E-readers are small in size, light in weight and easy to handle, and thousands of books can be stored on this type of device, and then the user can get rid of bookshelves in the whole house, and they are very useful devices on vacations and holidays.
Benjamin Parkmayer, from the German Product and Goods Testing Authority, explained that there are many e-book readers that are water-resistant and feature built-in lighting, so that the user can read books without the need for an external lamp, as well as the feature to enlarge the font size, which benefits people who use it. They are particularly visually impaired, and texts can be read well on e-ink screens even in sunny weather.
Operating System
And when wanting to enter the world of e-books, the user must make a basic decision about the operating system for this type of electronic device, as there are currently two systems that are difficult to integrate together.
The first system is the system of the American company Amazon, which launched the exciting Kindle e-book reader, and the second system is the most open operating system for e-book readers from Tolino and Pocketbook and Kobo.
Alexander Speer, from the specialized German magazine Schitt (c't), explained that when choosing a Kindle device, the user remains captive to the Amazon system, given that the American company has its own book format that cannot be read on other devices, in addition to the e-book formats. Others do not work on Kindle devices, and Kindle owners can only purchase e-books from the Amazon store.
However, the Amazon system has some useful features. It has good user guidance, and book purchases are made in a convenient way. “The Amazon store has a larger selection of books without fixed prices,” Alexander Speer added.
Readers who choose e-readers from Tolino, PocketBook and Kobo have more freedom. A specific store, which helps the user to access a full range of digital libraries, as well as the ability to switch between companies producing e-readers easily.
The Tolino e-book reader has been developed by the Alliance of Booksellers, which includes organizations such as Weltbild, Thalia and Hugendubel as well as the bookstore platform Buchhandling.d ( Buchhandlung.de), here the user can find local merchants selling e-books, the seller's store, from which the Tolino or Pocketbook was purchased is usually installed on the device, and with the Kobo the Kobo store is installed.
Benjamin Parkmayer explained that e-books can be purchased easily through desktop computers, so that the books remain stored on cloud computing services, and then downloaded to e-book readers after that, and any e-store of the Alliance of Booksellers can be connected to the Tolino cloud computing service, as well. Books from other vendors can be transferred from the computer to the e-book reader via a USB cable.
Book prices
As for the prices of e-books, there is no difference between the two systems, as they are subject to fixed prices similar to printed books, but e-books are often cheaper than printed books, and there are some libraries that provide an “online borrowing” service at a lower cost, but the availability of this is required. An e-book reader that supports the e-pop format, and owners of Amazon Kindle devices cannot open these e-books.
Single use right
Unlike printed books, the development of e-books was originally not intended for books with family and friends, as the user obtains the right to use one when purchasing e-books in accordance with the general terms and conditions of the online store, however copies of e-books can be transferred to others, as many of the e-books are abandoned. Publishers are protecting against copying with complicated procedures, and many e-books are now secured instead with an invisible watermark.
This procedure helps to track the user who originally bought the book, thus preventing the publication of e-books on a large scale, but some private copies can be published in a narrow space, but this applies to e-books in e-pop format only.
On the other hand, copy protection procedures on Amazon devices are very complex, as e-books can only be read on devices registered in the buyer’s account, and online stores also contain books without copy protection, but none of the current bestsellers.
Amazon provides the Family Library feature, which allows two adults and 4 children to read books together, and Tolino devices provide this function, so 6 people can book their e-books together.
selection criteria
Once the user has settled on the choice of one of the two systems, the task of choosing an e-book reader begins based on some important criteria. Here, Parkmayer advises that the user should carry the device in his hand.
Speer added that e-readers are designed primarily for reading, and the user can do this on most electronic devices well, but the user has to consider additional functions, such as water resistance.
Also, low-cost models lack touch screen functionality or lighting, and the built-in memory of e-readers usually suffices the needs of the user, as the user can store nearly a thousand books in an area of 2 GB.
If the user wants to see the comics or use the audio books on the e-book readers, there must be a memory capacity of 4 to 8 gigabytes.
Experts also advise trying models with color screens, which have not yet reached the stage of full development, but they are better than traditional black and white screens.