Thread: Very disappointed with the way the tech is developing.
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Old 10-01-2010, 07:05 PM   #165
Gwen Morse
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harryE123 View Post

But the fact that after so long we still can't get a meagre 9.7 screen one that isn't tied to amazon to read an epub on that is a failure of the technology evolving to "focusing on the activity of reading and the people themselves.", not some wet fantasy a techie like myself might have of what they'd want a device to do.
So, rather than being upset that tech ins't advancing, you're actually upset that Amazon is the company primarily presenting what advances there are.

The base model of the Kindle (not the DX) has consistently gotten smaller (with the same sized screen), thinner, lighter, improved contrast, reduced the "flash" from screen resets, increased storage capacity, and come down in price. World-wide 3G has been added. Wifi has been added.

Some steps seemed a bit like going backwards (increased storage capacity at the cost of a fixed storage card). Some people like the new d-Pad instead of the nav stick, others don't.

Overall, the tech behind the Kindle is improving.

As far as not reading epub, that's Amazon's choice. I personally don't like it. But, for $140 I can lump it. I'm savvy enough to get around it.

I think we're pretty lucky that Jeff Bezos decided he wanted to create an ebook reader for the masses. I remember when it was still all project-hype and all the pundits were claiming he was crazy because "no one" wants to read books on an ereader.

I've read ebooks since the early Palm days and I can tell you that my Kindle is several superleaps in quality above that.

Now that Amazon (as well as Sony and B&N) have combined their sales to make ebooks something appealing to the mainstream reading community, the tech will continue to improve for other niche readers as well.

The innovation will come from the niche products. I'd keep an eye on Android tablets in the near future. Google is built on huge piles of cash that they don't want to pay out in dividends, and their corporate culture pretty much demands innovation.

The hardware manufacturers will be able to continue to improve the hardware tech with the funding they get from successful sales of existing readers. The Android OS is embracing tablets and software innovation will be funded by Google's bottomless coffers.

We the readers will be able to enjoy the fruits of both groups working together.
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