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Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:07 pm
by SoDesuNe
At least Kindle works on every device. And I had to laugh reading SmartGo is the mobile standard now for Go books - what's the sample size again? ^^
Anyways, I don't think it has much to do with the format ("instant buy" made me also giggle a bit). Sure for a few it raises issues but for the rest... they either buy it because they are interested or they just don't.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:31 pm
by lobotommy
("instant buy" made me also giggle a bit).
How dare you laugh at my bad english!
SmartGo Books is very useful app/format/idea. Interactive formats are the future, don't you think? Sure I can read Kindle format books on any device, and it is a very good thing, but it is no different than reading a pdf file - same old static content which gives me a pain while studying any classic books. For example GoWorld magazine in pdf is hard to go through. I would love to see these magazines in some interactive format.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 2:04 pm
by palapiku
SoDesuNe wrote:At least Kindle works on every device.
Certainly not on my Sony Reader...
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 3:35 pm
by SoDesuNe
Kindle can be run on Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS, Blackberry and even on Windows Phones. This is - in short - every major plattform, so the vast majority can enjoy Amazon e-books.
But yes, I have to admit, I didn't even consider an e-ink-device when I wrote "every device".
I don't know if interactive formats are the future. I don't have any problems with pdfs or any "just text"-content. I still prefer plain books, though but "...like the philosopher Jagger once said, 'You can't always get what you want.'" ; D
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:30 pm
by palapiku
SoDesuNe wrote:But yes, I have to admit, I didn't even consider an e-ink-device when I wrote "every device".
And yet they are the only kind designed for reading books on...
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:03 am
by SoDesuNe
Or... they are the only kind designed to only read books on ; ) I can read books on a Galaxy S II just fine. And I can do a quazilion other things with it.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:48 am
by Xyiana
lobotommy wrote:SmartGo Books is very useful app/format/idea. Interactive formats are the future, don't you think? Sure I can read Kindle format books on any device, and it is a very good thing, but it is no different than reading a pdf file - same old static content which gives me a pain while studying any classic books. For example GoWorld magazine in pdf is hard to go through. I would love to see these magazines in some interactive format.
THIS. It isnt about iPad or Nexus or whatever. It is about application with killer functions and atm SmartGo books app is only choice (western world).
I have several paper books where after their release in SmartGo format i bought them again. And if i remember author note in the past correctly, SmartGo books format isnt strictly closed source.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:02 am
by pwaldron
John Fairbairn wrote:I am writing this between proofreading sessions, which will not take very long in this case as I have decided to trim the book somewhat. Sales of Volume 4 were ridiculous - eight, last time I looked, so it's not worth putting much more effort in. I therefore stopped after 12 commentaries instead of 16. I have also decided that I will do no more go books with diagrams for the current generations of Kindle. I think this is the source of the problem.
Disappointing news, to be sure, although I must confess that I only have volume one of the series. For me the issue was not the Kindle's handling of game diagrams (although I agree with you that they are suboptimal). The bigger issue was that I already have enough game commentaries to last me a lifetime. I think that market has become saturated by any number of sources--Go World (digital and the old printed) and a variety of email services. It's just tough to digest another commentary.
For me it's the stories behind the game, the text-heavy books, that I really value. I find myself rereading the first Shuei book regularly, and I hope that there are more of those in the future.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:17 am
by LokBuddha
I think you MUST and SHOULD consider converting the works of SHUEI that you have right now to the smartgo format. You will get a better standout than the kindle. People can pirate your stuff in Kindle format EASILY. I don't think that is the case with IPAD. I support your works and effort all the way, and really appreciate your unique works. I have only read the Life a bit, but I bought all of them. Somehow I wish that they all would just be on the Smartgo format so I can easily view them instead of reading on the Kindle PC
Advantage of converting to IPAD
-the material is already there, so maybe there is only 80% copy and paste and the rest is just work. This can be an experiment to see how your works perform on the Smartgo book before embarking on the new work.
-Not easy to be pirate, Kindle is too easy.
-IMHO, Smartgo Book is the best GO reading ebook app out there. Easy to read and follow.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:34 am
by p2501
LokBuddha wrote:I think you MUST and SHOULD consider converting the works of SHUEI that you have right now to the smartgo format.
...
John Fairbairn wrote:I have offered Shuei to SmartGo and Slate & Shell but met with resounding silence.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:10 am
by LokBuddha
p2501 wrote:LokBuddha wrote:I think you MUST and SHOULD consider converting the works of SHUEI that you have right now to the smartgo format.
...
John Fairbairn wrote:I have offered Shuei to SmartGo and Slate & Shell but met with resounding silence.
Then all hope is lost!
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:45 am
by lobotommy
Maybe it goes to the spam folder. Why not to ask Anders again - twitter, facebook, email, even this forum...
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:13 pm
by smartgo
John Fairbairn wrote:I have offered Shuei to SmartGo and Slate & Shell but met with resounding silence.
Mea culpa. I got an email while I was out of town, and then it got buried in all the other stuff going on. My apologies.
Thanks to everybody for the kind words about SmartGo Books. Will see what I can do to make more of John Fairbairn's books available that way.
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:50 pm
by Mage
I had a look at the volumes recently, while searching for some Go books to buy, and the books' content looked amazing and very thorough ! Thank you for this wonderful piece of work !
In spite of being a beginner and a realization that I may not gain as much from the games at DDK, I was tempted to buy all the volumes.
The issue was that in all the Kindle sample pages I received from Amazon the board display was very small, difficult to read, while the text was disproportionately big
(For the text this was solved to an extent by tweaking the settings) I don't own an actual kindle but use the kindle reader on a mac, so not sure if this is mitigated somewhat by actually reading it on the device.
I think I could see myself happily paying 10-20$ more per voulume for a "paper" book or alternatively something in a more readable format. I have SmartGo Books on my iphone and it's been amazing for Tsumego books, but without an iPad I would probably not read these there
I'm hoping Slate & Shell picks this up as well
Re: The Life of Honinbo Shuei
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:10 am
by smartgo
Mage wrote:I think I could see myself happily paying 10-20$ more per voulume for a "paper" book or alternatively something in a more readable format. I have SmartGo Books on my iphone and it's been amazing for Tsumego books, but without an iPad I would probably not read these there
Shuei is coming to SmartGo Books, conversion in progress. Most likely Life, Games, and Commentaries will be combined into a single book, making it both more readable and affordable. iPad recommended, but iPhone will work too.