In my initial review of the very first Kobo, I concluded that it was a very nice little entry-level reader that, while it fell perhaps a little short for power users, was a great ebook experience for the newbie. Well, we're now two versions later---has Kobo learned their lessons and made enough changes to win over the power user? Yes, and no. The Kobo Touch is a slick little device, and a much improved experience for the average reader. It's slick and adorable. But for the power user, it continues to fall just a little short of must-buy status.SETTING UP...

There was a recent discussion at Mobile Read on the concept of 'eminent domain' as it may or may not apply to copyright. Eminent domain is a legal loophole whereby the government can appropriate something that belongs to you if their having it is somehow part of the greater good. For example, there was a recent case in my area where a subway station had to be upgraded with a wheelchair-accessible exit. There was only one area where the exit could safely be built, and unfortunately three homes were in the way. The government was allowed to appropriate these houses...

I've fielded some questions lately on the options people have for an ebook reader intended for children. Now that they have come down in price so much, many people seem to be contemplating rounding out the family library with an ebook reader or two for the kids. But nobody has made this easy for them! Why do none of the major ebook vendors have special kid accounts? I think they would be so useful because parents want their kids reading, and they want their kids reading independently, but they also want to control (to an extent) what they read and...

I wrote earlier this week about an ebook I purchased which was riddled with extremely obvious copy errors. The article sparked an interesting discussion about the true cost of editing, what steps are involved---and how much it would cost to make those steps happen. There is a piece of this whole puzzle that is still really puzzling to me, as you'll see below. But I wanted to clarify a few matters in hopes that we can arrive at a more productive dialogue here. First of all, when people say that ebooks should be cheaper, they don't mean so in an unfair...

Of all the many hundreds of benefits of this e-age, one of the most joyful and under-rated ones is that of influencing the younger generation. I teach a little grade 1 student who is book-crazy. Nine times out of ten, when I ask her about any book that comes to mind, her answer is 'oooh, I loved that one!' The other one time in ten, it will be 'can you write that one down on a piece of paper and give it to my mom?' Recently, they had to build a community building in a social studies project for their homeroom...

Dear Publishers, I want to start off by apologizing for the generic greeting; in spite of my best efforts to determine just who is actually responsible for the problem I'm having, nobody's saying a word about whose job quality control of ebook editions actually is. I have asked authors when I have written to them about errors in their books. I have asked the president of Kobo himself, both in person and via email, to give me an email address, a contact number, a job title, anything. And everybody shrugs because it isn't their problem; so I am addressing this generally...

Just for some pre-long-weekend fun, some stats to entertain you :) I currently have 283 ebooks tagged in Delicious. This represents full-length books only; if I count magazines and other ephemera, my total 'ebooks read' are 348. Of those 283 books, 51 of them have been tagged a 'favourite.' 11 of these are commercial DRM'd titles 17 of them are indie DRM-free titles from Smashwords and Fictionwise 19 of them are classics in the public domain There are currently 57 ebooks listed in the Indie eBook Hall of Fame. These are books which are available DRM-free and have received at least three positive reviews from independent bloggers. There are 124 books currently...

Last year, I wrote a post for Teleread on the true cost of ebooks, using my own collection as an example. The recent dialogue between Rich Adin and I on the relative costs of print books (in which real estate for paper book storage is a factor) vs ebooks (in which device costs and higher list prices due to no secondary markets are a factor) had me re-examining this issue. So, how did my ebook costs net out? PART 1: HOW MUCH DOES A PRINT BOOK COST? I’ll start by setting some baselines for the typical cost, to me here in Canada,...

In a recent post on the Teleread blog, Joanna, a contributor to Teleread, vented about being tired of pbooker’s “economic snobbery.” She wrote, If you read any ‘ebooks versus print books’ article, you’ll soon come across the print fetishists. These are people who acknowledge the rise of ebooks—grudgingly—but then insist that ‘real’ book lovers surely prefer paper, or that paper is ‘nicer’ or a ‘better experience’ or in some way superior. I am starting to get really annoyed with these people! Overlooking the obvious ‘print and pixel really can co-exist and there is no need for an either/or mentality’ argument, I am...

If you read any 'ebooks versus print books' article, you'll soon come across the print fetishists. These are people who acknowledge the rise of ebooks---grudgingly---but then insist that 'real' book lovers surely prefer paper, or that paper is 'nicer' or a 'better experience' or in some way superior. I am starting to get really annoyed with these people! Overlooking the obvious 'print and pixel really can co-exist and there is no need for an either/or mentality' argument, I am starting to grow a little offended by the economic snobbery that I perceive in some of these arguments. What I think a...

I have been fielding a lot of author queries lately, and I have some suggestions for all you authors who want to ensure a smooth review. I'm going to explain my review process; of course, not all review bloggers work this way, but even so, I think many of them will relate to some of the potential review stumbling blocks I post here :) 1) First, I read the author's email to see if the book interests me. If the book is of a genre I don't review, I immediately email the author back and...

I'm deep into a drama unit with my grade 1 and grade 2 classes, and my iPad has been indispensable. When I read fiction that is non-work related, I prefer a more straightforward reading experience. But with teaching, the more interactive iPad has been so helpful to me. I can customize my teaching materials, display them and annotate them in ways that help my students learn better and help me manage all the administrative details involved in helping them do so. How am I using ebooks to teach these units to my ...