Quote:
Originally Posted by ppw
I can hold my K3 and turn pages all with ONE hand. Not sure how would I do that with a touch interface. But maybe a touch interface combined with minimal buttons work the best.
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Actually, a 5-way controller, properly implemented--like on the PB360--lets you control *everything* with one finger. You don't need the added expense of the touchscreen.
On my 360, I've programmed the left-right clicks to page forward and back, long-presses jump 10 pages forward and back; up and down jump to next or last chapter, long-presses call the TOC or dictionaries. Center button calls the app menu, long press the note-taking/highlighting. All by *my choice*; It's my reader and my GUI.
The K2/K3 5-way implementation isn't bad but it isn't great either; mostly it treats the switch as a mouse replacement. The Kindle UI is decent on discoverability but lacking in customizability and single-handed operation, though Amazon gets credit for trying. The touch screen crowd is so hooked on replicating the paper experience they don't even try.
I'm hoping that if Amazon does go with a Touch screen on one of the K4s, they remember the Rocketbook. Better yet, I hope their non-touch K4 ditches the keyboard and goes for a clean 5-way based GUI; its cheaper and the most motion efficient control system for reading.
Of the currently available touch models, I might consider the Nook Touch but you couldn't pay me to use the Kobo or Sonys.
Edit: Among the advantages of a good button-based interface for *reading* are the tactile feedback and ability to handle the display arbitrarilly without activating functions accidentally. The PB360 requires just the right amount of force to activate the rocker ring so I can keep my thumb on it and just increase the pressure to activate. No finger motion required.
I'm a fan of touchscreen on PDAs and computers but not for reading.
If nothing else, I can hold the PB360 in one hand and a sandwich with the other.
