Entertainment | 08/06/2009 10:30 am
Sony Announces Lowest-Price e-Book Reader Yet
It’s getting more affordable to join the e-book trend
Image: SonyStyle.com
Everyone’s doing it, but perhaps you’ve not yet joined the masses because of the expense of getting started. Well, guess what? Now you can do it too.
Join the legions of bookworms out there who’ve latched onto the new trend of e-books. Two new readers from Sony will go on sale at the end of August, and the prices will make them accessible to many. The Reader Pocket Edition™ will retail for $199, making it the "most affordable dedicated reading device on the market." It can carry approximately 350 books, holds a battery charge for about two weeks – and will still fit in your purse or pocket. The Reader Touch Edition, which will retail for $299, features a touch screen and, with memory-card capability, room for a virtually unlimited library.
Says Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division, “We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience. Our goal is to expand the market and provide greater access to what consumers want to read when they want to read it — whether they buy, borrow or get it for free.”
To move even closer to that goal, new releases and New York Times bestseller titles in Sony’s eBook Store will be available for $9.99. Readers can also access more than one million free public domain books from Google from the eBook Store. So everyone’s doing it, and now you can too.
Join the legions of bookworms out there who’ve latched onto the new trend of e-books. Two new readers from Sony will go on sale at the end of August, and the prices will make them accessible to many. The Reader Pocket Edition™ will retail for $199, making it the "most affordable dedicated reading device on the market." It can carry approximately 350 books, holds a battery charge for about two weeks – and will still fit in your purse or pocket. The Reader Touch Edition, which will retail for $299, features a touch screen and, with memory-card capability, room for a virtually unlimited library.
Says Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division, “We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience. Our goal is to expand the market and provide greater access to what consumers want to read when they want to read it — whether they buy, borrow or get it for free.”
To move even closer to that goal, new releases and New York Times bestseller titles in Sony’s eBook Store will be available for $9.99. Readers can also access more than one million free public domain books from Google from the eBook Store. So everyone’s doing it, and now you can too.
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- Joan Ganz Cooney Still Shops the Way She Always Has
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
- Announcing the Winner of Our 'Caption This' Contest
- Liz Smith Remembers the 'Good Old Days' of Department Stores
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- Caption This!
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
wOw Features
Reader Voices
Caption This!
Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
16 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Booooo! No people don’t buy this please! Booooo-hisssssss!
Don’t get me wrong, I love technology, but I also LOVE the smell of a fresh newspaper and the sound of a new book when you open it for the first time and the spine breaks….to crawl into bed with an actual book and turn the pages….
I’m so afraid that as more and more people are turned onto these electronic readers - books, magazines, newspapers will all become a thing of the past. Something that we reminisce about like 8-track players, reel to reel tape recorders and Polaroid cameras. :-(
the sound of a new book when you open it for the first time and the spine breaks….to crawl into bed with an actual book and turn the pages….
This is true joy!….I love books!….What about the excitement and anticipation of starting a book you’ve been waiting to read? I’ve been known to look at books lovingly running my fingers over them. I won’t be purchasing The Reader Pocket Edition. However, I will accept all gifts.
I am a Software Engineer, yet I have no interest in most new technology. It seems like everything made now doesn’t pass the so-what test.
I can get a used (good for the environment and my budget) paperback for $1 and I don’t need to put batteries (bad for the environment and bad for my budget) in it or worry about it getting wet or broken or stolen. Also, for 1/200th the price it provides me with the wonderful feels and smells of a book. A warmth that is impossible with a cold peice of overpriced plastic (more bad for the environment).
However, consider the source. I hope and pray everyday that the city I call home, San Francisco, becomes the San Francisco of Starhawk’s "The Fifth Sacred Thing." It’s time we started thinking about this island floating around in space we call Earth as the only known source in the universe to keep us alive and to realize that killing Earth kills ourselves.
School systems around the nation need to get rid of textbooks and put e-readers in the hands of students. What a huge reduction to the annual budget. Few children are curling up with a juicy textbook.
Peace and grace
Yes, but what districts are now spending on textbooks could go toward more teachers, smaller class sizes. Some high school textbooks cost as much as $60-$70. We don’t want broken backs, but I know well of what you speak about ‘empty arms’ as students leave the school building. I used to stand in the hall and say, ‘Hey, you forgot your books.’ Universal answer: I finished all my homework.
Texas was the leader in statewide standardized tests, which everyone jumps through hoops to score Excellent. But no changes arise from all the statistics. Our city schools are back to being segregated. I’d be willing to try the e-reader. The Irving District warehouses their textbooks because they don’t want the students to lose them. How crazy is that?
Peace and grace
I hear you, C jay. Teachers no longer assign homework because students won’t turn it in. So, they get a string of zeroes in the gradebook. That means bad report grades, and administrators are all over teachers for failing too many students. Also,even in this day and age, many school districts still have required reading lists that haven’t changed in 20 years or more. Some of those books make for dreary reading. Once a child has a bad reading experience, it is difficult to get them to pick up a book again.
I also love the feel of a book or newspaper or magazine. I’ve tried books on tape on road trips, but it’s just not the same for me. I am a frequent visitor to a used book store. I also love sharing books. And , yep, I’m one of those who will read a book twice.
Oh, I think I know you! ;-)) And, you are correct - doggone it! :0(
Hey, btw, I just won a Bid process on eBay for a new Dell mini laptop, and one for a beloved aunt in her mid - 90s; she loves to email and keep in touch with friends, and neighbors. What a life!
Frankly, if the ‘readers’ had font large enough, I’d get one for her, but I don’t thing the cost-savings would be worth it. I just sent her a book, something like Eternity to Here and she cannot see it! Dammit. The typeface was too small, and being blind myself, I didn’t ‘check’ on that aspect. Made me feel so sad.
Hugsx1000!
Personally, I think this is great — I hate seeing kids with those heavy backpacks full of books, can’t possibly be good for them.
Personally, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Kindle — I carry it in my purse with literally hundreds of books on it — so I can read whatever I am in the mood for — it’s great on planes.
As for teachers not assigning homework because it won’t get done — that’s sure not true here in the Midwest…….probably the thing to worry about here is whether or not the kid did it or the parent. =)