E Ink has been at the forefront of e-ink technology for years, and their Kaleido color displays have been a popular choice for e-readers. However, with the recent release of the Kaleido 3, it’s time to take a look at how these two generations of displays compare.
(more…)
This will come as no great surprise to observers: the German e-reader brand Tolino is also announcing color e-readers: the Tolino Shine Color and Tolino Vision Color.
(more…)
Kobo is hitting back with a new 6-inch e-reader with a black and white screen. Nothing new, you may ask? Well, this e-reader comes with a latest-generation E Ink Carta 1300 screen at an unbeatable price.
(more…)
Thrilled to introduce the review of the Kobo Clara Colour, a 2024 standout among e-readers featuring a next-generation 6-inch Kaleido 3 color E Ink display.
(more…)
You may have heard about the incredible way in which artificial intelligences like ChatGPT manage to learn the contents of the most popular books. Here’s how the Internet giants managed to do it – and it’s not pretty!
(more…)
Here’s the full review of the Kaleido 3 e-ink screen Bigme S6 Color+ color e-reader. You’ll see that this top-of-the-range e-reader with 7.8-inch screen is particularly interesting for users looking for a color e-ink machine for work and play…
(more…)
The figures for the US book market have just come in, and one piece of news is sure to delight digital book lovers: ebook sales topped the billion-dollar mark in 2023.
This is an impressive figure: in the USA, in 2023, digital books of the ebook (text) type brought in over a billion dollars (+0.6%)!
This figure covers sales of digital books for e-readers, of course, but also sales of ebooks to be read on computers (PDF documents), smartphones and tablets (ebooks from the apps from Google and Apple).
While printed books are holding up remarkably well, with estimated sales of almost $9 billion by 2023, the same cannot be said for physical audiobooks. Unsurprisingly, sales of physical audiobooks (in CD form) are down to a paltry $12.9 million.
Now, if we add up all these figures, we see that the book market is slightly down by 0.3% over the year 2023.
The market is therefore holding steady, with digital sales continuing to increase year on year.
These figures come from the AAP (Association of American Publishers). Source : https://publishingperspectives.com/2024/03/aap-statshot-in-2023-us-revenues-were-12-6-billion/
E-readers have revolutionized the way we read books, and millions of us around the world use one every day. But are you getting the most out of your e-reading experience?
This guide will show you how to change the settings on your e-reader to make reading more comfortable and enjoyable.
> TLDR: Don’t be afraid to experiment with different text settings to find what works best for you. Use the built-in reading statistics to track your progress and stay motivated. Consider using an external light source.
image: configure text settings on a Pocketbook Verse Pro e-reader
When we buy an e-reader and use it, we often make the mistake of configuring it to reproduce the reading experience of a paper book.
But an e-reader allows us to be much more flexible and creative when it comes to displaying text.
So we need to experiment to find the text settings that suit us best. Here are a few examples:
Personally, I’ve set up my e-reader with very large fonts and plenty of space between lines, which means I can read faster – even if I have to change pages more often.
Image: configure reading progress on Kobo e-readers
If you want to stay motivated or read more, you can use the built-in reading progress statistics on your e-reader:
Visualization of Progress: statistics like "time left in chapter" or "percentage of book read" give you a tangible sense of accomplishment. Seeing a number tick down or a percentage climb can be very motivating, especially when tackling a long book. Setting Goals: You can use statistics to set realistic reading goals. Knowing how long a typical chapter takes you to read allows you to aim for a certain number of chapters per day or week. Maintaining Momentum: Statistics can help you stay on track. Seeing how much you’ve read in a single sitting or over a period can encourage you to keep going, especially if you’re close to a milestone like finishing a chapter or reaching a certain percentage.
I therefore strongly recommend that you configure the display of statistics on your e-reader.
Image: you may feel tired when reading with the built-in light of your e-reader
Just because your e-reader has a screen with built-in lighting doesn’t mean you have to use it.
If you feel tired when reading an ebook on your e-reader, you can change the lighting settings, such as its intensity or the blue light filter.
I’d also recommend using a bedside lamp if your eyes get tired, or at least more tired than when reading a paper book.
There’s a lot of information all over the Internet about the so-called polluting nature of ebooks. Quite simply, the figures are announced at the drop of a hat. It’s time to find out how eco friendly are eBooks!
TLDR: it’s much better (eco friendly) to read an ebook than to buy and read the paper version if you already own hardware capable of reading the ebook.
There are studies on the carbon footprint of e-readers and paper books, but not ebook reading alone.
Moreover, not all sources agree, since the studies are commissioned by e-reader manufacturers (Kindle) or paper book publishers (Hachette french publisher). And I think it’s all more or less false – but you can read it here if you’re interested: https://reporterre.net/Livre-papier-ou-liseuse-electronique-qui-est-le-plus-ecolo – French link.
Of course, the media pick up on all this without paying any attention to the fine print.
So let’s start again with what an ebook is.
> An ebook is a computer file of a few hundred Kb to a few Mb in size.
> This file is transmitted by an Internet server to your e-reader when you download it.
To take into account everything that goes into reading an ebook, we also need to take into account the download when calculating the carbon footprint of an ebook.
Note that this mode of operation is simple and corresponds almost identically to the way a web page is retrieved from a web server by your Internet browser.
We can therefore rely on existing studies on the subject to calculate this.
A study that seems to me to be fairly serious and reliable arrives at an average carbon footprint of 5 g of CO² for a web page. And therefore, for an ebook too. See here: https://en.reset.org/whats-carbon-footprint-your-website/
An ebook can be read, with a carbon footprint of around 5g of CO² on a smartphone, tablet, e-reader or computer! After all, it’s just a file downloaded onto a device.
On the other hand, the carbon footprint of a e-reader is undoubtedly greater, at around 100 to 200kg of CO² (compared with less than 100kg of CO² for a smartphone).
If you already own a device that allows you to read books, the most eco-friendly thing to do is to use the equipment you have at your disposal to read your digital books (ebooks), giving priority to the most energy-efficient devices:
The use of a computer is not recommended, however, as the time it takes to read your book (5 to 10 hours) can consume a lot of electricity.
As far as the carbon footprint of electricity is concerned, if the vast majority of which comes from nuclear power, it is negligible. But this is a different and more complex subject.
In conclusion, it’s much better (eco friendly) to read an ebook than to buy and read the paper version if you already own hardware capable of reading the ebook.
So if you have a smartphone, tablet or e-reader, the ebook is much greener than the paper book when you buy it.
Reading an ebook could help combat global warming.
Pocketbook has announced a new color e-reader that could well change the game: the Pocketbook Era Color will be available in May, 2024.
(more…)