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David Carnoy is consistent ... consistently odd.
His article begins with the claim: "I don't think we'll see a color e-reader from Amazon this year". Well, duhhh, David - Jeff Bezos has repeatedly stated exactly that since June. Instead, the Kindle 3 is b&w e-ink -- that's where this ereader train stops for 2010.
Then he goes off on a tangent comparing B&N's Nook Color to the iPad, pretending the former is a tablet ... which it isn't ... can you install Android apps? like the Kobo or Kindle for Android? errmmm, nope. (He actually opens the article quoting himself from mid-August and his firm belief Amazon will release a 6 or 7 inch Android tablet based upon absolutely no more facts than the transmissions received through his tin hat.)
Then he launches into the wonders of touch screen and tries to get rid of Amazon's dreaded keyboard. He never acknowledges what the keyboard is used for, nor how it is less intrusive than an onscreen keyboard, nor that touch screen is mainly useful for pointing at the word you want to look up in a dictionary, assuming you can easily highlight the right one (vs scrolling around with a joystick). The Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 keyboard is not perfect and surely something can be learned from smartphone keypads ... but the advantage of touch is not a no brainer as he implies.
There is the final paragraph where he mentions Mirasol colour display. Jeff Bezos has said a colour Kindle is not in the works in 2010 because the technology is not ready. That sounds an entirely credible reason for Amazon to wait, not merely that these technologies are "exotic". Also not mentioned by the author is the much more relevant fact: there is very little colour content for ebooks that is relevent in a 6"ish form factor. Colour is important when you hit full page (and double page) magazine size displays and nothing from Kindle (or Apple for that matter) is in the cards in 2011 or 2012. And in fact ... is there a need at all?
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