Rise and Fall of the eReader

[Kycoo]

Ereader sales will go up again when Amazon or BN offers a larger screen e-ink reader. At least this will force me, and other old eyes to upgrade. Righ now, I do not see any reason to replace my Kindle Touch or even older Kindle keyboard. The newer offerings are essentially the same (I do not consider the paper white a major upgrade over the touch).

Yeah, one of the issues is that noone is really pushing the limits on what ereaders can do.

There are incremental updates to be sure. I recently looked at the Kobo Glo as an upgrade to my Kobo Touch, then decided that it wasn't worth the price. Both devices present the same books in the same way. The only significant difference is an integrated light. The thing is, lights can be found almost everywhere: ceiling lights, lamps, clip-ons, flashlights, kerosene lamps, candles, etc..

Vendors really ought to look at ways to make their eink readers more competitive with LCD tablets. There is plenty of room to do so, and still have a dedicated device. A great start would be better PDF support, as well as supporting alternative formats (such as DjVu). What ever happened to introducing colour? Even washed out or over saturated colours would be a bigger upgrade than an integrated light, and still useful for books. Better title management, since people are loading tonnes of books on these critters. The list could go on. Just look at the wish lists that have been posted on these forums.

[Sydney's Mom]

After getting every iteration of the kindle, and several non-kindle tablets, I am even more in love with my paperwhite. The distractibility of the tablet kills it as a reader, as well as the battery life. I like the idea of a single purpose device. I am actually getting rid of my smartphone and going back to a phone that just makes calls. I find I forget to charge my smartphone, and the darn company charges $40 a month just to have it. But a tablet only costs $10 a month. I bought wi-fi only tablets (7" and 10"), but there is wi-fi everywhere. And I have a blackberry for work emails, so who cares if the spam on my personal email has to wait until the end of the day to reach me? I think more and more people will get sick of these multiple use devices. Just give me a one-purpose device that does one thing very, very well - paperwhite.

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I think more and more people will get sick of these multiple use devices. Just give me a one-purpose device that does one thing very, very well - paperwhite.

The thing is, it's easier to get a multipurpose device that does what you want then to ignore the rest.

For example: dedicated readers are great for novels, but aren't so hot for other types of books. General purpose devices are great for other stuff since they are much more flexible and third parties can build upon it.. So I think we're kinda stuck with the general purpose devices, with dedicated devices in a few niche markets.

(Personally I prefer a dedicated device, so my PDF reader is an Android tablet which has virtually every app removed. So much has been removed that it is closer to a dedicated ereader than devices like the Kindle Fire or Kobo Vox. Alas, that sort of solution isn't everyone's cup of tea.)

[wvcherrybomb]

If they ever stop making eInk readers, I'll be stocking up with a case of them as back ups.

Although I love my Kindle Fire and smart phone, I wouldn't want to read on them. Nothing can beat my Kindle Keyboard for reading.

[EowynCarter]

I now own a tablet (nexus 7), i carry it all the time. And still use my cybook. Why ? It's lighter, smaller, and can be read in sunlight. (Not that sunlight is much of a problem these days).

But i found reading mangas comfortable with the nexus, where the cybook screen is too small.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

If they ever stop making eInk readers, I'll be stocking up with a case of them as back ups.

Same here. They will pry my DX from my cold, dead hands, and I will probably haunt them afterwards . I'm actually contemplating getting a backup one off Ebay or something, now that Amazon has stopped selling them.

Or I'll get an Onyx Boox M92 as a backup.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by Kycoo

Ereader sales will go up again when Amazon or BN offers a larger screen e-ink reader.

Like the Kindle DX, you mean? I don't think there's that much demand for it, unfortunately. I, too, am currently in the market for an ereader that makes reading A4/letter size PDFs less painful, and there are some options out there, but it's not exactly a mass market must-have, as far as I can tell.

[theinfamousj]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I can see a time when there will be no distinction between ereaders and tablets: when the screen technology is very low-power, with reflective viewing and perfect frontlight, but also capable of video-rate refresh and vibrant colour.

I'd expect that to happen within the next twenty years. I don't expect power-hungry, fragile, back-lit LCDs to remain the dominant display technology.

Consider how swiftly CRT displays have disappeared, after being the dominant display technology for fifty years. LCDs will go the same way, but sooner.

I own a One Laptop Per Child XO-1 prototype and the type of screen you mention exists on it. Bit too bulky to use as an eReader though.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by hughes

According to Ebook Readers: Device to Go the Way of Dinosaurs?, shipments of ereaders appear to have peaked in 2011.

Are the long-run reading advantages offered by ereaders insufficient to offset the web, email, and movie versatility offered by tablets?

Meh....

[HansTWN]

Once we have better screens on tablets, some new technology that is good for everything --- from reading to videos --- then I would prefer to have an all-in-one. I don't see that coming, for tablets low price trumps everything at the moment and new technologies won't stand a chance unless one of the big guys takes the leap.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Once we have better screens on tablets, some new technology that is good for everything --- from reading to videos --- then I would prefer to have an all-in-one. I don't see that coming, for tablets low price trumps everything at the moment and new technologies won't stand a chance unless one of the big guys takes the leap.

I agree and I use both a tablet (Xoom, Kindle Fire) and eReaders (K2, Sony505) and sometimes my phone (Galaxy SIII) and (though not often) sometime my Desktop or my laptop. It's all good.

My biggest issue with eReaders is reading in the sunlight. I love to take long walks and read as I do - can't do that with an LCD tablet or phone, but my K2 is wonderful for that!

If the Kindle Fire could be used both indoors and out, that would be the one! (phone is fine, but a bit small)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by theinfamousj

I own a One Laptop Per Child XO-1 prototype and the type of screen you mention exists on it. Bit too bulky to use as an eReader though.

The Pixel Qi screen is very interesting, but is not fully what I described. It does have a low-ish power reflective mode, but the light still passes through polarisers, cutting it efficiency considerably, and in that mode is effectively greyscale only. It only displays a good colour range when backlit.

Originally Posted by kennyc

My biggest issue with eReaders is reading in the sunlight. I love to take long walks and read as I do - can't do that with an LCD tablet or phone, but my K2 is wonderful for that!

I recently discovered that eInk isn't a great all weather device either. Try reading outdoors when it's -20 C and you'll discover that the screen doesn't refresh. Okay, it's an odd situation. But I'd rather flip pages with my mitts on in such weather than fumble around with flipping pages with a dead tree book.

Display technology still has a long ways to go.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I recently discovered that eInk isn't a great all weather device either. Try reading outdoors when it's -20 C and you'll discover that the screen doesn't refresh. Okay, it's an odd situation. But I'd rather flip pages with my mitts on in such weather than fumble around with flipping pages with a dead tree book.

Display technology still has a long ways to go.

Silly boy, don't go out when it's that cold.