Very disappointed with the way the tech is developing.

[gtriever]

Originally Posted by harryE123

But trust me, the market is there, and the public is ready, a decent a4 or close pdf e-reader will be a best seller in academia and people who read lots of technical articles for example.

As a communications tech who sometimes gets calls to assist in other service areas (up to 250 miles away), I would love to have a "large" e-reader for my tech manuals, service bulletins and self-generated tech notes. My ideal reader would be an e-ink device that would allow viewing of not only .pdf, but also .doc and .xls formats.

The laptop, netbook and smartphone really don't cut it when you're standing outside a transmitter hut in bright sunlight... and 11 linear ft. of "tech support on paper" is hard to carry in one hand.

[harryE123]

For sure, I guess as another poster said in an excellent post about waiting for the various plastic logics, and pixel qis and all, we can't hold our breath anymore, but expect a long wait so we won't be constantly disappointed.

[thinkpad]

We will probably have to wait until late 2010 or the beginning of 2011 before we start seeing interesting devices with bigger screens.

Pixel QI's 10 inch screen is going to be incorporated into the Lattice from Innoversal and the Adam from Notion Ink. They should be able to offer something new:
A compromise between e-ink and lcd technology in a tablet-format.

[Greg Anos]

E-readers haven't progressed because display technology hasn't progressed. Screen technology has enormous plant costs (in the Billions of $US, per plant), and extreme competition and razor thin margins. So nobody is willing to invest in the plant to make new technologies. That's all I ever heard at SID in 2009.

E-ink exists today only because the VC's who bought the rights from Xerox were willing to build a pilot plant to make screens. Once screen were available on the market, then the e-ink readers could hit the market.

When was e-ink invented? The early 1980's... But nobody was willing to invest in the plant to make it.

So the Qualcomm announcement of 2 Billion $US for a Mirasol plant, tells me that the Mirasol tech will eventually hit the marketplace. Whether it's Amazon or Apple or Chinese clones, is immaterial to me. (I like Chinese ebook readers, I use ASTAK/BeBook readers exclusively)

[Graham]

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

Pixel QI's 10 inch screen is going to be incorporated into the Lattice from Innoversal and the Adam from Notion Ink. They should be able to offer something new:
A compromise between e-ink and lcd technology in a tablet-format.

The problem with both of these is that the screens are reported to be 1024x600, which isn't a great ratio for reading A4 or Letter documents in portrait. I suspect most of us would still have to zoom, or read in landscape and scroll, to read in comfort.

Graham

[harryE123]

very interesting post Ralph, thanks.

I have the uninformed impression that pixel qi will be a compromise that won't do anything really well, but I could be wrong. Another problem will be software of course.

[HamsterRage]

What I don't get is how people always seem to point to some teeny-tiny segment of the reading universe to point out how eReaders are inadequate. People that are buying ereaders are buying them primarily to read novels. Straight text with no fixed page layout.

Nobody reads coffee-table books. They just sit on the coffee-table, which is why they are called coffee-table books. So you don't need an ereader for them.

I can't remember the last time I cracked the cover on a textbook. I can't be the only one. Anyways, wiki's and other hyperlinked content is probably better than traditional print for textbooks.

Magazines and newspapers are probably doomed. Why build an ereader to deal with a doomed format?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

...Nobody reads coffee-table books...

I wish people would quit calling me Nobody!

[harryE123]

@the Hamster.

That's a perfect way to rationalise a stale market: Why would you need good quality screens, responsive and intuitive software, larger screens (or even colour e-ink), format compatibility, open stardards etc. etc. when all people do with their devices is read novels.

Of course why would you need large lcd screens, wireless peripherals, small footprint, fast cpus and large hard drives when all people do with the computers (circa) 1980 is type on some rudimentary spreadsheets and word processors and play a few moronic games.

btw, sure wikis are better than textbooks, that's why 0% universities and students (and interested readers) learn via wikis, and magazines and newspapers are doomed because you say so, but hey the ipad has tons of magazine subscriptions and newspaper subscriptions and so does (in a compromised way of course) the kindle.

[Tom Wood]

I dunno, I can see a market for very cheap ereaders replacing magazines and newspapers in places where people have to wait, like doctor and dentist offices. Leave a dozen or so lying around and tether them to the furniture. Maybe in airports, airplanes and other places. EDIT: Install a few popular magazine/newspapers on them. Those publications would probably PAY to be on those devices in those locations since they will have a captive audience of a known type of person.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

What I don't get is how people always seem to point to some teeny-tiny segment of the reading universe to point out how eReaders are inadequate. People that are buying ereaders are buying them primarily to read novels. Straight text with no fixed page layout.

Nobody reads coffee-table books. They just sit on the coffee-table, which is why they are called coffee-table books. So you don't need an ereader for them.

I can't remember the last time I cracked the cover on a textbook. I can't be the only one. Anyways, wiki's and other hyperlinked content is probably better than traditional print for textbooks.

Magazines and newspapers are probably doomed. Why build an ereader to deal with a doomed format?

Thank you! I think that people just need to have SOMETHING to bitch about.

If you are a tech geek, a tweaker, or any other kind of "teeny-tiny segment" of the ereader market, then realize that this market doesn't exist to cater to your whimsical needs.

It is aimed at people who simply want to take pleasure in reading books. Someone like me who hasn't been in a bookstore in YEARS and has been doing most of her reading on a computer since I'm able to adjust the size of the text to where it is comfortable for me.

I am one of MILLIONS of aging baby boomer's who love to read but it's getting harder & harder to read pbooks.

The current & growing crop of ereaders are allowing me to once again enjoy a life long habit!

There are more than enough of us to keep the ereading markets in business & profitable for years to come. At some point I will probably buy an Ipad like reader so that I can have a multifunction machine.

This is not, does not, should be, have to be an either or scenario. All can exist within the same market and more than likely will do so.

[HamsterRage]

Originally Posted by harryE123

@the Hamster.

That's a perfect way to rationalise a stale market: Why would you need good quality screens, responsive and intuitive software, larger screens (or even colour e-ink), format compatibility, open stardards etc. etc. when all people do with their devices is read novels.

Of course why would you need large lcd screens, wireless peripherals, small footprint, fast cpus and large hard drives when all people do with the computers (circa) 1980 is type on some rudimentary spreadsheets and word processors and play a few moronic games.

btw, sure wikis are better than textbooks, that's why 0% universities and students (and interested readers) learn via wikis, and magazines and newspapers are doomed because you say so, but hey the ipad has tons of magazine subscriptions and newspaper subscriptions and so does (in a compromised way of course) the kindle.

Newspapers are doomed because I say so? Because I say so?

Virtually every print newspaper in the western world is on the ropes. Subscriptions are plummeting, ad revenues are plummeting and share prices are rock bottom. It's the same thing for tons of magazines. And it's not because I say so.

Hang on. "The ipad [sic] has tons of magazine subscriptions and newspaper subscriptions". Which is exactly what I was saying. The paper format is dying, and the content is being delivered in new ways. I'll admit that I've not seen any of this content on an iPad, but I'd be willing to bet that it's not just a digital copy of the print format. And if it is today, it won't be in a few years.

It doesn't take much reflection to see that an ordinary eBook format is absolutely the worst format for a textbook. Any reasonable textbook format is going to allow highlighting and notes, hypertexting and linking, embedded flash and video, and all kinds of other interactive elements.

So why hold out for a giant, colour, dedicated eReader to read newspapers, magazines and textbooks? It's not the right answer. Something like an iPad, that can handle all of these interactive elements (maybe not the flash) is closer to the right answer. And surprise, surprise, the market's going to be flooded with these devices before Christmas.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

I wish people would quit calling me Nobody!

Holy COW!! I saw your biography then!!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070215/

Classic spaghetti western fare for sure!!

[harryE123]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Thank you! I think that people just need to have SOMETHING to bitch about.

If you are a tech geek, a tweaker, or any other kind of "teeny-tiny segment" of the ereader market, then realize that this market doesn't exist to cater to your whimsical needs.

It is aimed at people who simply want to take pleasure in reading books. Someone like me who hasn't been in a bookstore in YEARS and has been doing most of her reading on a computer since I'm able to adjust the size of the text to where it is comfortable for me.

I am one of MILLIONS of aging baby boomer's who love to read but it's getting harder & harder to read pbooks.

The current & growing crop of ereaders are allowing me to once again enjoy a life long habit!

There are more than enough of us to keep the ereading markets in business & profitable for years to come. At some point I will probably buy an Ipad like reader so that I can have a multifunction machine.

This is not, does not, should be, have to be an either or scenario. All can exist within the same market and more than likely will do so.

I am happy that you like your reader but it's offensive to suggest that just because some of us have been reading these forums for more than four years and expected that by then we'd eventually get some device larger than 6" with a very good screen, cross platform standards for ebooks (and not tied to particular vendors), intuitive os's etc. etc. etc. are just bitching for nothing. There have been a large number of people who would agree with me, surely they are not all misguided just because you like your digital reader.

It's close to self evident to anyone following this kind of tech that it hasn't evolved as we hoped for, be it for tablets overtaking them, be it for amazon stifling the market, be it for low margins on these devices because of competition from other gadgets or because of their single purpose nature, etc. etc. It's not like people are "bitching" here about some minor tech point on personal computers which are pretty mature technology, most have very valid, very pertinent points about a very immature technology that's not fitting a lot of people's needs, that need a lot of work to evolve, and that hasn't done so adequately or quickly enough as it once promised too with companies (irex) once market leaders folding (together with their larger screen products) and others (plastic logic) announcing long awaited vapourware.

And now you land from the moon, someone gives you a 1950s b&w tv set and you go, hey what's wrong it, I love watching tv on that. Well, good for you, but that doesn't mean that said tech is where it should be. And no one here has been asking for any futuristic additions to ebook readers, merely better and faster os'es, decent sized screens, and the ability to interchangeably read books on once devices from different vendors. That's hardly a bitchy demand.

[harryE123]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

Newspapers are doomed because I say so? Because I say so?

Virtually every print newspaper in the western world is on the ropes. Subscriptions are plummeting, ad revenues are plummeting and share prices are rock bottom. It's the same thing for tons of magazines. And it's not because I say so.

Hang on. "The ipad [sic] has tons of magazine subscriptions and newspaper subscriptions". Which is exactly what I was saying. The paper format is dying, and the content is being delivered in new ways. I'll admit that I've not seen any of this content on an iPad, but I'd be willing to bet that it's not just a digital copy of the print format. And if it is today, it won't be in a few years.

It doesn't take much reflection to see that an ordinary eBook format is absolutely the worst format for a textbook. Any reasonable textbook format is going to allow highlighting and notes, hypertexting and linking, embedded flash and video, and all kinds of other interactive elements.

So why hold out for a giant, colour, dedicated eReader to read newspapers, magazines and textbooks? It's not the right answer. Something like an iPad, that can handle all of these interactive elements (maybe not the flash) is closer to the right answer. And surprise, surprise, the market's going to be flooded with these devices before Christmas.

What are you talking about? You said newspapers and magazines are dead yet you admit are finding new life with a decent device such as the ipad, why wouldn't they find new life with a good (maybe even colour) ebook reader?

You have some issue with textbooks and you want hyperlinks in them and all that blah, yet textbooks are what 99.999% of people read to educate themselves. So why would a good eink reader suffer from the lack of video or hyperlinks (and btw flash is proprietary format for video so no need to say flash and video...) since all textbooks don't have these and yet no one is really missing them. Why would you need video or hyperlinks for textbook in maths or literature? A good eink reader able to handle colour and fast enough would be the perfect alternative for a paper textbook because it would emulate a real life one. You don't see people running on the streets complaining for lack of (the very distracting and counter to any concentration) hyperlinks and videos, people are very happy thank you very much with text books as they are, and they'd be happier if they could have them on a good eink device too for portability. Some kids might get their kicks from video too, and they might not be bothered with the lcd eye strain, but that's not to say that the rest, the vast majority, won't prefer an eink reader.

And btw why the smarty [sic] after the ipad, should I have spelled it iPad instead?