[Fozzybear]

Reading a thread about the rumours about new front-lit readers and seeing how some people have bought many, many e-readers it struck me as interesting that something as outwardly basic as a device for reading a book attracts much the same gadget upgraditis that other consumer electronic devices attract. I'm curious about what people think about this - are we victims of the push for more gizmos, more bells and whistles? Are people still searching for the 'perfect' device to read from or are we being led like sheep to buy the 'new' just for the sake of it? Is there something lacking from the devices of today that tangibly interferes with your reading?

I came into ebook readers on a whim, mainly buying a kindle as a 'gadget' to satisfy a somewhat shallow desire to buy something for myself to cheer myself up during a rough patch but also in an attempt to reinvigorate my desire to read (both were a small help there) but now I've had the reader for a few months and am settling into using it I find myself looking at new devices and talk of improved displays with higher resolution, colour and touch screens with more than a little befuddlement. I can understand that driving towards 'better' specs is often a good thing but in a device designed for reading books I find myself wondering if this is improvement as necessity or for the sake of fad and fashion.

Maybe it's a sign of approaching middle-age but as someone who has had more than his fair share of near-terminal upgraditis over the years I know the desire for the new very well but at the same time I fear we lose sight of what these devices are really for in the search for the 'improved'. Do we really need to keep upgrading our devices just because something new is available? Have we reached the point where e-readers are perfectly functional in the same way that paperback had been for many decades? It seems to me that if we can reach a good base specification for an e-reader, one that is easy to use, not too slow and does a good job of displaying the written word but doesn't try to do too much then the attention of the user would be on the content rather than the device. Surely it would be better for authors and publishers to have people buying (and reading) books rather than replacement e-readers?

Apologies for rambling on there somewhat!