I enjoyed your piece about the e-book. I loved my $199 e-book and even took it on the train as you did. Then I dropped it and cracked the screen. Warranty didn't cover and cost of repair of screen according to manual was prohibitive. Plus knowing computers, who knows what else I damaged? Now it's stuck forever on the same article by Roger Ebert about digital film production.

I may go for the $269 as I quickly ran out of space downloading articles and converting to e-book format. I could see where this could be a problem for the non-hobbyist or professional. It is a great device. I've never seen anyone else with one either, as Miller said, but it does attract attention when you take it out.

-- Brian Black

Miller can't see the point of the speakers in her Rocketbook -- I think she's missed an important point. The real digital book revolution, initially at least, isn't going to be different ways of displaying text, it will come in having it read to you.

The Internet and technology have revolutionized my reading habits, but not through reading long books on screen (I tried with my own Psion PDA but found it too tedious). Instead I have taken to plugging my minidisc into my PC and sending my browser to broadcast.com and other places where hundreds of classic unabridged audio books are available in streaming audio format.

I am enjoying "Moby Dick" at the moment as I cycle to and from work, and being read to is much more natural than trying to read off any conventional computer screen. Plus I have the pleasant consciousness of knowing I've saved a fortune on audio tapes (and without resorting to copyright piracy).

The market for audio books is already exploding, I gather, and this will only help.

-- David Brake

Keep a Web journal, get fired ... or worse
BY JAMI ATTENBERG
(03/27/00)

I have just finished reading Attenberg's lament relative to the ways in which an online diary can bite you.

The Internet is but another communications medium. Were I to stand on a street corner deriding the actions of my current employer and otherwise denigrating their name, I suspect they would have cause to reprimand me. But, alas, our societal self-absorption tries to depict the nit-wit diarists as the victims.

Here are a few fun facts:

1) Don't shoot your mouth about your boss if you do not wish to accept the consequences.

2) Don't discuss your sex life if you do not want it broadcast to the world.

3) Do consider whatever you type on the Net to be public domain.

4) Stop whining about item number three above.

-- Geoffrey Woollacott
salon.com | April 5, 2000

Read more letters: Can Dungeons & Dragons regain gamers' trust?1 Plus: Attachment parenting by any other name; will Chris Columbus ruin Harry Potter?

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