing their own e-books. The most successful have their own ecosystems and make it very easy to buy digital content right on the reader. Last month we asked the question “whats your favorite e-reader company” and over 310 people responded. Amazon and Kobo were the runaway leaders of the poll and it demonstrates that the vast majority of digital readers are attracted to hardware, in which buying e-books is very simple. Amazon edged out Kobo with 109 votes to 105, this goes to show that these two companies are the most popular when it comes to solid hardware choices and catalog of e-books. In a distinct 3rd place is the largest bookstore chain in the US, Barnes and Noble. The Nook e-reader managed to garner a paltry 23 votes, which leads me to believe that their best days are behind them. The other notable company that still has users loyal to the brand is Sony. This is surprising because they haven’t released an e-reader since early 2013. 20 users claimed their favorite company was Sony. Check out the full results on the image above for other notable companies, including Onyx, Pocketbook, Tolino and Bookeen. What’s Your Favorite e-reader Company? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
What’s Your Favorite e-reader Company?
OverDrive’s Big Library Read and Global eBook Club
| Today OverDrive announced that their Big Library Read is coming back next month, which is a global ebook club of sorts that gives people around the world an opportunity to read the same ebook, or listen to the audiobook, for free through the 30,000+ public libraries and schools that use OverDrive’s ebook lending program. This […] |
Tamiki Wakaki “The World Only God Knows” Announces New Manga
| With the end of the popular manga, The World Only God Knows by Tamiki Wakaki last June, fans were at a loss and craved more romantic hilarity. But never fear, this year’s 12th issue in Shogakukan’s Shonen Sunday magazine, Tamiki Wakaki announced that he will begin a new manga series titled Neji No HitoBito (The Screw People). The new manga will appear in Ura Sunday Manga website on the same day as the announcement. The story follows a high school student, Yamato Nena, who has many worries that continue to resurface. “Just who am ‘I,’ who is nothing at all?” No other information has been released but from the sound of the small excerpt, it sounds like the new manga will go towards a different genre, but regardless, we are all looking forward to the new story! The World Only god knows ended last June at it’s 26th volume which inspired three TV anime series, an original video anime (OVA) episodes. Sentai Filmworks has also licenced all the anime projects for a North American release! Tamiki Wakaki “The World Only God Knows” Announces New Manga is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Lets Talk Books – Ready Player One
| Once in awhile a book comes along with a unique premise and solid execution. The kind of book that people include in their top 10 lists and recommend to friends with great gusto. Ready Player One by Ernest Kline is such a book. The Book centers around the Oasis, a virtual reality system in which all of the games of the world are interconnected. Instead of accessing World of Warcraft or Star Wars Old Republic through dedicated clients, you visit their planet in the Oasis. There are planets devoted to book clubs, fantasy realms and education. The protagonist, Wade Watts lives in a trailer park and can’t afford to go to school, so he attends it virtually in the Oasis. Ready Player One opens with, Wade, AKA Parzival is recounting the death of James Halliday, the man who invented OASIS and who, when he died, created a system wide game where the prize was complete control of the entire virtual world… if only the players can solve three increasingly-complex riddles and obtain objects of power within the game. Parzival, like countless others, is a "gunter" — someone trying to win the game — although because he comes from an impoverished family, he doesn't have the money to create a powerful avatar that can search for the answers to the riddles. Ready Player One is notable for its unapologetic homages to 1980’s-era films, music, and video games. The novel covers Ladyhawke, War Games, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Pac Man, Tempest, Zork, and even Dungeons and Dragons. The references in the novel are pervasive, and they alone tell the reader that the book is intended for people who grew up in the 80’s and have fond memories of that era. I really liked this book and countless others did as well. It has an average rating of 4.3/5 on GoodReads, 4.6/5 on Amazon and 5/5 on Common Sense. I used to read a lot of fantasy and science fiction growing up and the first computer my parents bought me was a Commodore 64. I learned how to program in BASIC and make a rocket ship fly, and had a number of game systems such as the Atari and Colecovision. Movies like Wargames had a really big impact on my life. Ready Player One has found an audience with people who were teens in the 1980’s or remember that era fondly. People who were born in the late 90’s or are considered to be millennial’s may not get all of the references. Lets talk Ready Player One. Did you like the book, find it overrated? Weigh in the comment section below. Lets Talk Books – Ready Player One is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Official Japanese Pokemon Style App Launcher for Android Devices!
| Calling all Pokemon fans! Do you have a home and lock screen on your phone that you like, but you still feel like your missing something? Well, on February 15th, The Japanese Google Play Stores released a brand new Official Pokemon Android Launcher (home screen)! Now you can have cute stylized pictures that represent your favorite Pokemon Pal while also allowing Pokemon to run amok! Pokemon Style is a free to download app and it appears that all 6 generations will be featured in a variety of free and paid themes (including wallpapers and icons). At the moment, all paid themes are currently half off at about $1.69 until February 25th and feature everything from Eevee Mansion to various Pokemon Centers Currently Pokemon Style is slowing making it’s way to IOS devices but due to limited flexibility of the OS, there will be some differences such as it may not get the actual icon theming the Android version has. There has been no indication on whether or not it will get localized for the Western audience and for now we will have to just cross our fingers and hope for the best! I know I would love to have all the Eeveelutions on my phone! What Pokemon would you guys let run around your home screens? Let us know! Official Japanese Pokemon Style App Launcher for Android Devices! is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Big Library Read is back!
| We're excited to announce the return of the Big Library Read, our global digital book club where millions of people from around the world have the ability to read the same eBook at the same time. This time around, OverDrive users will be able to read Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard, by Laura Bates, without any wait lists or holds. At participating libraries, the title will be available from March 17 through April 1 simultaneously for users who would like to join. During the week of March 23, we will also be doing a Twitter chat with Bates, where readers will be able to ask her questions about her book and her personal and professional life. Shakespeare Saved my Life is Bates' autobiography about working with inmates in solitary confinement, teaching them the works of William Shakespeare. Her fascinating life's story is sure to captivate you as she shares the unlikely friendship she formed with Larry Newton, a convicted murder with multiple escape attempts to his name. This edition of Big Library Read has been made possible by Sourcebooks, Inc., who have enabled us to make Shakespeare Saved my Life available to more than 30,000 libraries and schools worldwide. Join us in reading this enthralling tale starting March 17 and discover how eBooks can change lives! Adam Sockel is a Social Media Specialist at OverDrive. He believes that all the world's a stage… |
Portrait of an Inventor
| Just before the launch of Raspberry Pi 2, RS Components, one of our two main manufacturing/distribution partners, sent a film crew to point some cameras at Eben for the day to talk about the history of Pi, about the new device, and about what we do. (He had a cold, which is why he sounds like Darth Vader.) This is the resulting video – we hope you like it! |