As you have probably noticed, YouTube and similar sites are full to bursting with all manner of videos about the world of ereaders, accessories and everything you can think of to do with this topic.
I have used many of these videos in various posts, but so far I have not in any way indicated that there is a video in a particular post. So I thought it would be useful to build up a sort of library here of such videos, arranged in such a way that you can easily find a video here that relates to a particular ereader or topic.
Most of these posts will not be much more than a brief introduction to the video, letting you know what it contains, and what aspects of the given device it looks at, rather than full length posts that have a video in them incidentally. This way you should easily be able to know if a particular video is of interest to you or not.
Since there will be one hell of a lot of them in no time, it would be sensible for you to use the Blog’s search function – which is on the top right hand side of the screen
I hope you will find this section useful.
Do let me know if it is, or if you find it too difficult to find your way around in.
This has to be the most depressing video ever for any true book lover.
An intriguing and gripping short film
Rich Adin of An American Editor (a site always worth a visit by the way) drew my attention to this shortish film some weeks ago, and I have been contemplating it ever since I sat down and watched it all the way through – it lasts for some 20 minutes.
It is an allegorical story about a kid discovering the joys of reading in a terrible dystopian future world in which books have become effectively illegal. This isn’t a rerun of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451″, but it does deal with some of the same ideas as that highly depressing book did.
I shan’t say much more about this film, but leave it to you to discover for yourself what it is trying to say to us. I shall merely say that the pace of the film somehow matches up exactly to the feeling one has when reading a gripping and well written book, be it a paper one or an electronic one.
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Now that you have seen this film, let us share any thoughts it may have brought to your mind – I can’t imagine it left you totally cold in any event.
So you want a protective cover for your ereader, but don’t want to spend a fortune on it? Well the answer is to make it yourself. Simple really.
Over the course of the years I have been writing this blog I have seen quite a few DIY ereader covers, bags, and so on, all good in their different ways, and of course, all very, very cheap. So you save money and have the pleasure of protecting your precious ereader with the sweat of your brow – well, perhaps not all that much sweat really, but it will be all your own work, and thus unique to you and your ereader, which has to be fun.
This time I have found a video which leads you step by step through the process of making a very simple book cover for your ereader. As you will see, it demands very little in the way of handicraft skill to make, just an ability to cut a reasonably straight line and know how to squeeze glue out of a tube effectively.
So with thanks to the good folk of The Eco Friendly Family who produced this video, get your scissors out and set to and produce a superb and totally personalised cover for your ereader.
So, now you know all about it.
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If you have either made your own ereader cover, or know of a site with great designs for self-made ereader covers, please do let us share that with you here.
E-Ink, the makers of the most used screen technology in the dedicated ereader world have produced a rather cheeky and funny video extolling the virtues of their screen system as compared to the back-lit screen used in (among others) the Apple iPad.
I was sent this video yesterday by the good folk at E-ink and once I had watched it I had to share it with you all here. To be honest I loved this video, and also enjoyed the dig at the holy iPad and all other back-lit ereaders and Tablets.
In one funny video they manage to incorporate all that is good about E-ink screened ereaders and bad about the LCD type, and even worse, the iPad variety with all the distractions that they have.
So settle back and enjoy seeing how an ereader, such as the Kindle or Sony manages as compared to an iPad or any other Tablet… A neat and amusing video that gives you enough information about the two systems to enable you to make up your own mind as to which system you would prefer as an ereader.
So, now you know all about it….. Does that video make it easier for you to understand the various differences between a dedicated ereader and a Tablet in actual use? I hope so.
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Are there any points raised in this little video that you disagree with, or feel are over the top and irrelevant? If so, do share those thoughts with us here.
Ray Bradbury, one of the most prolific and intriguing writers of Science Fiction and fantasy has died at the high old age of 91, and the world is a much poorer place as a result.
His writing has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember, not only the well known and highly successful books he wrote, but also many of the less well known ones… Many of which were downright scary and left lasting impressions in my mind. A good example of this is the short story he wrote about the spirit creatures who attend every accidental death. You know what I mean, whenever there is an accident, there will always be a crowd of people standing silently watching… Doing nothing, simply watching. That story said that these watchers were in fact spirits, come to take the soul of the victims of the accident who were dying.
Anyone who has been involved in any accident in a public place will recognize this.
The range of his writing is astounding, from classic Sci Fi such as the famous Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles, through his strange stories around Carnivals…… He made me very scared of what he called Carnies (people who work in fairgrounds) when I was a kid.
But what I discovered much more recently is what a wonderful man he was, a man who based his entire life philosophy on love and doing his own thing, or as he put it.
“Things that you do, should be things that you love, and things that you love, should be things that you do. Thank god I went my way, and not the way other people told me to go”.
No arguing with that statement.
Here is a rather long video, in which he propounds his life view and his life’s story…. Please watch it, it is so pleasing and shows so well what a positive and lovable person he was.
Loved Libraries.
He also had a total love affair with libraries, considering them to be the centre of sanity in an otherwise insane world, a repository of all that is good in humanity. And the place he looked for every time he found himself in a new city, a place where he could reconnect with those people (as he saw it) who inhabited all those books in the library.
He genuinely felt that life was to be made by each individual, and that we should always take risks to ensure that our lives were as they should be, or as he so eloquently put it in the video here.
“Stand on a cliff top, jump off and build your wings on the way down”.
The epitaph he thought of for himself sums him up perfectly……..
“Here lies Ray Bradbury, who loved life completely”.
A man of many parts, all good. He will be missed, as we need men like him in our world… Very badly.
Posted by Tony on May 30, 2012 | Filed under videos | 0 Comments
With the publication of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams effectively invented the ebook, as the eponymous guide was in fact an ereader, albeit a very large capacity one.
However, in 1993 he recorded a piece that was intended to be used as advertising for one of the original “real” ereaders, the PowerBook (nothing to do with Apple) and the work of one of the first ebook publishers, Voyager Expanded Books.
And now, as part of the celebration of Towel Day – on May 25th – on which Adams fans all over the world celebrate his life and work, a competition was instituted by The Literary Platform to celebrate this day, and also to celebrate the fact that his work was being released in ebook form.
The competition was to set that talk into a video, which apparently had an enormous number of entries. In any event, the winner, whose work you can see below, was Gavin Edwards, who produced the superb video just below here.
So, sit back and enjoy Adams pleasing way of talking and this really rather enjoyable video too.
Yesterday I wrote a post about the rumours that Amazon were about to launch a Kindle with a splendid patented front lighting system, and said how good that would be. Blow me, if Barnes and Noble haven’t beaten Amazon to the draw here and have just announced the launch of their own front lit version of their Simple Touch Nook ereader, splendidly and memorably named (hang on while I go and check that name again….) The Simple Touch Nook with GlowLight (now that is a name that flows,isn’t it?).
As you will see when you watch the video they have made (see below) extolling the virtues of this ereader, it is actually rather good, with very little Hot Spot Syndrome trouble, merely a slightly brighter wash of light at the top of the screen, reasonably enough, as that is where the LED’s are placed.
The main specs of this version of their latest ereader are almost the same as the standard Simple Touch Nook, except it is about 1 ounce lighter, which is a rather good achievement I feel. By the way, they claim that you can go about 1 month between battery charges if you keep the WiFi turned off, try that with a Tablet!
As I commented in my post about the rumour of the front lit Kindle, Sony had a similar system on one of their earlier ereaders, (about 3 years ago), which worked very well by and large. The main difference being that the Sony front lights were either on,or off, no graduation possible. Unlike this system from B & N,which has a virtual slider on the screen that allows you to adjust the brightness of the lights from zero,to full blast.
It seems to me that an ereader, such as this Nook, with a built in front lighting system is probably about as ideal a device for reading with as one could imagine. Perhaps if the screen was capable of working with colour it might be better, but that us the only improvement I can think of.
I shan’t go on about this new version of the Nook any more, as I feel the video says it all perfectly clearly, so, sit back now and watch as they tell you how great it all is…
OK, now you know:
As I said above, this seems to me to meet all the requirements one could have for a dedicated ereader, so why spend more?
Basic specifications:
Dimensions: H x W x D 6.5 x 5.0 x 0.47 inches
Weight 6.48 ounces
Display Type E Ink Pearl
Display Size 6.5 inches
Resolution 800 X 600 pixels
Screen tones: 16-level gray scale
Operating System: Android 2.1 Éclair OS
Processor 800MHz TI OMAP3 Processor
Memory Storage Internal 2GB Internal Memory External Micro-SD card up to 32GB
Connectivity USB Micro USB (Can be connected to PC & Mac) WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Image Format JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP
eBook support ePub, PDF
Battery Type Lithium Polymer Rechargeable Wireless free 2 Month
Cost: $139
When available: Some time in May 2012
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Does this idea of a built in front light appeal to you? Do share your thoughts on this technology with the rest of us here.
As you may know, Worldreader, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing ereaders to kids in the developing world, have been busy now for some time in several African countries, introducing Kindle ereaders into rural schools there – with great success.
They have posted a short video on their blog (link below) which gives an idea of how they have gone about it, and the results they have achieved so far.
Since the video speaks for itself, I shan’t go to any lengths to discuss it here, but merely ask you to sit back and watch it, and be encouraged by the fact that such ultra-modern technology actually works in such a situation, and has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for these kids.
As they say, the ability to read and access to books makes so many things possible for these kids, and their communities.
There are good things happening in this benighted world of ours, I am happy and proud to say. Good people exist, and do good things too…
So, here is the video, which I hope you will find both encouraging and intriguing.
Just a small taster to give you an idea of what we shall soon have in our ereaders
In a couple of earlier posts I discussed this newest screen technology from Qualcomm, which goes under the name of Mirasol. An intriguing system akin to e-Ink that can give us loads of rich colours on our ereaders, without the problems associated with the LCD screens that all previous mobile devices (iPads, Tablets, Smart Phones laptops and all earlier colour ereaders) use.
Since when, a new short promo video of the South Korean ereader has been released which gives in a matter of a few sentences a very good overview of what this screen (and ereader) are capable of. Quite impressive for a non backlit LCD screen I would say. Basically what they have created is a small tablet that can be used comfortably in bright light and with a long battery endurance.
So I am certain that this screen technology will very rapidly start to appear in all manner of other mobile devices.
Anyhow, here is that short video, sit back and enjoy it.
Here is an extremely detailed video review of the Fire Tablet, Amazon’s, latest device, showing in great detail all it is capable of doing for us.
This video is rather long, but in my view well worth watching in its entirety if you are contemplating buying yourself one.
As I have remarked in another post about this device, it’s main purpose I feel sure is to get us to go and buy things from Amazon, so in fact it is actually a rather expensive entry ticket to the greatest department store in the world – Amazon.
So now you know all there is to know about the Fire Tablet.
I am not really sure why they chose to make it so small, seems to me to be another Colour Nook ereader in fact, but, and this is a big but, it is of course the gateway to the excellent online set-up that Amazon have built up over the years, so it has to make this into the best and currently cheapest device for all your online shopping and media experiences… But is remains a very small screen……
Display7″ multi-touch display with IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors.
Size (in inches)7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm).
Weight14.6 ounces (413 grams).
System RequirementsNone, because it’s wireless and doesn’t require a computer.
On-device Storage8GB internal (approximately 6GB available for user content). That’s enough for 80 apps, plus 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books.
Cloud StorageFree cloud storage for all Amazon content
Battery LifeUp to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as web browsing and downloading content.
Charge TimeFully charges in approximately 4 hours via included U.S. power adapter. Also supports charging from your computer via USB.
Wi-Fi ConnectivitySupports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or enterprise networks with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks.
USB PortUSB 2.0 (micro-B connector)
Audio3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers.
Rich Adin has posted a really entertaining video on his blog (An American Editor) for our amusement, and I felt had to share it with you guys as well…..
Sit back and enjoy this clever satire on Wall Street and the world of ereaders from The Rick Mercer Report.
A video interview in which the whole operating principles of e-Ink are explained in simple terms, as well as a look at what the future holds for e-Ink, and the various possible devices we might find it being used on – such as credit cards, watches and all manner of other things. Good fun to contemplate.
I shan’t paraphrase what the guy has to say for himself, as it is all perfectly clearly explained in the almost 20 minute long video below.
So, simply sit back and watch as it is all explained.
So, did you manage to watch it all the way through? If you did, you are now much better informed than you were some 20 minutes ago, and should now fully understand the technology that makes your ereader work as well as it does, and be ready for the next steps in this sage.
Here are some videos that Sony have put out there to show us what the PRS-T1 ereader can offer us……..
In a spirit of helpfulness, I thought you might find this small set of videos from Sony’s Youtube channel might interest you and perhaps persuade you to buy one – or more – of them when they are actually released for sale quite shortly.
In a couple of earlier posts on this ereader, I have briefly discussed the various technical aspects of it, so I shant do that again here, merely give you the links to those posts, so you can check them yourself if you are interested.
Once the PRS-T1 is actually released, then I shall have a full and comprehensive look at it, and report back to you all about it, even to the most intimate and private details about it………
But in the meantime, here are those videos for you to watch………..
Changing the font on a PRS-T1 ereader:
How to use the WiFi with the PRS-T1 ereader
And lastly, a look at the PRS-T1 at the Show in Berlin, courtesy of Charbax.
So, now you have a better idea of this newest ereader from Sony….. Looks much like the PRS-650, but with a couple of extra tweaks and made of plastic rather than aluminium….
BeBook, who make all manner of ereaders will show off their newest creation at IFA Consumer Electronics fair in Berlin this September, we are told in a longish and rather coy Press Release.
Here is an excerpt from it to give you an idea of what I meant…….
Introducing : The BeBook Club ‘S’
Adding the ‘S’
‘S’ for ‘Sports’, due to a new controller, page turning on the BeBook Club ‘S’ is faster and makes it our fastest member of the BeBook family!
‘S’ for ‘Screen’, Instead of a regular E-Ink screen, the BeBook Club ‘S’ comes with a high contrast Pearl E-Ink screen.
‘S’ for ‘Storage’, we doubled up the internal memory……
And so it goes on for quite some time.
This newest ereader from BeBook is to all appearances a rather neat little gadget, small enough to be easy to carry around with us, yet equally large enough for pleasant and relaxed reading of our ebooks.
BeBook Club Mark II in fact:
In fact what it will be is a new version of their already existing BeBook Club ereader with a couple of improvements, but in actual use exactly the same.
No touch screens here:
Unusually these days it doesn’t have a touch screen, but instead relies on a range of buttons for all navigation around the device, but these are well placed by and large, both for left- handed or right-handed users all of which you will see from the Promo Video I have placed here of the current BeBook Club ereader, they all work perfectly well, and intuitively enough.
Also no WiFi……..
Curiously it also has no WiFi or 3G connectivity, so you will need a computer to search for and download ebooks, and to charge its internal batteries – via the supplied USB cable – I find this a strange lack, as nowadays almost all new ereaders come with at least WiFi connectivity.
Here is a video of the BeBook Club, this will give you an idea at least of what this new one will offer us:
This version will have a new screen, so it now works with a Pearl monochrome e-Ink screen, which owing to its higher contrast gives a very pleasing image, and they have changed its CPU to a reasonably fast Marvell 800 Mhz CPU. So navigating around one’s ebooks with this one should be a fast and pleasant activity.
Other than those changes, they have also doubled the amount of internal and external memory at your disposal, and given it a much better battery, which they are claiming will keep your ereader chugging happily along for twice as long as the battery in the existing BeBook Club.
Price:
The next important question is, what will this ereader cost? As the current BeBook Club costs about 179 Euros – depending on where you buy it, I suspect this new one will also be in that price area. If that proves to be the case, then it will have an uphill struggle to compete with the Kindle, Nook, Kobo and legion other ereaders, most of which will boast touch screens and at least WiFi connectivity. So let us hope they can offer this one for a price in the 100 to 130 Euros, then it will be interesting probably.
So, now we have to wait until the show in Berlin to actually see this newest ereader from BeBook.
BeBook Club S Specs:
Display: – 6” Pearl monochrome e-Ink
Internal memory: – 1GB
External Memory: – Up to 32 GB with SD card
WiFi – No
3G – No
Supported ebook formats – Adobe DRM protected files supported: Epub, PDF, .doc, .txt, .HTML, .djvu, .chm, .fb2, and Mobipocket. Plus, I am told a number of other formats, as yet unannounced.
Showing both how the iRiver HD ereader works and how to use it to download Google Books on it:
This video seems to me to be useful on two fronts, it is a very practical guide on how the iRiver HD ereader actually works, so a sort of “how to use it” video, and also it explains very clearly how to use this ereader with the Google online ebook store – Google Books.
As Google Books is a very new site, and thus not yet all that familiar to most people, I felt this was a useful video to draw your attention to in a spirit of being helpful.
Google Books has an incedible number of ebooks to offer you, literaly millions of them…. Loads of which are free, others you have to pay for, but still an amazing site, which I shall be looking at properly in a shortly to appear post.
The iRiver HD is the latest ereader from the iRiver people, and is chiefly notable for the extremely high resolution of its screen, which is way better than any other current ereader.
I shall place the specifications of this ereader after the video, so you can contemplate all its glories at your leasure after having discovered with the help of a remarkably svelte Chinese girl – or perhaps Korean – what it actually can do.
A whole series of useful accessories for all you lucky iPad2 owners:
In fact this is a collection of about 9 different types of cover or reading support specifically created for the iPad2, and I would think essential “must haves” if you own an iPad2.
As M-Edge CEO Patrick Mish puts it in their press release:
“The introduction of the iPad 2 gave the M-Edge creative team the opportunity to flex their design muscles and come up with extraordinary products. The new line perfectly complements the iPad 2 with elegance, style, and of course, protection.”
I shan’t give too much info here……
I shall simply tell you about them all, with minimal details, since there are so many of them…. But you will see if they are of interest to you quickly enough from either the short videos or the images of the accessories, and I will give links to their relevant page on their online shop for you to get all the details you could wish for.
The first of these new goodies is the Incline Jacket, which sells for $ 49.99 and I can do no better than show you a video of its glories, so sit back and watch as they show you what it offers you:-
Then we have the Trip Jacket which in many respects is the same as the Incline Jacket and costs the same, so $49.90. As before, here is a short video which explains exactly what it offers you.
What next?
Well then we have the Back It which is basically a plastic sheet, designed to clip onto the back of your iPad to protect it from getting scratched, it is so designed that it allows easy access to all controls and the camera, this one sells for $19.99
Moving smartly on…….
Next is the GO! Jacket which is another variation on the multiposition jackets which M-edge are justly well known for, so in many respects it is the same idea as the first two jackets above, but as you will see if you follow the link, there are differences…….
This one costs $44.99
Latitude with Theater-Stand, this is a sort of travelling cover and reading stand in one. I rather like this fellow, and can see how it would be truly handy to have as you wander through your day…. Siting in a cafe with your iPad resting gently on this one’s little support would make reading, and to a lesser extent, typing rather pleasant I would think.
Price: well this one costs $59.99 – expensive, but it is tough and versatile………..
And now to simple jackets:
They are offering two basic jackets for your iPad2, the Cambridge and the New Yorker, both tough and cheerful/stylish jackets to protect your iPad2 from the rough life of such devices in bags and pockets… (well, and iPad in a pocket? Probably not!). Anyhow, here they are:
Obviously this one is the… New Yorker Jacket And it also costs $ 49.99
And last, but by no means least, we have a smart bag to keep your iPad2 nicely tucked up in… the Pop Sleeve.
Price: Only $29.99
Bright colours:
All of the above accessories come in a range of cheerful colours, so you can buy several of them and always be colour co-ordinated…………
Design your own cover:
They also offer their “Design Your Own Cover” system with these covers as well, and having made one for our Kindle3, I know them to be superb, and rather fun to own as well, makes people sit up and talk to you when they see your competely unique ereader cover.
Where to get these goodies?
All of these useful accessories can be bought either directly online from medgestore.com or from Best Buy, Walmart or Staples.
Or even better……..
You could click on the eReadersRus banner below,and if you buy anything there, I get a commission…. always nice!
eBookAnoid Mobile Edition
This is a 2D-barcode containing the address of our mobile site.If your mobile has a barcode reader, simply snap this bar code with the camera and launch the site.
ave probably noticed, YouTube and similar sites are full to bursting with all manner of videos about the world of ereaders, accessories and everything you can think of to do with this topic.
Since there will be one hell of a lot of them in no time, it would be sensible for you to use the Blog’s search function – which is on the top right hand side of the screen
