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> the problem there is that you can't really demand true innovation
of course not. but _we_ can be smart about making ourselves dependent (or not)
on "innovation" that hasn't yet developed to the point where it is actually usable...
we can be smart about continuing to pursue other options, on a just-in-case basis.
as for being "up-front" about the refresh rates, why were so many people surprised?
sure, e-ink said "this isn't fast enough that it could be used for video...", but that's
a far cry from telling us that it will take a half-second or more to display each page.
furthermore, in programming my own e-book applications, i've been well aware that
one of the ways that people actually _use_ books is to thumb through pages quickly,
so i have taken pride in the fact that my apps can rip through 5-15 pages per second.
and i've used that capability enough to know that it would be painful to live without it.
does e-ink inc. not _realize_ slowness is a huge disadvantage? or just not telling us?
again, i'm not faulting e-ink for failing to materialize. sometimes things do take time.
and for the first few years of their promises, i didn't even fault them for making them.
after all, if you think you can solve the problems in "a couple years", then _say_that_.
but after you've been saying "a couple years" for _eight_years_straight_, then i think
you've gotta come clean and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
that's not "radical transparency", it's just common human decency...
so i repeat, don't hold your breath, folks... be realistic. wait for honest proof.
-bowerbird
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