A manufacturer wants your opinion on 9.7" device features

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by fishface

Right, so the roll is X wide, the height or width of a 9.7" screen, plus bezel, is Y. Then Y divides X, or X = kY for some integer k; I'm now wondering what X/(k-1) would be and why nobody picks that (too huge?). The roll's gotta be pretty small (i.e., k<5) for it to matter so much.

some of the choices also have to do with drivers/processors. it wasnt until "recently" they had suitable silicone to drive the bigger displays at a decent rate and battery life. The recent pushes by folks like TI with its omap SOC have/will greatly improve the ability to make larger screened devices.


you know- i didnt ask the size of the production film before cutting. i should do that.

[Sydney's Mom]

Aren't fingerprints a big issue with touch screen? Obviously, I have never used one, but I am scared of them for that reason.

[fishface]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Aren't fingerprints a big issue with touch screen? Obviously, I have never used one, but I am scared of them for that reason.

Not unless you have some kind of fetish for eating greasy fries while using your device. Or, I dunno, if your complexion is extremely oily and you keep touching your face.

Most people never have a problem. Wouldn't recommend it for young children though.

[SameOldStory]

I just lick my fingers clean before I read.

Really though, no problems. Kids might have more of a problem. If you can find many that want to read.

[brainycat]

Other features that are make or break for me, but not on the survey;
MicroSD
Hilite/Annotate documents, export as HTML or TXT
bookmarks with backup/restore capability
Support epub and pdf
external keyboard (usb or BT)
free form notes app
typed notes app

[johnc]

agree with brainycat

Other features that are make or break for me, but not on the survey;
MicroSD
Hilite/Annotate documents, export as HTML or TXT
bookmarks with backup/restore capability
Support epub and pdf
external keyboard (usb or BT)
free form notes app
typed notes app

but would add
SD (micro is fine but if I have a SD I can use a adapter to get micro)
replaceable battery

nice to have but not required
microphone
speaker
built-in lighting method or attached to the external cover lightwedge method prefered
metal not plastic case (I know from experience that sony's case saved my PRS500 from being crushed)

[capidamonte]

I'd like to propose the A5 Revolution.

If we'd shift our primary paper-size to A5, we'd save a LOT of paper, make portability improvements, and we'd have a logical screen-size to shoot for.

Then we'd basically need two sizes of screen, A5 and A4, which would scale beautifully, and allow two-page reading in landscape on an A4 reader.

Most PDFs, which are in US Letter size, would read pretty well on an A4 screen.

Simple, really.

cap

[TallMomof2]

I own a couple of large screen readers and IMO there are requirements and "nice to have"s. I prefer 3G to wifi simply because 99% of the time I have 3G coverage but wifi only at home and free hotspots. The other requirements are dictionary, document search, and a web browser.

A requirement for me that is not mentioned in the poll is an SD card slot. I want to be able to store a lot of books on my reader. Plus if you start loading pdfs then storage is quickly used up.

In regard to the "nice to have"s: Touchscreens have pluses and minuses. The best touchscreen are the ones that are embedded under the eink because they don't reduce the contrast and add glare. However, you must use a stylus and can't use a finger. The other option is a physical keyboard and with that you deal with response time.

Color is fine but you can't get it yet in eink and I don't want an LCD/LED screen. Same with video. The mp3 player is okay as long as it supports audio books well.

[JLYates]

I have only just bought my reader (Sony 900) and I immediately thought, who are you reaching out to, who is the target audience? Someone beat me to it, however in stating that that should be the first step.

It needs to be decided on if you are focusing on professional/business type buyers; college students; special needs groups (e.g. vision impaired); or even general public.
Then, ask them what they would want. The general public makes it hard as there is so much variety that you will end up with a product that is a mixture of everything and unapealing to everyone because it is weak in all areas.

As a college grad student, I would want to have a variety of fonts and sizes of text and darker ink, a touch screen with stylus, internet (wireless) acess, a good dictionary, ability to catagorize different folders and to be able to cross reference, to not be limited to one format, not just epub, or adobe or any others, but universal. I would want to be able to have pdf articles from professional journals but also be able to download some "pleasure books" for a break from the agony of reading boring articles. Plenty of space to store the information, but also the ability to have SD so I can save. Ability to take notes, highlight, and perhaps draw, and a keyboard and a place to store a lightweight light or else have a backlight that I can change from brighter to dim.
Color is not needed, nor is music, games.
If just an ereader for pleasure, touch screen with stylus, differnt size text, fonts, darker ink, backlight, audio, dictionary, ability to catagorize lists, cross reference by authors, titles, genres, series, stand alone books, and maybe even sub categories, such as my favorite genre, paranormal then vampires, shifters and others, or mystery then US or British, contemporary, historical.
Again, I don't need color, music, games
If for a specific group, such as those who are vision imparied, whether due to age or other, larger size fonts and text, darker and thicker fonts and text, larger size of symbols, such as home, options; touch screen but also buttons, that are larger size for easy of seeing and touching, better quality of audio.
Decide on who you want to attract most, who you want to be the major buyers of the products and then make it to fit that group or a blending of two groups such as professional and college or readers and vision impaired.
I don't remember who said it, but this quote fits here, you can please some of the people all the time, but not all of the people all the time.
It is impossible to make a ereader to please everyone, figure out who you want to please, encourage to buy your product and then focus on pleasing them.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by capidamonte

I'd like to propose the A5 Revolution.

If we'd shift our primary paper-size to A5, we'd save a LOT of paper, make portability improvements, and we'd have a logical screen-size to shoot for.

Then we'd basically need two sizes of screen, A5 and A4, which would scale beautifully, and allow two-page reading in landscape on an A4 reader.

Most PDFs, which are in US Letter size, would read pretty well on an A4 screen.

Simple, really.

cap

That would be great, but I'd definitely need the A4 sized reader as even if we move to A5 I'd still have to read/re-read pdfs of research articles already published (a good century worth of research in my field!) and much only available in A4/8.5x11" sizes.

[capidamonte]

Yup, I agree. Two screen sizes (or three if someone thinks that A5 is too big -- A6 is exactly half the size of A5.)

Then everything can be scaled properly, or configured for a standard size.

It's a dream. It will never happen.

Not without a Revolution.

cap

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Aren't fingerprints a big issue with touch screen? Obviously, I have never used one, but I am scared of them for that reason.

No. Unless you have an Ipad, naturally. I've seen one. It was fingerprint galore...

Fingerprints are mostly seen on glossy surfaces. If you take a matte surface, you won't see them unless you've really dirty fingers (fat and grease). I personally wouldn't buy a glossy device, even if the colours might be more "fibrant"...

[6charlong]

The survey doesn't have the option so I'll add this: book readers are sold on a worldwide market, your reader needs a user replaceable battery. No manufacturer has local repair shops everywhere but there is a postal system everywhere that can deliver a little battery to your customers to install themselves, if you have the forethought to support it.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by 6charlong

The survey doesn't have the option so I'll add this: book readers are sold on a worldwide market, your reader needs a user replaceable battery. No manufacturer has local repair shops everywhere but there is a postal system everywhere that can deliver a little battery to your customers to install themselves, if you have the forethought to support it.

Make that a "Commonly Available" User replaceable battery.
A (international) special order battery is very difficult to get past some import restrictions.

Same goes for the Charge connection.
Standard connection cable and polarity and voltage (Mini USB comes to mind)

[speakingtohe]

organizational abilities like having subfolders and ability to use series numbers and sort by them
Plus the fonts and paragraph settings and anything that makes books easier to read.
Having only a six inch reader now I hate page numbers and headings. Too ugly