4 ms·

The joy of electronic books

42 points by drewcrawford 17y ago

Silentio 17y ago
The only problem with digital copies like this is that I can't underline. Maybe it's just the habit of underlining, but I can't read as well (academic reading) when I can't underline key points, specific words, and particularly interesting passages.
- drewcrawford 17y ago
  I've found Preview's (Mac; built in) annotate feature to be a great portable way to highlight inside PDFs.
  - Silentio 17y ago
    I agree that Preview's annotate feature works well. Still, there something about the physical process of underlining words that helps me connect ideas together as I'm reading.
- jimmyjim 17y ago
  I may be wrong, but I believe there's a feature in Kinde 2 DX that allows you to do that.
  - elq 17y ago
    the DX cannot highlight or annotate pdf files, at least not currently.
  - fortes 17y ago
    Not sure about underlining, but highlighting and annotating has been there since Kindle 1.
harpastum 17y ago
Having digital copies of my books sounds great, but as a college student I'd like to sell some of my books back at the end of the semester. I'm not sure how interested the book store would be in gorilla-glued spines. I was recently reading a very detailed instructable [1] that describes a system to scan books without cutting the spines for ~$300. I'm planning on trying it out later this summer. [1]http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-High-Speed-Book-Scanner-from-Trash-and-Cheap-C/ http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-High-Speed-Book-Scanner-...
- klipt 17y ago
  Google has a multi-camera method which corrects for page curvature, making it unnecessary to despine/flatten the books. Unfortunately, it's patented... http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/15/1834246 http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/15/1834246
jrockway 17y ago
He hates DRM but uses an iPhone?
- MikeCapone 17y ago
  Maybe he loves the iPhone more than he hates DRM?
anthropocentric 17y ago
Is there a legal way to sell used digital books or used digital music? Like some app where you identify the mp3's that you'd like to sell. The price is half of itunes. When a user buys it, the app "permanently destroys" (yeah, yeah, i know) your copy of the mp3 and transmits the mp3 to the buyer. Re-selling goods is a long-standing fixture of the economy. Doesn't it apply to digital goods too?
- thwarted 17y ago
  No, it doesn't apply to digital goods in general, it only applies to digital goods which have artificial scarcity due to their method of distribution.
noonespecial 17y ago
Ha! The Longview/Marshall phonebook! LeTourneau, by chance?

42 points by drewcrawford 17y ago

The only problem with digital copies like this is that I can't underline. Maybe it's just the habit of underlining, but I can't read as well (academic reading) when I can't underline key points, specific words, and particularly interesting passages.

drewcrawford 17y ago
I've found Preview's (Mac; built in) annotate feature to be a great portable way to highlight inside PDFs.
- Silentio 17y ago
  I agree that Preview's annotate feature works well. Still, there something about the physical process of underlining words that helps me connect ideas together as I'm reading.
jimmyjim 17y ago
I may be wrong, but I believe there's a feature in Kinde 2 DX that allows you to do that.
- elq 17y ago
  the DX cannot highlight or annotate pdf files, at least not currently.
- fortes 17y ago
  Not sure about underlining, but highlighting and annotating has been there since Kindle 1.

harpastum 17y ago

Having digital copies of my books sounds great, but as a college student I'd like to sell some of my books back at the end of the semester. I'm not sure how interested the book store would be in gorilla-glued spines. I was recently reading a very detailed instructable [1] that describes a system to scan books without cutting the spines for ~$300. I'm planning on trying it out later this summer. [1]http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-High-Speed-Book-Scanner-from-Trash-and-Cheap-C/ http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-High-Speed-Book-Scanner-...

klipt 17y ago
Google has a multi-camera method which corrects for page curvature, making it unnecessary to despine/flatten the books. Unfortunately, it's patented... http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/15/1834246 http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/15/1834246

jrockway 17y ago

He hates DRM but uses an iPhone?

MikeCapone 17y ago
Maybe he loves the iPhone more than he hates DRM?

anthropocentric 17y ago

Is there a legal way to sell used digital books or used digital music? Like some app where you identify the mp3's that you'd like to sell. The price is half of itunes. When a user buys it, the app "permanently destroys" (yeah, yeah, i know) your copy of the mp3 and transmits the mp3 to the buyer. Re-selling goods is a long-standing fixture of the economy. Doesn't it apply to digital goods too?

thwarted 17y ago
No, it doesn't apply to digital goods in general, it only applies to digital goods which have artificial scarcity due to their method of distribution.

noonespecial 17y ago

Ha! The Longview/Marshall phonebook! LeTourneau, by chance?