Survey saaaaays....

[elf]

A poll! Because we all need more polls! Or rather, because I looked at the membership list and said, mygods, who ARE all these people, and also, I bet they'd like more ... posts about ... something ebookish.. In order to figure out what kinds of posts those should be, I bring you ... TICKY BOXES! Confirm your ebookish identity, knowledge, and DRM skills!

Poll #5653 Who are you people?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 86

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What kind of ebook person are you?

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I read ebooks
67 (77.9%)

I buy and read ebooks
58 (67.4%)

I write ebooks
6 (7.0%)

I write and sell ebooks
1 (1.2%)

I convert/reformat ebooks
49 (57.0%)

I don't write or read ebooks (yet?), but I'm interested in them
6 (7.0%)

Your ticky boxes cannot contain my ebookery
20 (23.3%)

Ticky box, ticky boox, e-tickery abounds
30 (34.9%)

If you read ebooks, what do you read them on?

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I don't read ebooks.
2 (2.4%)

Desktop computer
26 (30.6%)

Laptop or netbook.
40 (47.1%)

E-ink dedicated reader.
56 (65.9%)

LCD screen dedicated reader
1 (1.2%)

Phone or PDA
25 (29.4%)

Tablet computer
6 (7.1%)

Something else, which you have failed to describe
3 (3.5%)

TICKY OF DOOM!
21 (24.7%)

Do you have a device/ereader preference? (Or: what do you think you'd prefer, if you don't have one yet.)

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I don't read ebooks.
2 (2.3%)

I don't have a preference.
1 (1.2%)

I prefer to read on a computer
0 (0.0%)

I prefer to read on a dedicated ebook reader.
49 (57.0%)

I prefer a multifunction device (iPad, phone, etc.)
17 (19.8%)

I have different preferences in different circumstances.
16 (18.6%)

I prefer something else.
1 (1.2%)

What do you know about ebook formats?

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Ebook for mats? No, ebooks for bed, chairs, couches ...
5 (5.8%)

There's a lot of them. They're a confusing mess.
32 (37.2%)

One is better than the rest, and it's my preference.
14 (16.3%)

One is better than the rest, and I prefer something else anyway.
1 (1.2%)

They all have different pros & cons; I don't think any is best.
25 (29.1%)

I know which ones work on my ereader.
61 (70.9%)

I know which ones work on most ereaders.
36 (41.9%)

My knowledge of ebook formats exceeds your ticky-talents.
8 (9.3%)

What do you know about DRM?

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What does Dating Republican Men have to do with ebooks?
4 (4.7%)

It's evil.
42 (49.4%)

It's a way for authors to avoid getting ripped off.
12 (14.1%)

I know what kind works on my ereader.
25 (29.4%)

I know what kinds work on most ereaders.
14 (16.5%)

I know how to remove it from ebooks I buy.
14 (16.5%)

I could figure out how to remove it if I wanted/needed to.
43 (50.6%)

I have many thinky thoughts about DRM and can expound on them at length.
22 (25.9%)

It's a damned nuisance. I dunno about "evil," though.
42 (49.4%)

Tickety-tickety-tick tick tick.
29 (34.1%)

Comments

PDF kinda sucks.

[jecook]

PDF started life as a way for multiple platforms (Mac, Windows, *nix) to be able to view the same file in exactly the way the publisher intended- It's been extended and mutated a lot over the decades.

It's actually PostScript with a funny tasting shell wrapped around it, which Adobe invented for printers and typography to get around the same problem. (allowing multiple platforms to send data to a printer and have consistent results regardless of who sent the data to the printer.)

As an E-book format, it kind of blows- Most of my technical manuals are in PDF format, and they are a pain in the butt to read on anything but a proper computer or notebook. (THis includes smartphones- I'm still reeling from looking at a PDF on my shiny new 'droid.)

Re: PDF kinda sucks.

[elf]

I like PDFs only because I can take them apart & rebuild them. I regularly make PDFs for my ebook reader (3.46"x4.57" pages with .02" margins; 10 pt Georgia font with 1.15 line spacing) because I know how to get them formatted the way I want, and I can't do that with ePub (because I am lazy and haven't figured out how). And I've got custom PDF settings for Feedbooks, because that way I can download several at once & combine them into one. But all commercially produced PDFs range from "mediocre" to "sucks rocks" on portable readers.

PDF is terrific for its original purpose: print-ready across multiple platforms from any machine. The bells and whistles on top of that are sometimes useful, sometimes a distraction; I can certainly understand the people who insist that PDF is "not an ebook format."