MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - e-reader sales have peaked. What do you want to see?

Elfwreck · 05-01-2013, 09:28 PM

Things I want from future ereaders:

More file format support; specifically, doc/rtf/html: easily-editable formats. It's a nuisance to edit epubs.
Buttons, not touchscreens. Or in addition to touchscreens.
Multiple types of bookmarks, even if they're just checkmark/dot/star--the equivalent of color-coded post-it flags.
Better annotation/highlight support. Exportable as csv file.
Ability to flag 2 (or more) books as "open right now" to switch back and forth between them easily.
Side-by-side view of those two books, even if that means landscaped and only a few lines at a time.
Better image zoom, including auto-captioning with the image filename and dimensions. (so when you hit zoom, it'd add "map01.jpg, 450x235" underneath it. You'd know whether it was worth trying to zoom.)
Easy access to the book's metadata while reading it. (Quality of metadata depends on the publisher.)
User-Replaceable battery.
Solar charger.
Tags/groups/folders editable from within the device itself
Ability to see lists of both "all ebooks on this device," sorted various ways (title, author, date added, date last accessed, word count, filesize, possibly user-created rating), and subgroups--folders or tags.

I think all those are doable. Some would involve serious coding; some just involve someone paying attention to readers' rather than publishers' interests. But those aren't like "color and/or video e-ink," which have big technological barriers, nor like "ability to send tweets of a highlighted section while reading," which involves an interface with third-party software.

05-01-2013, 09:28 PM	#31
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,187 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	Things I want from future ereaders: More file format support; specifically, doc/rtf/html: easily-editable formats. It's a nuisance to edit epubs. Buttons, not touchscreens. Or in addition to touchscreens. Multiple types of bookmarks, even if they're just checkmark/dot/star--the equivalent of color-coded post-it flags. Better annotation/highlight support. Exportable as csv file. Ability to flag 2 (or more) books as "open right now" to switch back and forth between them easily. Side-by-side view of those two books, even if that means landscaped and only a few lines at a time. Better image zoom, including auto-captioning with the image filename and dimensions. (so when you hit zoom, it'd add "map01.jpg, 450x235" underneath it. You'd know whether it was worth trying to zoom.) Easy access to the book's metadata while reading it. (Quality of metadata depends on the publisher.) User-Replaceable battery. Solar charger. Tags/groups/folders editable from within the device itself Ability to see lists of both "all ebooks on this device," sorted various ways (title, author, date added, date last accessed, word count, filesize, possibly user-created rating), and subgroups--folders or tags. I think all those are doable. Some would involve serious coding; some just involve someone paying attention to readers' rather than publishers' interests. But those aren't like "color and/or video e-ink," which have big technological barriers, nor like "ability to send tweets of a highlighted section while reading," which involves an interface with third-party software.