I finished my first ebook, and I have mixed feelings. I needed to reread Sense and Sensibility for a JASNA meeting so I opted to buy a $1.95 version for my iphone so that I could test out the Stanza app, and I'm not sure this was the best test.
Granted, I enjoyed reading the actual book, and not just because it's Austen. The font, the backlighting, the page/chapter navigation, and the search feature where all great, and the portability and the fact that I always had my book wherever I was means a lot on the scheme of things.
But, I couldn't post-it note quotable quotes, and for that I am not a completely happy iphone reader. Some books are meant to be just read and enjoyed, but others, such as Austen's novels, are most enjoyed when they are pondered, analyzed, discussed, and revisited. It's hard to revisit parts of the text when you can't earmark passages. I don't know how students can effectively use e-texts, whether they are for lit classes or text books.
I actually think the iphone route might be best for those books I just want to experience but don't necessarily want to bond with.
that sounds reasonable. I suppose I'm yet to try reading that way but I can't quite come to grips with the concept. I don't even like to watch movies on my nano.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine trying to watch a movie on the iphone. I tried watching Lost in Austen from Utube, and gave up--my laptop is about as small a screen as I want when it comes to video.
ReplyDeleteBut you can earmark passages with Stanza, by making your own bookmarks. If you haven't seen the tutorial: http://www.lexcycle.com/movie It showed me a lot of features I didn't even know Stanza had.
ReplyDelete(I don't know how I got here, I was Googling and clicking links rather haphazardly.)