Simenon and Maigret

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by BJ:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Where can you get these in French? I've picked up about 10 from university book stores, and my dad sent me about 15 of his old copies, before he was redistributed, but I've read them all about three times and would love to find some others.

Half-bottles is an apt comparison - they're the perfect evening unwinder.
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Buy vintage copies on Abebooks -

And come on: ereaders are a fucking scourge.
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I like ereaders. They carry a lot of books when I go traveling. They make buying literature out of copyright beyond inexpensive. And they make me feel like I'm on Star Trek, where they were always reading things that looked just like ereaders. If I could only get a replicator, I wouldn't need a wine cellar.
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and they don't have books' problem where ink leaks out over the years making the letters smaller.
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I've never found that. I have found that some books have become harder to read over the years, but I don't think it was the book that changed.
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To paraphrase the late Robin Williams, I think that Jay was being ironical.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by BJ:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Where can you get these in French? I've picked up about 10 from university book stores, and my dad sent me about 15 of his old copies, before he was redistributed, but I've read them all about three times and would love to find some others.

Half-bottles is an apt comparison - they're the perfect evening unwinder.
Click to expand...

Buy vintage copies on Abebooks -

And come on: ereaders are a fucking scourge.
Click to expand...

I like ereaders. They carry a lot of books when I go traveling. They make buying literature out of copyright beyond inexpensive. And they make me feel like I'm on Star Trek, where they were always reading things that looked just like ereaders. If I could only get a replicator, I wouldn't need a wine cellar.
Click to expand...

OK, I can go for the Star Trek aspect. But the ereader has to look cool.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by BJ:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Where can you get these in French? I've picked up about 10 from university book stores, and my dad sent me about 15 of his old copies, before he was redistributed, but I've read them all about three times and would love to find some others.

Half-bottles is an apt comparison - they're the perfect evening unwinder.
Click to expand...

Buy vintage copies on Abebooks -

And come on: ereaders are a fucking scourge.
Click to expand...

I like ereaders. They carry a lot of books when I go traveling. They make buying literature out of copyright beyond inexpensive. And they make me feel like I'm on Star Trek, where they were always reading things that looked just like ereaders. If I could only get a replicator, I wouldn't need a wine cellar.
Click to expand...

and they don't have books' problem where ink leaks out over the years making the letters smaller.
Click to expand...
I've never found that. I have found that some books have become harder to read over the years, but I don't think it was the book that changed.
Click to expand...

To paraphrase the late Robin Williams, I think that Jay was being ironical.

Mark Lipton
Click to expand...
Really? You mean books don't change their readability according to seasons and phases of the moon?
 
Thoughts on Kindle vs. Kobo? Or the expensive Onyx, for academic publications?

The Star Trek angle would appeal if I still smoked pot, but it's been a long, long while.

Jay - I feel you. Where does all that ink go? What happened to the first law of thermodynamics?

Re: Simenon, I ordered one to the omnibus volumes and await delivery this week with 'bated breath.
 
The Kobo looks cool, in that you can mark it up, but it is pricey given that Amazon practically gives the lower end ones away. I rarely read acadamec books on Kindle because they frequently are not available. I get them from the library, and I can't (or, at any rate, won't) mark those books up either. That's what notepaper is for. It reminds me of fancified academic word processing programs. They really do offer better options--especially since Word dumbed down its footnoting options 15 or twenty years ago. But I never thought they were worth the extra expense even for book-length manuscripts where doing overall footnote commands and easily manipulating number sequencing matters when you are finally submitting. But I've never used Kobo, so I can't speak from experience. At times when I have had to chaange for PMLA citation to Chicago Manual citation, I do have mixed feelings.
 
I've been using Kobo devices for a long time and I have no desire to switch to a different vendor.

Kobo has a new device out now, the Elipsa, which should be handy for academics and publishers. For anyone seeking a top-quality ereader, the Kobo Forma is excellent; however, Kobo may be coming out with a newer ereader in the near future which might (probably will be?) worth waiting for.

. . . . . . Pete
 
I looked more closely at Kobo. The basic versions don't seem to offer anything that a bottom of the line Kindle paperwhite doesn't offer. It may handle better, but I can't tell. I guess I'd look at specs and buy the one you want. My position on the upgrade is that $400 is a lot of money. Just buy some paper and a pen and you can do all you can do with a mark-up and more, since your comments can be written large enough for aging eyes.
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Jonathan, that is why I spoke so favorably of "ereaders" rather than the more elaborate ereader-types.

. . . . . Pete
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I fail to see how their basic ereader is any better for academics than any other ereaders.
 
Jonathan, if I did so, I didn't mean to imply it was better for academics. The Kobo Aura One and Forma are excellent ereaders...and I'm not interested in the more elaborate features of other model(s).

. . . . . . Pete
 
The casual research I've done so far (e.g., PC Magazine, other 'top ten' lists online) sums up to something like: at the basic level Kindle Paperwhite costs the same as the Kobo, but offers a bit more, especially water-proofing and integrated audiobook capability. I'm not seeing any 'give-away' Kindles, which could weigh in the scales.

One step up from the basic, Kobo is less expensive by something like $40-50, still no waterproofing, but allows wider access to sources, especially public libraries. Also, basic Kindle features something called 'advertising support,' or something similar, which repels me.

The expensive reader - Onyx - for academic research is, if I understand aright, formatted to accommodate not so much books as 'reprint'-style journal publications. I'm reading a lot of these at the moment and use my notebook to good effect, but the most interesting ones I have to print out and scrawl on. I'm not sure this convenience warrants the price tag, which, as you note, is in the $400-500 range. Portability is a secondary consideration for this reader, as it is not much smaller or lighter than a notebook computer.

I don't like the idea of 'ad-support' or undue constraint to remain within one company's source network, and am leaning towards Kobo. But a give-away reader could change my mind, at least for the first purchase.
 
I don't think ad support should be an issue. It means that instead of a marbled page when you turn the kindle off and before you turn it on, you will see an ad, usually for a book. Since turning on the kindle takes about a second, unless you look at it, it will barely register. There are no ads on a kindle when it is on and you are reading. Of course, if your objection is ideological, then I understand.

I think Amazon sells reconditioned kindles. They are only a slight discount though.

In checking a site that compares kindle and kobo, I think the issue may come down to whether you want access to the kindle store or not. I have no idea how to answer that question. If that weren't an iasue and I were replacing my paperwhite and Gail's (kindle's book sharing capability is nice if there are more than one of you) I might give the Kobo Clara a good look.
 
originally posted by BJ:
Come on y'all: ereaders are pure spoof.
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Writing is a means of getting one person's thoughts into the brain of another. Its material manifestation is only a problem if it occludes the language. Once one starts determining one mode is authentic and another mode is spoof, one is well on one's way to Socrates determining that all writing was merely an etiolated version of speech and a danger to memory.
 
It's balm to my spirit, Jonathan, that even you can get its and it's mixed up. Moreover, 'occludes' and 'etiolated' in the same paragraph? Usage applause.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by BJ:
Come on y'all: ereaders are pure spoof.
Click to expand...

Writing is a means of getting one person's thoughts into the brain of another. Its material manifestation is only a problem if it occludes the language. Once one starts determining one mode is authentic and another mode is spoof, one is well on one's way to Socrates determining that all writing was merely an etiolated version of speech and a danger to memory.
Click to expand...

Oh brother.

And wine is just a media for getting alcohol to the brain.

Ya need to start drinking Two Buck Chuck or whatever is the cheapest/easiest/most convenient means to that end.

Isn't aesthetics a field of study?
 
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