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Originally Posted by ekaser
eInk devices (currently, and probably indefinitely, due to the limitations required to make the battery last so dang long) can not:
1) Quickly flip through the pages of a book to locate something visually.
2) Quickly scan through your library to locate a book visually.
3) Allow the USER to select their preferred reading software.
4) Allow the USER to add applications to their device.
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1) and 2) True, but you can do a keyword search and go straight to a location. It does bother me every once in awhile, even so I've never found it to be a deal-breaker (or worth slicing the battery time by 90%).
3) True, but really, who cares?
4) True, but if that's what you need, get a multifunction device.
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Originally Posted by ekaser
The current eInk devices are (and will likely remain, due to their power-hoarding requirements) purely "vendor-only software" devices....
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So will most tablets. Anything made by Microsoft, Apple, Palm, Sony etc will use a proprietary OS and/or proprietary software to read the purchased book. Somehow, though, we manage to survive without using unlocked OS's.
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Originally Posted by ekaser
we're stuck waiting months and years for the manufacturers to release firmware updates with minor tweaks to the standard ADE....
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Sure, just as anyone who has ever used any piece of software has had to wait for things like security updates or hardware fixes.
Open systems can be good, but they aren't a magic bullet -- especially if you happen to need a focused device. In most cases you'd still have to wind up relying on a vendor to release a patch you can trust or that has been thoroughly tested.
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Originally Posted by ekaser
the simple fact is that these devices are a computer, running Linux (for the most part today, but any OS will do...), and adding additional programs to them is NOT anything like adding a scanner to a printer.
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The point isn't that it's technically impossible. It's that if you want to make the best steak knife you can make, you won't include a corkscrew, a bottle opener, and a pair of scissors in the handle.
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Originally Posted by ekaser
Over 5-10 years, that will change. Because the trade-off in battery life and screen capabilities and CPU capabilities will shift enough to allow these kinds of features while still supporting "easy on the eyes" novel reading.
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Sure... if eInk rests on its laurels and/or no one else gets into the epaper act. E.g. 5 years from now, we're likely to have fast, flexible, color epaper displays that use even less power and have super-thin form factors.
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Originally Posted by ekaser
For the folks who are intent on arguing for the sanctity of a "novel reading only" device vrs some "multi-function device", not also arguing for having a computer on their desk that ONLY does spreadsheets (but does them VERY well) and another computer that ONLY does word-processing (but does that VERY well) and so on? Because it's silly.
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Good thing that isn't the argument, then.
There is nothing "sacred" about eInk; either it's useful or it isn't.
The point, rather simply, is that as long as an epaper-type device happens to provide a superior reading experience, and as long as reading is an experience that involves a significant amount of time, epaper-driven devices will stick around and be useful. Separately, there is an assumption that all devices "must" be superseded and/or replaced by multifunction devices, which historically isn't the case.