DISQUS

Bruce Ertmann · 2 months ago

Interesting, Max. My son attends California State Univ in Chico (just one of the 23 CSU campuses struggling with mandated budget cuts from our broke state). In an effort to reduce costs to students and other fees incurred for the procurement of traditional college textbooks, the university professors are increasingly adopting e-textbooks for their classes.

But many students, like my e-savvy son, are shunning electronic textbooks in favor of the tried and true used college textbook because they feel better being able to markup/highlight passages, stain the pages with pizza sauce and whatever else and otherwise just hold the thing. Impressive as it is for its ease of use and convenience, you just can't do that with a Kindle or Sony Reader.

maxkalehoff · 2 months ago

That's a good point. There's truly a more immersive, tactile
experience. Moreover, with used books, there can be a social
connection by sharing or engaging in a space where others have been,
and have left their marks, or will in the futute. Finally, it's
probably best to get used books from people who were smart, so you can
refer to their notes and highlights. (An indirect way of surrounding
yourself with people smarter than you, and that's my recipe for
success.)

sukhjit · 1 month ago

Hi Bruce, your story reminds me of my nephew who is an English major at San Francisco State University. When I lived in SF I'd have him over every so often to study (and so I could make sure he got a home cooked meal.) I have to say the weight of his backpack made me cringe and I even think I had sympathy back aches from seeing the textbooks he lugged around. I'm not sure if SFSU has an ebook program yet, but ebooks seem like the way things are headed. I've actually been thinking a Reader would be a great gift for my nephew. Like I mentioned, he's an english major. He loves books and reading and I think an ebook is another great way to have access to stories... not a replacement, but definitely a nice way to lighten the load.

Take care,
Sukhjit Ghag
Sony Electronics

sukhjit · 1 month ago

Thanks for the review, Max and for taking part in this bit of the Sony Dad's project. It looks like you may not have gotten much of a chance to read to your 2 year old very much. If it is because you were still looking for content, let me know. Val from the Reader team put together a list of books for kids. If you didn't get it, I'd be happy to send it to you if you still have the Reader (I'm not sure when you're scheduled to send it back). I also wanted to say, I'll be passing your post on to the Reader team. Your "Recommendations for Sony" section is appreciated.

Sukhjit Ghag
Sony Electronics

maxkalehoff · 1 month ago

I never received a list of children books from Sony -- and couldn't find toddler titles in the Sony eBookstore. Thanks for offering a list, but the reader already is packed up to send back.

sukhjit · 1 month ago

That's too bad... wish you still had it since we put the list together after one of our last Sony Dad calls (if I remember right, you were not on the call or had gotten off by the time we talked about this.) I may add it to a blog post as it's great info to have some recommended books.

maxkalehoff · 1 month ago

I never received a list of children's books from Sony. Thanks for
offering a list, but it's already packed up to send back.