Kindle in the wrong direction

[nigeldb]

Hi,

Thought people might like to take a look at this blog http://mis-asia.com/opinion__and__bl...rong-direction

BTW neat picture of the concept laptop from Asus ... a colour, dual screen e-book.

This new device can only display in drab black and white (it has 16 shades of grey), cannot show videos and does not have a browser to surf the Web, nor can it send e-mail.

It seems to be deliberately attempting to become a totally separate device for reading digital versions of newspapers, magazines and text books only.
...........
There may be technical reasons, but I can’t help asking why the Kindle could not be a laptop with enhanced e-book reading capabilities, instead of an e-book reader missing many accepted laptop functionalities?

Must admit the blog has a point but I'll believe it when laptops become as light and as thin as my e-book.

Ndb

[brecklundin]

Of course Amazon and others want backward one-tricky-pony devices...it is the only way they believe they can restrict your use of content. What we need is for a court to decide that ebooks are NOT software once and for all.

As for the device that one was displayed at I think CeBIT this year (or was it the end of last year) and just wait for a few months when the "MaryLou" display goes primetime...the game is going to completely change.

[Andybaby]

one simple answer, the screen isn't there yet. the whole premise of the device is a screen that is readable in sunlight, I'm sure devices will grow as screens get better and better, and color, the devices will grow around that.

Apple seems to be taking a different route, going with all those functions, but sacrificing the readable in the sun aspect.

[thibaulthalpern]

Not every multifunction device performs its functions well. For instance, no one is going to use a cellphone camera to produce studio or professional quality photographs. And yet, we don't hear complaints that a professional digital SLR camera doesn't come with cellphone, keyboard, and laptop capabilities.

I think the article is totally misguided. I cannot imagine working long hours on a virtual keyboard. Yes, the iPhone and new Blackberry and numerous other cellphones now have virtual keyboards but those devices are not intended to, say for example, type out your dissertation of about 400 pages.

Similarly, there may not be really good reason to combine a digital reader with a laptop, cellphone, camera, video camera, radio, printer, fax, telefax, telex, gramaphone and DVD player. I think you may be getting the idea that multifunctionality doesn't always go together in one device?

I often suspect that technologists with such views seem to not really seriously engage with other forms of idea exchanges which are still very much alive today but likely that they themselves do not engage in on a daily basis. The book and professional/academic journal is one such type. A lot of technologists seem to mainly look at a computer screen and do their readings on screen and interact with videos and other internet apps. And to many of them, "THE web" is the messianic way and not only is it the way of the future but the future has already arrived. Ah...but little do they know how narrow-minded and insular their thinking is....

Yes, their world is one where those forms of information exchanges is what is relevant and efficacious to them. But they are also forgetting that not everyone in the world, including people in their very own demographics, use other forms of information exchanges. The printed book is still very much alive for me and many others. And they forget that to use their experiences to define as "THE way" and "THE future" is to simply in one big swoop deride the experiences of other people who do not engage in their forms of information exchanges or if they do, those forms of exchanges are not the only nor necessarily always the most efficacious forms of exchanges. To me, their views smack of myopia.

I don't think the Kindle is going backwards. It could certainly be improved, but it doesn't need to be like a laptop device.

[brecklundin]

oh, you bet that virtual keyboards are the devil!! hehehe....but the Kindle has yet to deliver even a reasonable way to organize your content. One thing I LIKE about the Kindle is a keyboard. In fact when I am in the mood to use it outside, I do not even notice the thing is there...

For my N800 I actually bought an iGo BT keyboard, that while not something I want to type on for hours, it is good enough for web browsing and emails.

My reason for the Kindle being a "backward" device is it gives with one hand (Whispernet and, well, being a small portable library) and takes away (consider the OS and UI) with the other. Eink displays OTH are far from the panacea that the marketing hyperbole tries to push.

[Gideon]

As Andy said... I don't think it's an elaborate plot, but the screen isn't there. It can't refresh enough for those sorts of functions to work all that well.

I don't want another LCD. If I want a LCD that can read a book, I can turn my laptop sideways. Or get a netbook. I don't. I want an eInk screen so I can read for hours and hours and have a bundle of texts with me, too.

So Asus can make whatever they want - but unless it works as well as eInk, I'll keep reading on my Kindle.

[brecklundin]

Gideon:

I feel just the opposite really. If I have to accept a device that is not "there yet" I am happy to "settle" for existing LCD options or the new MaryLou displays. If the display of a Kindle is $60 then the maryLou display will be about $10-$20 ($60ish for a 10" display) tops. This gives a far better option that being beta testers for a fee which is what all eink devices are right now...beta devices. Only when we see real business build eink devices will we be out of the beta period. Same logic applies to buying laptops, consumer grade laptops are beta devices and not designed to last. Business grade is a whole different ballgame, especially when used as a home system.

Still, given the amount of reading you have to do and that you have probs reading LCD type displays, I completely see your point. But remember it's not a one size fits all solution. Nothing is...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Of course Amazon and others want backward one-tricky-pony devices...it is the only way they believe they can restrict your use of content. What we need is for a court to decide that ebooks are NOT software once and for all.

I'm afraid that's already "definitively" settled - in Europe, at least. The EU's "eCommerce" directive categorises eBooks as "electronic information", which is why they are subject to the full rate of VAT.

[nigeldb]

I go to meetings with laptop, iphone and e-book, (Illiad user so I take all my meeting notes using the Iliad). My ideal device will be able to handle the basic work functions and personal stuff

Personal
--------
1. holding my reading material.... books, newspapers and magazines
2. simple web access so I don't have to fire up my laptop just to look at a single page.....iphone is great for this.

Work
-----
3. Make handwritten notes at meetings which I can then put into a word doc.
4. Very basic micrsoft office functionality, like MS Office Mobile...e.g. be able to open a spreadsheet and make a change.

Agree that it probably isn't best to try to merge everyhting into one device and isn't necessary.....if I want to do a complex spreadsheet, presentation or write a large doc, I'd use the laptop...but it would be really useful to be able to do the basics on the e-book when away from the desk.... Also woudl save my back lugging the heavy laptop around

Ndb

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Still, given the amount of reading you have to do and that you have probs reading LCD type displays, I completely see your point. But remember it's not a one size fits all solution. Nothing is...

Like Gideon, I also dislike reading on LCD but readability isn't the only reason I prefer eink. Current LCDs, even with very efficient backlighting, don't last as long as I would like on a charge. You're lucky to get 5-6 hrs. Some promise 8 but I've never seen one that lasted that long when actually tested in a review. Those big batteries are heavy and hot. I wouldn't want to read for hours holding something like that. I would love a multifunction tablet, but to replace my reader it's going to need to last at least an entire day on a charge and weigh in at a pound or less. (DX is slightly more but I'd find that acceptable for a large reader.) Even if I found current lit screens comfortable that's not enough to make them acceptable to me for a reader. Maybe PixelQi will get there. Maybe OLED. Until then, I'll have separate devices.

[JSWolf]

The thing is, there are no laptops of any kind yet available that have the battery life of my 505. Can you name me one laptop that I can get say 14 hours with even on the lowest power setting as reading does not require much in the way of processor.

[Renaldo]

I really don't like the dual screens on that Asus. One of the things I like about my 505 is that it only reads books, and it fits comfortably in one hand. That goes for most readers. A dual screen gatefold device loses all of that, and I'm betting it's a bit bulkier and awkward to use than it looks.

[Jaime_Astorga]

The laptop in the article reminds me of the XO-2 concept pictures. I do think computers may be moving in this direction.





Anyway, right now the whole gig of most eBook readers is that they use E-Ink to provide a paper-like display and huge battery efficiency, and it would be kind of hard to replicate a usable laptop of sorts using it.

[kuliand]

I don't get this geek obsession that a device has to be multi functional and has to be connected to the internet all the time it drives me mad with people saying they would just buy a netbook over a kindle if i want to browse the damn internet i'll use my computer.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by kuliand

I don't get this geek obsession that a device has to be multi functional and has to be connected to the internet all the time it drives me mad with people saying they would just buy a netbook over a kindle if i want to browse the damn internet i'll use my computer.

I'm one of the geeks who would love to have a multifunction device that was great for web browsing, some light writing and for reading books but I can't see a netbook filling this need. I've met a few people who are fine reading entire books on LCD screens. Most read on devices smaller than a netbook which are easier to hold for long periods. Occasionally I see people who read on a larger LCD screen and are happy. From most of the comments I see here, it seems most of us find these screens unsuitable. Even though I sit at a computer all day, it's not the same as reading for hours without a break. When I'm working, my eyes leave the screen frequently. When I do have to stare at the screen for an hour straight, my eyes hurt. If you add to this the fact that a netbook weighs two to three times as much, generates a lot of heat and for all that still only gets you about half a day before you need to plug it in, it seems a poor substitute. Maybe these people really don't mind the downsides. It seems likely to me that for most of them it makes sense to them on the surface but either they don't usually read at length or they haven't actually tried reading an entire book that way. Sadly, lack of experience doesn't keep people from voicing opinions, especially on the interwebs.

I do think multifunction is the way it's going. On the bright side, you won't have to use it to browse the web or do anything besides read books if you don't want to, but a device that can do all that will appeal to a lot more people. Volume will likely mean lower prices and greater content availability for all of us.