Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2010 Issue

iPad versus eBook Readers

The Sony Reader Pocket and Touch Editions.


I was able to test out another Sony product, this one known as the Sony Reader Touch Edition. This larger sibling shares some similarities with the Pocket Edition, but incorporates a larger and touch-sensitive screen. The software is actually different because of the touchscreen, but this wasn't a bad change. Touch and go is easy and there's a reason everyone is trying to make touchscreen phones, computers and tablets. I also enjoyed the added screen real-estate!

The last dedicated eBook reader I got my hands on is Barnes & Noble's Nook. This device actually does have a partially backlit screen. It also has a unique screen setup where roughly one quarter of the reader’s screen is separated from the main e-ink reading area, and instead is a full-color, backlit, LCD touch display (3.5" diagonally). This area at the bottom is responsible for navigation, and it does a good job. The main reader portion of the screen is also touch-sensitive.

The e-ink, of this reader, and of the other two, does feel less draining on the eyes. I need breaks from long writing projects on my computer, both for my wrists and eyes, and after a few hours of reading e-ink my eyes felt none the dryer or itchier! At the same time, I already spend hours on end on the computer, and I'm used to it. I don't personally read enough to merit buying a dedicated reader.

The iPad is what I view as an eBook reader-lite. If you are a casual reader, and don't read for hours on end, you'll probably get more money's worth out of it by doing things with it other than reading. Because while it does a great job handling reading, that's just one thing out of a plethora of options. The downsides for the iPad as a dedicated reader are its computer screen, and its weight (1.5 lb. versus the Nook's 12 oz. or the Pocket Edition's 7.7 oz.). Again, avid readers, buy a dedicated reader. I liked the Nook. Casual, multi-purpose users? Go iPad. That's what I'm going to do, eventually.

Rare Book Monthly

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    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
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    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
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    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
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    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
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    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
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    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
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    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
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    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
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