Greetings Julie,
Thank you for your nice reply. While my signature conveys the message
that I am a Sociologist, actually I am a geek. :) My PhD is about
Religion in Virtual Worlds. I am not actually looking for an ebook
reader, as I already have an Android device which I use for that
purpose, although I much prefer audio books. My intent in my post was to
add some info to the discussion in order to balance the optimism
expressed by the poster of the 'iPods are awesome' post. In truth, all
ebooks are a vexxed issue at present, and will remain so until the
digital publishing mess gets sorted. I prophesy that; DRM will die, mega
publishers will disappear, while niche publishers will remain, with most
of the income of sales going to authors, who will give away ebook copies
of their books with no DRM.

Regards,

Morgan Leigh
PhD Candidate
School of Sociology and Social Work
University of Tasmania


On 7/11/2011 9:51 PM, Julie S Maclure wrote:
> Dear Morgan,
> 
> As an ICT specialist, I can pass on some information to your goodself about the IPad.
> It, as like all machinery needs to be kept up to date and virus free. Apple, like all other computer manufacturers provide a recovery service if anything goes wrong with the hard ware or software if you pay a recovery premium to the firm, and they even help you set up the gadget for a price. Anyone whom has access,  can browse the Internet to find a package such as this. Hope you find what you are looking for.
> 
> 
> Kindest Regards,
> 
> J.S. MacLure MA(Hons) MBPsS MEd
> 
>   
> 
> On 7 Nov 2011, at 08:33, Morgan Leigh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Sadly the iPad suffers from the same problem as the Kindle in that Apple
> is the central repository and know and monitors what books you have and
> has the ability to remove things as it sees fit.
> 
> Apple is also severely anti anything that you might choose to access
> from any source other than their app store, over which they excise an
> iron grip. See - http://www.nothingbuttablets.com/4714 Apple forces
> eBook apps to remove links to out-of-app book stores
> 
> http://www.ebookmagazine.co.uk/removal-of-in-app-store-link-prompts-anger-complaints-and-confusion/20111840
> - Removal of in-app store links prompts anger, complaints and confusion
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Morgan Leigh
> PhD Candidate
> School of Sociology and Social Work
> University of Tasmania
> 
> On 7/11/2011 4:03 PM, Julie S Maclure wrote:
> The best gadget ever to be invented so far is the iPad. It is quite expensive but with a wireless connection, can access the internet, has iTunes and has Apps and Ebooks etc. It does not support Microsoft Office but the screen is slightly larger than on a Kindle, has e-mail access.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Julie S. MacLure MA(Hons)MEd MBPsS
> 
> On 7 Nov 2011, at 00:00, ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> There are 11 messages totaling 1881 lines in this issue.
> 
> Topics of the day:
> 
> 1. Academic ebooks (10)
> 2. attending the AAR? There's an app for that!
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Date:    Sun, 6 Nov 2011 11:53:55 +1100
> From:    Caroline Tully <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Academic ebooks
> 
> Yes, apparently Orwell's 1984, I think, was one of those books which the
> publishers said "Nup, you're not having it" and it subsequently disappeared
> from people's Kindle reader thingummys.
> 
> 
> 
> ~Caroline.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Samuel Wagar
> Sent: Sunday, 6 November 2011 4:35 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Academic ebooks
> 
> 
> 
> This brings me to the matter of archiving.  
> 
> One thing that this thread has made very clear to me is that 
> convenience of access does not mean security and stability 
> of archives. Not within the electronic domain. Not in the world. 
> 
> A single instance confirmed me in my suspicious of ebooks. When Amazon was
> starting up its ebook system, they sold several thousand copies of a book
> which they did not have copyright clearance to sell. This was pointed out to
> them by the irate publisher. Overnight, the book vanished from the ebook
> readers of all those that had purchased it (and their accounts were credited
> with the $1.50 they had spent). It would be very easy to do the same thing
> with a list of "prohibited" books. 
> 
> 
> 
> All control over the content of your electronic book reader at all times
> rests in the hands of the distributor, not yourself. 
> 
> 
> 
> I prefer my cumbersome, difficult to move, physical library (including my
> copies of several books that are no doubt on some prescribed list or
> another). 
> 
> 
> 
> In the Name of Thoth,
> 
> 
> 
> Sam Wagar
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Date:    Sun, 6 Nov 2011 16:17:31 +1100
> From:    David Mattichak <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Academic ebooks
> 
> 
> Hi all;
> Amazon is the worst place to get e-books of any sort because of the deal that they have going with kindle. I am not a big fan of the kindle, I see it as a kind of toy really. The sony reader is good but limited. Smart devices are good by the PC or laptop is the best. I suppose that tablets would be good too but I haven't really looked at them much.
> I am not suggesting that all books be abandoned- heaven forbid! I like books too much to want to see them disappear. I just think that anybody who writes, or reads, should look at the opportunities that e-books offer.
> As far as I know, mostly from reading the US copyright white paper, is that e-books have the same copyright coverage and laws as printed books. I think that kindle don't sell you the book so much as lease you a readable version for one device. Look on Scribd.com for PDFs, you can share them easily and store them on USB keys etc.
> Caroline, if you want 1984 as an e-book you can download it at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37945648/1984-orwell
> I just want to say that this has been a great thread.
> DGM
> 
> Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2011 11:53:55 +1100
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Academic ebooks
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, apparently Orwell’s 1984, I think, was one of those books
> which the publishers said “Nup, you’re not having it” and it subsequently
> disappeared from people’s Kindle reader thingummys.
> 
> 
> 
> ~Caroline.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: Society for The Academic Study of
> Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Samuel
> Wagar
> 
> Sent: Sunday, 6 November 2011 4:35 AM
> 
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Academic ebooks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This brings me to the matter of
> archiving.  
> 
> 
> 
> One thing that this thread has made very clear to me is that 
> 
> convenience of access does not mean security and stability 
> 
> of archives. Not within the electronic domain. Not in the world. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A single instance confirmed me in my suspicious of ebooks. When
> Amazon was starting up its ebook system, they sold several thousand copies of a
> book which they did not have copyright clearance to sell. This was pointed out
> to them by the irate publisher. Overnight, the book vanished from the ebook
> readers of all those that had purchased it (and their accounts were credited
> with the $1.50 they had spent). It would be very easy to do the same thing with
> a list of "prohibited" books. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All control over the content of your electronic book reader at all
> times rests in the hands of the distributor, not yourself. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I prefer my cumbersome, difficult to move, physical library
> (including my copies of several books that are no doubt on some prescribed list
> or another). 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In the Name of Thoth,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sam Wagar
> 
> 
> 
>  		 	   		  
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Date:    Sun, 6 Nov 2011 11:34:21 +0100
> From:    Margaret Gouin <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Academic ebooks
> 
> On 6 November 2011 06:17, David Mattichak <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Hi all;
> 
> Amazon is the worst place to get e-books of any sort because of the deal
> that they have going with kindle. I am not a big fan of the kindle, I see
> it as a kind of toy really. The sony reader is good but limited. Smart
> devices are good by the PC or laptop is the best. I suppose that tablets
> would be good too but I haven't really looked at them much.
> 
> 
> 
> The Amazon Kindle kerfuffle is here:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html
> 
> Lawsuits resulted, as I understand; not only did Amazon arbitrarily delete
> the books, but its action also deleted all the notes people had made on
> those books. Some of those people were students and academics, and they
> were upset. A note about Kindle: not only does Amazon know exactly what you
> have on your device, and not only can Amazon arbitrarily alter that, it
> also knows where you are. Avoid them. They aren't just toys, they're
> invasive toys.
> 
> I have a Bebook One. It handles 23 formats including Microsoft .doc and
> .ppt, .jpg (black and white) and music (mp3). Also .html, I can download
> articles and web pages directly to the Bebook and read while travelling or
> whatever. I wouldn't be without mine, but still find that for serious
> studying, I need hard copy. For the best electronic reading, Dave is right,
> a computer works better than any of the alternatives--an inexpensive
> netbook is a lightweight and flexible reading platform. At least that's
> what I've worked out for my own reading.
> 
> Pitch--google 'remove DRM from ebook' and see how many hits you get. Once
> the DRM is off the file, it can be shared as widely as you wish. Of course
> you would only do this to lend your books to friends...
> 
> Margaret
> 
> 

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