E Ink forecasts loss as ebook device demand falls

[eping]

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

I think a more accurate comparison is e-ink vs. lcd as similar to basic DVD player vs. Blu-ray. Blu-ray players are backwards compatible with ordinary DVDs much as smartphones and tablets are easily able to display anything that e-ink can.

This isn't to downplay the obvious differences in display quality and battery life.

Perhaps not.
Your comparison may be used on ereader vs tablet that tablet can be used as ereader, but not vice versa, that's true.
but eink and lcd are quite different.
eink works under light especially under sunshine, while lcd works better
away from sunshine. So they have complete different market and advantage.

Now eink should be better used on outdoor devices, where lcd can not compete.
And in the future, color eink can be a revolution of screen.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

I think a more accurate comparison is e-ink vs. lcd as similar to basic DVD player vs. Blu-ray. Blu-ray players are backwards compatible with ordinary DVDs much as smartphones and tablets are easily able to display anything that e-ink can.

This isn't to downplay the obvious differences in display quality and battery life.

ITA with that description and it's another reason why e ink sales are forecasted to decline.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I've just bought an iPad mini...

Originally Posted by Josieb1

...I'm fed up with the way Amazon are locking down the Kindle software...

Oh, the irony...

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by afv011

Oh, the irony...

Yes and no? I'm not sure there really is a tablet running an open system at the moment. Maybe tablets running the Firefox OS would count but Firefox is just starting to get into mobile OS business. Ubuntu is another option but again, how popular is that platform? An iPad mini is probably a little more open than a Kindle Fire and a Kindle e-ink reader. At least on an iPad you can download e-books from various stores and download various e-reader apps. With an e-ink Kindle you really are stuck with buying from Amazon unless you don't mind dealing with DRM and converting e-books via Calibre.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by faithbw

With an e-ink Kindle you really are stuck with buying from Amazon unless you don't mind dealing with DRM and converting e-books via Calibre.

Really? Do people REALLY still believe this? I buy from http://www.baenebooks.com/ all the time and send them directly to my Kindle. https://www.allromanceebooks.com/ and http://www.omnilit.com/ also sell books for the Kindle...no DRM to deal with, and no conversion needed. Kindle also makes it easier, because you never have to connect your reader to your computer if you don't want to--just email your books to your account (or use the Send to Kindle app) and your books are available on as many devices as you want to connect to your account.

Shari

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by shalym

Really? Do people REALLY still believe this? I buy from http://www.baenebooks.com/ all the time and send them directly to my Kindle. https://www.allromanceebooks.com/ and http://www.omnilit.com/ also sell books for the Kindle...no DRM to deal with, and no conversion needed. Kindle also makes it easier, because you never have to connect your reader to your computer if you don't want to--just email your books to your account (or use the Send to Kindle app) and your books are available on as many devices as you want to connect to your account.

Shari

That's good to know for the Kindle owners. Of course, the Kindle e-ink reader is still more closed than an iPad or an Android tablet.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by faithbw

That's good to know for the Kindle owners. Of course, the Kindle e-ink reader is still more closed than an iPad or an Android tablet.

But no more closed than the LCD Kindle Fire tablet.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by faithbw

That's good to know for the Kindle owners. Of course, the Kindle e-ink reader is still more closed than an iPad or an Android tablet.

And the Nook/Kobo/Sony is also more closed than a tablet.

You really hate Amazon, don't you?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

But no more closed than the LCD Kindle Fire tablet.

You mean like the Kindle Fire I use Calibre Companion for organization on and read with Moon+ Pro and Mantano instead of the Kindle app? (no it's not rooted or anything)

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by afv011

Oh, the irony...

It's an irony that I'm happy with. I can read using any app I want rather than stuck with Amazon's choice of fonts etc.

I don't buy my books from Amazon so the world as they say is my oyster

Plus I write book reviews so I have the ability to write them while traveling using Pages then syncing with Dropbox etc. and it's a tablet. I'll always need an eink ereader for the summer but I doubt it will be another Kindle, I'm more luckily to go with Kobo when I need to upgrade, but as I currently have 4 ereaders I can't see that's anytime soon.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

You mean like the Kindle Fire I use Calibre Companion for organization on and read with Moon+ Pro and Mantano instead of the Kindle app? (no it's not rooted or anything)

That's the set up i had with my Nook HD, but I never really got on with the android system, that's why I finally shelled out for a retina mini ipad. Expensive I know but it's exactly what I wanted. I doubt I'll buy a big ipad again.

[Ebookfans]

Originally Posted by jswinden

IMO, the main reason they are experiencing double digit decline is because they rarely come up with anything other than incremental spec bumps. The world passed by those guys long ago and now they are fading in our rear view mirrors.

Lol agreeable

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by joehunt

For me, the text on my Paperwhite is the best for reading and my Nexus 7.2 is what's collecting dust on that shelf.

I bought a Nexus 7.2 late last year and I keep forgetting I have it. I tried to read on it but both my eyes and my hands got tired. Reading on the Kobo is just so much more pleasant.

And for everything else (web, weather, email), I use my phone.

[WT Sharpe]

Until the day I die, or until devices with back-lit screens can solve the problem of glare and the problem of reading in bright sunlight, devices using E Ink will still have at least one paying customer. I guess it depends on your personal habits, but reading books on tablets not for me. For folks who only read at night or have a favorite reading chair safe from the glare from windows and awkwardly placed room lights I'm sure tablets are fine for reading, but for folks like me they're the pits. My favorite reading spot in good weather is our gazebo, and there I can hardly even see what's on my iPad's screen on a sunny day. My other favorite spot is the living room chair by the window. There I can see the iPad's screen, but the glare from the window is a major distraction.

I hope the fortunes for the folks at E Ink do a turn-around, but as others have said, perhaps much of their misfortune has been due to their lack of developing new technologies. Where are the color E Ink screens that have been in development for years?

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

For folks who only read at night or have a favorite reading chair safe from the glare from windows and awkwardly placed room lights I'm sure tablets are fine for reading, but for folks like me they're the pits.

It's not the light upon an LCD screen that bothers me so much as the light beneath it.

Eink appeals to me because of the advanced technology it does not resemble.

Amazon will continue to make any device that people buy ebooks for.