MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Will color tablets replace e-ink readers in the short term?

jbcohen · 03-09-2012, 08:15 AM

I would look to the history of the technology industry as a guide for where the future will take us. More specifically I would like to point to the development of the common printer as a guide. According to pals of mine who work in HP's sales the majority of the printers that have sold have been "dedicated" printers, in other words printers that simply print and not anything else. However, they have told me, of the printer market they estimate that approximatly 25% of the market is in multi-functional printers, in other words the "all in one" printers or the office jet printers that can print, fax and scan.

I would venture to guess that the development of the electronic reader will be similar to the development of the common household and office printer where the majority of the units sold would be dedicated devices and a siginficant share of the total would be the multi-functional devices, the tablets.

I personally have both and I can see what my pals are talking about. My kindle three is used for the book reading while the fire typically browses the internet and runs apps that gather information and present it in a readable form. The fire can show books, however there are problems: battery life (if I took my fire to work with me to read on the bus on the way the battery would be dead long before I got to the office where as the kindle three has no problem lasting al day), and screen technology (I do not belive that the LCD technology is best for reading on the bus and subway and would be better suited for environments such as times where the buss has a few lights out.)

03-09-2012, 08:15 AM	#3
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,032 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	I would look to the history of the technology industry as a guide for where the future will take us. More specifically I would like to point to the development of the common printer as a guide. According to pals of mine who work in HP's sales the majority of the printers that have sold have been "dedicated" printers, in other words printers that simply print and not anything else. However, they have told me, of the printer market they estimate that approximatly 25% of the market is in multi-functional printers, in other words the "all in one" printers or the office jet printers that can print, fax and scan. I would venture to guess that the development of the electronic reader will be similar to the development of the common household and office printer where the majority of the units sold would be dedicated devices and a siginficant share of the total would be the multi-functional devices, the tablets. I personally have both and I can see what my pals are talking about. My kindle three is used for the book reading while the fire typically browses the internet and runs apps that gather information and present it in a readable form. The fire can show books, however there are problems: battery life (if I took my fire to work with me to read on the bus on the way the battery would be dead long before I got to the office where as the kindle three has no problem lasting al day), and screen technology (I do not belive that the LCD technology is best for reading on the bus and subway and would be better suited for environments such as times where the buss has a few lights out.)