Tablets Take More Older People Online, British Research Shows (GigaOM)
Older people are increasingly going online, in part thanks to tablets, according to the U.K. telecommunications regulator.
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Amazon Stops Selling Kindle DX (GoodeReader)
Amazon has just discontinued their 9.7 inch e-reader, the Kindle DX.
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I’m a Book Club Dropout (Huffington Post)
Of course, if reading really is antisocial, it’s unsurprising that a social club centered on that activity would be difficult to sustain.
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Hello! Books are Digitally Different (Brave New World)
Whatever the route taken the stupid thing would be to continue to merely pour the same content into a digital container. This logic is flawed as it not only creates competition where competition is not needed and can be counter-productive, but it fails to understand the technology, the cultural changes that are happening and the opportunities that are available for the two that matter – the author and the reader.
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Kindle Daily Deals: Folly and Glory (and others)
I’ll add a marvelous bit of news. In celebration of her 88th birthday, Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill a Mockingbird will soon be released in digital, meaning ebook and downloadable audio editions. The latter shouldn’t take long since there’s already a CD version. Audible couldn’t tell me when it will be out though. The article mentions July 8 for both.
The ebook will be enhanced with additional material. I hope that means lots of line sketches for kids who read it.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/kill-mockingbird-finally-going-digital
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“I’m still old-fashioned. I love dusty old books and libraries,” Lee, who turned 88 on Monday, said through her publisher. “I am amazed and humbled that ‘Mockingbird’ has survived this long. This is ‘Mockingbird’ for a new generation.”
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Sorry to see the Kindle DX bite the dust. I’ve thought of getting one for proofing book PDFs on that large screen. I was deterred by the fact that it doesn’t include WiFi, a most strange omission. Someone really ought to come out with a large-format epaper reader to replace it. It’d save a lot of trees, particularly in legal practice.
–Mike Perry, Inkling Books
I do not find this surprising. A few examples are a 96 year old that my wife helps out with. She reads on the computer and does not want any printed books.
Two others with bad eyesight I set up with (Medicare $5K, me surplus stuff, $500) 60″ screens, a camera and a simple flat surface for their books to be put onto the screen. Both turned to ebooks very quickly.