Franklin eBookMan - feeling nostalgic

 Franklin eBookMan - feeling nostalgic. 

I was feeling nostalgic about my first e-book reader; the Franklin eBookMan. I bought it many many years ago (feeling really old). I don't remember how much I had paid for it. Having had newer e-book readers and now using e-book reader apps, I remembered my first e-book reader. I think it went the way of my Palm Pilot and Palm Pre phone; lost in time and memory. 

It had a cradle (if I remember correctly) that one used to connect it to the computer. It is through the computer that one download or transferred e-books from a compact disc (CD) that had many books on it. I believe one used an app or program on the CD to find the book one wanted then download it then transferred it to the e-book reader. It was simple yet effective. 

The screen was monochrome; one color. It was not really big. After reading for awhile, I would look up and try my best to refocus since my eyesight was a little blurry. It used two double batteries (IIRC - it has been awhile since I had or even used one). 

e-book readers in general:

I think one of the benefits of the e-book and e-book reader is that one can download books to read without having to carry around a lot of books. I think this way of reading books is great for schools since one can get newer textbooks without having to sell the old ones. One just has to delete the old one (assuming one wants to get rid of the older one). It would save a lot of paper; IMO; making it very green. 

Another benefit is that one can carry a lot of books to read without taking up much space; unless it is the space on the e-book reader. There are a lot of books available to read on an e-book readers; that can read a big variety of formats.

I think e-book reader is not good for all books. 

There are times one needs a recipe. One can easily get to a recipe on a printed book. One just turns the page to that recipe. With an e-book, one has to search for it on the device then hope not to mess up the e-book reader. 

There are some books that are just better for printed books. If one has a picture book, or a book with maps or really nice photos or paintings that are better view in a large book that cannot truly be appreciated on a small screen of a tablet computer or a phone. 

Early book readers were or had monochrome screens. It was not easy to appreciate the photos and artwork with such screens. The newer e-book readers have better screens but large printed books are still (IMO) much better in view those photos and artwork. 

In Conclusion

I think there is a place for both e-books and e-book readers and printed books. I hope and pray that book stores and libraries never go out of business. I think they are a great resource for books. There are some that are also a great resource for e-books and e-book readers too. 

Amazon and Barnes and Noble are great places for both printed books and e-books. There might be other bookstores that have both features but these two are the ones I know of. 

There is a local bookstore I really like. It is local - not far from where I live. It is the Jobberwocky Bookshop at The Tannery Mall in Newburyport MA. Their Facebook page. 

I might do a separate post just on this really cool store. 

TomLeeM

2023 / 09 / 23

Google Playbooks?

 

Google Play Books?

I found another way to read e-books. It is the Google Play Books app. It is the third e-book app that I have on my phone. My phone is an android phone; therefore, I have access to the Google Play apps and other things available in it. 

I have downloaded a few books on it. I have read most of them. I have read most of the books. Since it is on my phone, I can read the e-books anytime I have some extra time to do so. Since I usually carry my phone with me most places, I can read it anytime I want to (I do really want to since one can learn a lot by reading books [printed ones and e-books]). 

I need to download more e-books. There is a lot of e-books, and e-magazines available via the app. I have checked so many in such a variety of prices. I think there is something for almost everyone. 

TomLeeM 

2023 / 09 / 23

 

My Kindle Has Died?

My Amazon Kindle Has Died 

I had bought my Kindle from Amazon many many years ago (sounds like the beginning of Star Wars). It was on sale. It was great in reading e-books. I could carry as many in it since carrying the actual books would be heavy and getting heavier the more books I had bought. With this e-book reader (like others similar to it), one can download as many books as its memory could hold. With mine, it had gotten up to 160 books. I am not sure I read them all; some more recently bought were still being read when it stopped working. 

It has a 'keyboard' built into it but one cannot touch type with it. It had two buttons on either side; upper for turning to the previous page and a lower button for turning to the next page. It had a variety of useful buttons; one to change the location of the cursor, one to enter what one chose, and a home button. I found it quite useful. At first the battery would last a week of usage but eventually it would only a little longer than a day. 

I had already installed the Kindle app by Amazon on my tablet computer. The app had a few e-books on it but nowhere near as many as on the Kindle. I bought and downloaded some of the unread e-books onto the app. My tablet began to fail too. 

Installing the Kindle app on my phone was easy. By putting my id and password in the Kindle app, I was able to download the e-books that was on the tablet computer (the e-mail address and password was different on the Kindle than the one used in the Kindle app). Even where I left off on my tablet was also noted when I downloaded them on my phone. 

TomLeeM

2023 / 09 /23

My Nook Is In Trouble?

 My Nook Is In Trouble? 

My brother came across a Barnes and Noble Nook e-book reader. It was left behind. My brother was told to clear out the office and he took it home. I got it since he knew I like e-book readers. 

It had a touch screen and buttons to use. There were two buttons on each side; upper one for turning to the previous page and a lower one to turn to the next page. I think the newer Nook doesn't have these pages. The nook I have does. It used a micro USB port to charge the battery. I believe it has an E-Ink screen; which means the battery lasts longer. It was small but not too small where one couldn't read the words. It was nice but it was worn. 

There was some trouble with it at first. I wasn't able to clear the previous owner from it and I couldn't get it to connect to my WIFI. I download the updated software, transferred it to the device using my computer and an USB cable. When I unplugged the device from my computer and started it again, the update was installed. I was then able to clear the previous owner from it and install my own information (account information that I had created for it). I was able to download books to it. I had quite a few e-books on it. I was beginning to see why the previous owner left it behind. It was not easy to use. It was starting to have problems. 

Fortunately, Barnes and Noble has a Nook app that I was able to download to my tablet computer. Unfortunately, my tablet was going bonkers, not working properly. It would jump pages when I would only turn one page. There were other programs that didn't work well on the tablet compute too.

I was able to download the Nooks app onto my phone. I entered the e-mail address and password. I was able to download the e-books that was on the e-book reader. The screen on my phone is better and brighter than the one on the Nook e-book reader. 

TomLeeM

2023 / 09 / 23

ArcaOS 5.1 ? new release by Arca Noae.

 

Arca Noae has the release of 5.1. I have read of it having support for UEFI. The store where one can buy ArcaOS; the support and maintenance version,  the personal edition version, the commercial edition version. They still have 5.0 available. 

ArcaOS (Blue Lion) is an updated version of the OS/2 Warp operating system by IBM. I have been using the previous version and it works but not on the newer laptop. I am hoping that this newer version with support for UEFI will allow me to install it on it. 

I am glad there are ways to install it via the USB port and USB flash drive. With so many newer laptops and computers not coming with an optical drive, it would be difficult to install it unless one has an USB optical drive (which I have since my HP laptop doesn't have one - something I remember on older laptops and wish the newer ones still have). It seems even the newer laptops have fewer USB ports. I am glad there are ways to expand the number of USB ports with attachments (some not expensive). 

The previous release and post release of OS/2 Warp is eComStation. It does not seem to be developed anymore but there website is still up. 

OS/2 Warp was developed by IBM. There is still support for it online at OS/2 World. I had used this version many years ago. It was really good. I thought of it as an alternative to Windows (especially since - at the time - IIRC - 3.1 ran on top of DOS and seemed to have crashed a lot [from my experience]). 

TomLeeM

2023 / 09 / 22

ArcaOS 5.1 released by Arca Noae ?

 There is an updated version of the ArcaOS by Arca Noae. Since IBM isn't developing OS/2 Warp anymore, I am glad someone is. It is nice to have alternatives to Windows or Apple (they are out there, one just has to look). 

Here is the personal edition. Here is the support and maintenance edition. Here is the commercial edition. 

Here is the link to the Arca Noae products. 

I am looing forward to using it. It has some updates so it can be used on newer computers (one of which is UEFI support). I have used 5.0.7 and it works really well but not on my laptop that is newer (sort of tried it but I made the ISO installation CD incorrectly so I don't if it was that or a lack of UEFI support). One doesn't have to use a CD since I think there is support to having it installed using an USB flash drive (checking that out - very few computes have an optical drive - especially laptops). 

I miss having an optical drive. It is not just for installing software but also for playing movies and listening to music. Streaming to either isn't always possible. I guess I am just old fashioned that way. Perhaps there is no nerd like an old nerd? (is it no geek like an old geek?). 

It is an updated version of OS/2 Warp - Wikipedia. ArcaOS is - IIRC - the third updated version of the operating system by IBM. I believe the second one was eComStation. I don't believe that eCS still being developed (the site indicates a eCS 2?). 

I also read of the 5.1 being released from the OS/2 Warp World site. 

TomLeeM

2023 / 09 /13