|
If we are talking about books in general, I will throw out the obvious one – lack of color and limited size. Theodore Gray's "The Elements" would never work on a Kindle (ok, the iPad version is pretty good), and I'm sure art and photography books would leave something to be desired compared to their full-sized counterparts.
I have not seen a pearl screen yet, so I'll be willing to eat my words when my Kindle 3 arrives, but if I look at the screen of the PRS-505 next to a page from any Library of America book there is no comparison - the LOA print is very crisp and the text is black, while the 505 is dark gray on light gray and the text is somewhat soft under close inspection.
At 800x600, the Kindle has a resolution of 167 pixels per inch. Standard print resolution is 300 dots per inch. The contrast and resolution difference between a non-pearl ereader and a high quality print book, to my eye, is significantly different. Having said that, there are so many poor quality print books that look like a 10th generation photocopy, the ereader is a welcome improvement.
The ereader is certainly an advance in terms of convenience, but until the e-ink screen equals or exceeds the very best print I can see why some people may unwilling to give up their paper books.
|