Quote:
Originally Posted by Namekuseijin
Once bistable, transflective color screens with good refresh rates are the norm among all mobile hardware, it'll be difficult to justify the cost of single-purpose devices for reading alone as opposed to an all-in-one, unless the single-purpose ones are as cheap as a magazine.
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There's no reason for a single-purpose device *if* the multi-purpose devices arrange their hardware well for the single purpose. Some of us don't like touchscreens (or don't like *only* touchscreens; I want to manage my reading one-handed), and some touchscreens aren't set for reading efficiently--the whole "make it look like a printed page is being flipped over" graphic is a useless frippary. (If I wanted to flip pages over,
I'd read paper.)
Unless the makers of multi-purpose devices decide to make ebook support as good as their video support, there'll be a continued demand for single-purpose ebook readers that cover the 5-10% of readers who care about features not available on the tablets.
E-ink quality. Extended battery life. Ergonomic button arrangements. Lack of app-hunting to remember which books are under which program. Easy memory card use. Categories/tags of ebooks. Sideloaded & bookstore books in the same lists. Etc. None of those are dealbreakers for the general public, but there will continue to be people willing to pay for them.