Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Lend me your e-book!

Most big-city libraries are now lending e-books as are many smaller ones. All you have to do is obtain a library card, download a special program on which to read the book via your e-reader, and then go online to check the library's e-stacks for something to read. Libraries must purchase e-books just like they do hardbacks, and of course the most popular ones will be in demand for weeks or months; sometimes you must wait awhile to get the book you want. Borrow it, read it, and after two weeks it vanishes from your reader; no late fees. There is one glaring exception to all of this; the ubiquitous Amazon Kindle reader is proprietary therefore you can read only content from their site; all other popular e-book readers will display loaned library books and most other e-reader formats with the exception of Kindle's. I am awaiting my chance to get a B&N Nook reader; a Sony would also be nice and may be the best of the bunch, but like everything else from that company, it is overpriced. The Droid is fine, except it does not display full pages on the small screen; it takes thousands of screen touches to read an entire novel.
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Later Dudes and Dudettes!
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