MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - As E Ink approaches the performance of newspaper

Alexander Turcic · 02-04-2006, 08:16 PM

Sun reporter Frank D. Roylance confirms what we knew all along, namely that E Ink technology is ready for take-off. In his article Spreading the e-word he mentions three upcoming products based on this much hyped technology:

The Sony Portable Reader PRS-500, a paperback-sized dedicated e-book reader that has a 170 pixels per inch resolution and four levels of greyscale. Available for USD $349.99 (check Teleread on vanishing prices) this spring.
The 4-inch square Weather Wizard station by Ambient Devices, a wireless weather station that displays a five day forecast. Available for about USD $100 this spring.
The Lexar JumpDrive Mercury USB stick that features a unique on-board storage capacity meter.

I stumbled upon one interesting comment made by Ben Bederson, director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland, who argues that the Sony Reader display is narrower and shorter than the ideals for easy reading, "which means the viewer will be navigating too much with the eye from line to line, and with the machine from page to page." It's obvious Mr Bederson has never tried to read a full-length e-book on a PDA.

Meanwhile, The Times sounds a lot more enthusiastic:

Because each virtual page of the display contains slightly fewer words than a normal page, the speed of each "turn" must be fast or the flow of reading is broken too easily. A turn that took a second made an earlier version [the Sony Librie] unusable.

The half-second that it now takes to update a page feels about right. The first three pages of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code took only a second or so longer to read than using the paperback version.

The "killer application" of the Reader is probably more on the software side. The latest device has none of the restrictions that dragged down earlier versions. It is more open in what files it will handle and can store indefinitely about 100 books on a £30 memory chip.

Related links: Sony's new e-book reader officially announced, Sony Reader vs. iRex Iliad e-book reader, Poll: Which e-reader would you choose?

02-04-2006, 08:16 PM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,163 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	As E Ink approaches the performance of newspaper Sun reporter Frank D. Roylance confirms what we knew all along, namely that E Ink technology is ready for take-off. In his article Spreading the e-word he mentions three upcoming products based on this much hyped technology: The Sony Portable Reader PRS-500, a paperback-sized dedicated e-book reader that has a 170 pixels per inch resolution and four levels of greyscale. Available for USD $349.99 (check Teleread on vanishing prices) this spring. The 4-inch square Weather Wizard station by Ambient Devices, a wireless weather station that displays a five day forecast. Available for about USD $100 this spring. The Lexar JumpDrive Mercury USB stick that features a unique on-board storage capacity meter. I stumbled upon one interesting comment made by Ben Bederson, director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland, who argues that the Sony Reader display is narrower and shorter than the ideals for easy reading, "which means the viewer will be navigating too much with the eye from line to line, and with the machine from page to page." It's obvious Mr Bederson has never tried to read a full-length e-book on a PDA. Meanwhile, The Times sounds a lot more enthusiastic: Because each virtual page of the display contains slightly fewer words than a normal page, the speed of each "turn" must be fast or the flow of reading is broken too easily. A turn that took a second made an earlier version [the Sony Librie] unusable. The half-second that it now takes to update a page feels about right. The first three pages of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code took only a second or so longer to read than using the paperback version. The "killer application" of the Reader is probably more on the software side. The latest device has none of the restrictions that dragged down earlier versions. It is more open in what files it will handle and can store indefinitely about 100 books on a £30 memory chip. Related links: Sony's new e-book reader officially announced, Sony Reader vs. iRex Iliad e-book reader, Poll: Which e-reader would you choose?