Roundup Friday: eBooks!

Betsey Blanche — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:39:00 GMT

My colleague Linda hit the nail on the head once more when, in her latest blog post, she wrote: "electronics vendors offer "must-have" apps and gadgets faster than we can learn or finance them." I am so taking it out of context but I read it as a break from shopping online for a new gadget of my own, namely an eReader or a tablet. This delightful coincidence got me thinking about eBooks and all the arguments for and against them. So please allow me to offer up some random thoughts and useful tips in this eBook Round Up.

Get Rich Slowly - a personal finance blog - recently posted a piece on the cost effectiveness of eBooks. The author of the piece, J.D. Roth, waffles a bit on the pros and cons but here are some of his highlights.

eBooks are a great way to cut down on Stuff (which is especially useful for those who move frequently)
eBook Readers often have apps that you can use on other devices such as your personal computer, tablets and smart phones.
The best values on eBooks tend to be found with the newest and oldest books. The older books often being available for free because they live in the public domain. But whether or not the initial cost of a Reader makes up for that price difference depends on how frequently you use it.

Leatherbound: Perhaps you've decided to skip buying an actual eReader and simply use various apps for your eBooks. For instance, my phone allows me use of both the Nook and Kindle apps. Leatherbound allows users to search for eBooks across both of those platforms as well as the iBooks platform (designed for the iPad and other Apple devices). This allows users to find the cheapest version of the eBook they're looking for without visiting each virtual store.

Big News: Your very own Round Rock Public Library will soon be adding another wrinkle to your decision-making process! On December 17^th we'll be launching use of OverDrive, a service that provides downloadable audiobooks, eBooks, music and video. In my opinion, it's a step up from our previous provider of eBooks which did not allow titles to be downloaded to personal devices.

Also Check Out:

"You'd be surprised who reads steamy novels"

"Google opens bookstore with 3 million titles, free android and iOS reader apps"

"iPad leading e-book reader demand despite Kindle price advantage"

This Week's Technology Tip: Take a Break from Technology?

Betsey Blanche — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:02:00 GMT

Last week Stephen Colbert interviewed Nicholas Carr – author of the newly-released book . Three days ago I came across a blog post titled “Do You Purposely, Regulary Go Offline?” Today, to top things off, I read a brief synopsis of a study which shows more than two hours per day of screen time (particularly watching TV or playing video games) can have negative impacts on one’s attention span. It’s worth mentioning that all three of these were online interactions. This got me thinking about how we use technology and the negative and positive effect it can have on us.

In this blog I make it a goal to provide some tips on tools created to make our lives easier and more productive. What Nicholar Carr and the others show is that sometimes maximizing productivity requires disconnecting from the Internet. In Nicholas Carr’s 2008 essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr writes “In the quiet spaces opened up by the sustained, undistracted reading of a book, or by any other act of contemplation for that matter, we make our own associations, draw our own inferences and analogies, foster our own ideas.” With this in mind, I present this week’s technology tip for increasing productivity and quality of life: take some time to unplug and focus on one task for an extended period of time. Maybe start by reading Carr’s new book (located in our New Non-fiction section), or by perusing some of the excellent book recommendations in Linda’s blog Reader’s Exchange.

Perhaps this is a bad message for the technology blog writer but I think it’s a great thing to be aware of. Plus, you could use those long periods of reading or contemplation to win great prizes through our Adult Summer Reading Program!

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Roundup Friday: eBooks!

This Week's Technology Tip: Take a Break from Technology?