eBooks, News December 22, 2009

Dedicated eBook Readers (part 1) – A Gear Diary Point/Counter-Point

Carly and I have been talking… okay.. more accurately arguing… about the virtues of dedicated e-book readers. She says they make total sense. I say they are a form of “transitional gadget” that is good for now but obsolete within a short period of time.

A complete discussion is on the way in the next day or two but we thought we might share just a bit of what has been taking place between us…

Tags: Books and eBooks, Spoof

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About Dan Cohen

View all posts by Dan Cohen

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him.

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Amy Zunk

Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore! This sounds like the argument my fiancee and I have been having for the last month.
http://www.geardiary.com Judie Lipsett

This was AWESOME! But the “Jane, you ignorant SLUT!” was classic!
http://www.geardiary.com Douglas Moran

I think the market is showing you to be wrong, actually, Dan. I think eBook readers need color, backlighting, and a ‘way better page refresh rate, but I think there must be a lot of people out there who *do* want a device that just does one thing.

I’m a big believer in convergent devices; I’ve wanted one for, literally, decades, and am so, so happy with my iPhone (even if I *do* wish it had a slightly larger screen). But I’m a nerd.

I posit that we have two different needs here, and the different devices fulfill those needs. For your more techy, nerdy type, there’s a convergent device like an iPhone. For your more booky, “keep that weird electronic dingus off my lawn!” types, you have a dedicated book reader. I mean, why not?
alese

I was always looking for a convergent device, to be able to do everything at once. But lately some things got me thinking about that.
last week I tried to read some PDF books on my HTC Advantage and I realized that it’s actually a major pain and inconvenience to try and read a PDF with pictures on 5″ VGA screen – it’s not a nice experience at all.
Of course I have my notebook with 15″ screen that I could use for such books, but somehow I just don’t see having my 3 kg notebook on my lap overheating as a good reading experience.
So for reading PDFs and similar stuff I think a tablet device with at least 7″ display or a bigger reader (Kindle DX) would be perfect and after some thought I realized that probably Kindle would fit me and my family better then a tablet.
First it’s simpler to use, so I wouldn’t need to do maintenance, hacks, upgrades… it would be just for reading. Then there is outdoors readability – even the best color LCDs can’t compare to e-paper there. The device is also light, has great battery life compared to any tablet and the e-paper has also one other great feature – whatever is displayed on screen stays there – so you can for instance open a page with a recipe and then leave it on kitchen counter while you cook not worrying about constant switching on/off of the screen or battery – it’s just more like paper.
Now I only have to decide if I should wait for DX international edition or go for Kindle2 – I would prefer bigger screen, but DX is almost twice the price of Kindle2 and I am impatient…
aamp

Hello everyone, I think this argument misses the point entirely. Agreeing with @alese I have to say it’s not about uni/multi talented devices, it about the advantages and disadvantages of 2 things – E-Ink and the ‘book’ formfactor:

- E-Ink
Adv: Power saving, indoor/outdoor, looks like paper.
Dis: Greyscale only, slow update rate

So basically it’s good for READING, books, news, RSS feeds (reading only), maybe even for Facebook and a little web browsing. But, it’s not very good for viewing pics and videos or playing games etc because they either require colour or fast update rates.

- Formfactor
Adv: Large screen, slim, light, no heat.
Dis: Will not fit in a pocket, lacks processing power.

This may not remain a difference for long (as ARM/Android basd tablets start arriving) but for now you only really find this type of slim and light formfactor available in ebook readers. Tablets like the WebStation or JooJoo may move into this area but price is also a factor.

Once we get a single screen tablet that includes both E-Ink and LCD screens, large enough to browse websites and light enough so you don’t need a stand for it, with a long lasting battery, and also powerful but low-heat – then we’ll get convergence!

Maybe a PixelQi device??

PS. Keep up the good work, love the site.
http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

I really enjoyed that as a fan of SNL back in the 70′s

I think there are two sides to the coin, which is why the point / counterpoint makes sense. I personally like converged devices … but for someone like my wife who *isn’t* doing that now, a dedicated unit is great. Simple and direct and efficient.
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