[toddos]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, I didn't mention eInk. There are certainly non-eInk eReaders. The Jetbook would be one example.

My definition of an eReader is a device whose primary function is reading. The iPhone and iPad are not eReaders, by my definition, because reading isn't the main purpose that they're designed for.

Perhaps devices like the Nook Color are; I couldn't say, never having seen one.

Primary functionality, or only functionality? Because the tablet ereaders I've been mentioning (Nook Color, Nook Tablet, Kindle Fire, Kobo Vox) are primarily designed as ereaders. Their main interfaces put books (and magazines and comics) front and center on the device. That's how I differentiate between "tablet" and "ereader". A general tablet or smartphone almost certainly can read books, but primary device interface is a list of apps/widgets. The bookshelf is a secondary object, "hidden" within ereader apps, not exposed at the top level. Think of it this way -- to read books on an iPad you must first open iBooks or Kindle or whatever reader app you're using. To read books on one of the tablet ereaders I've mentioned, you do not need to open an app. You simply need to choose a book from the top-level bookshelf. That there may also be games or apps or videos on that same bookshelf doesn't make it any less of an ereader, just as putting DVDs and board games alongside books on a real physical bookshelf makes it any less of a bookshelf.