Last week I did some reading with Sony's E-Ink Ebook reader. For me it was possible easely to dive into the books story. I can understand that pressing a button to change over to the next page could take some time to get used to someone. But I see much more advantages with E-ink e-book readers. I.e. in-built dictionary search and Calibre ebook management facilties. So I could download worldwide opinion maker newspaper at my e-ink-book. That would be nice. I think I will give Amazon's kindle a trial.

Miland:In general I think the Esperanto translation of HP1 should be published, for people who don't yet have access to it in languages in which they might be more fluent .. er, which ones?

Greenlandic? Oh wait, already done!

philodice:..JK Rowling doesn't like the idea of ebooks. She said that in an interview.

But on this point I sympathise with Rowling. To me a book printed on paper and bound between covers is a real book. An ebook to me is a book that hasn't yet been printed as a Real book.

I have the same feeling to do with computer games. I'm not against using ones that are purely digital in format, but I abstain from making significant purchases of digital-based games simply because if the company ever decides to stop its service, I lose my copies of those games. For me, anything I really want I'll try to find in physical disc/cartridge format, and digital format is completely things I don't mind losing by accident.

formiĉjo:For me, without a physical copy, it's not real. Anything on the internet isn't real either.

Por mi, sen fizika kopio (ekzemplero), ĝi ne estas vera. Io ajn interrete ne estas vera ankaŭ.

What happens if the world is secretly something maintained on some super-intelligent alien computer? Then what's real

(just joking, although to me it's still real, just untouchable and thus out of my control, like a memory)

formiĉjo:For me, without a physical copy, it's not real. Anything on the internet isn't real either.

Por mi, sen fizika kopio (ekzemplero), ĝi ne estas vera. Io ajn interrete ne estas vera ankaŭ.

If I may cite a line from the last book: Harry is in a situation where he meets "the spirit" (for want of a better term) of Dumbledore and they have a conversation. Harry asks "Is this real or has it all been happening inside my head?"
to which Dumbledore replies (I love this), "Of course, it's all been happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

orthohawk: "Of course, it's all been happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

Philosophy 101. Descartes anyone?

Donniedillon:
Philosophy 101. Descartes anyone?

Meditations on First Philosophy

Meditation Three, Argument 1.2

"The cause of an idea must have at least as much formal reality as the idea has objective reality."

"I drink therefore I am P*&^%t."

bagatelo:

erinja:And if anyone here gets an under the table copy I encourage you also not to put it on bittorrent or Wikileaks. It would render meaningless the hours and hours of work that people have done to keep this thing legal and aboveboard.

Very true.

On the other hand, if someone wants to hazard their own translation they can do whatever they like with it - and be responsible for the consequences. It would be a gross injustice to these translators to misuse their work without permission.

Or "someone" could translate any of the many classic, public domain literary works that have not yet been translated into Esperanto. "Someone" could start with short stories by Mark Twain, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, etc. (Yes I know some of this has been translated, but not everything). This would be legal, and let's be honest, surely some of these classics have enduring literary value at least as high as Harry Potter.

trojo: Or "someone" could translate any of the many classic, public domain literary works that have not yet been translated into Esperanto. "Someone" could start with short stories by Mark Twain, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, etc. (Yes I know some of this has been translated, but not everything). This would be legal, and let's be honest, surely some of these classics have enduring literary value at least as high as Harry Potter.

As a beginner, I wouldn't like to get carried away with any ambitions to make serious contributions to translated Esperanto literature, but should such a happy day ever befall me, where could one learn the necessary translation skills, or has Esperanto matured to the point where this kind of thing is best avoided by amateurs and left to the professionally skilled?

You learn by doing. If you have the inclination just go ahead and do it. Worst case scenario, a wretched translation takes up some space on your hard drive.

You can also treat this as a learning exercise by translating a work that you already know to be translated, and then comparing your work to the existing translation.