For reading online: http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ is a must.
For reading offline: a good non-amazon ebook reader. The Sony PRS-505 is still the best bang for your buck. Amazon forces you to use their proprietary wifi for the transfer of books, whereas Sony uses an old-fashioned USB. There are hordes of (in and out of copyright) books on sites like http://gigapedia.com . I also cut and paste long articles from the internet into a .RTF or .DOC and throw it on the reader. The Sony library management software is shit, but there is a freeware program called Calibre, which is fantastic.
Oddly enough I have a special reverence for the .PDF. Take the same content and put it on an HTML webpage and I'll reflexively give it less respect, which is idiotic and inexplicable.
I stumbled upon the ebook copy of /Wall Street/ around a year and a half ago and since I read it I've been a loyal subscriber to LBO and you've all been graced with my presence. I'm not sure I would've ever hunted down an out-of-print book if it wasn't available in this medium.
On the deeper concerns, I agree that the self-publishing wave has produced few gems and a lot of bilge. I also think the digital-era has imparted a "drive-by" character to the way we communicate, research and produce new material.
-- Bhaskar
On 8/3/2010 8:32 PM, Mike Beggs wrote:
>
> I have no problem reading for long periods, whole books, on the laptop
> (although not fiction), and having grown up with computers there is no
> way I can write anything longhand - I just can't think with pen and
> paper, and it's _so slow_.
>