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Originally Posted by rjh
Do we really need another "Me Too" device like this one? What point of difference does this device bring to the market? What will make people buy this over other existing devices?
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Well, lets see. Portability, better dictionary support that some of the other major players. Quicker page turns (for non PDFs... PDF page turns take about as long as eInk Page Turns).
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The V3 already is ahead of the jetBook in supported formats and extensibility.
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I can believe it is ahead in supported formats, but why do you say its ahead in extensibility? It can have its firmware upgraded.
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TFT display? No thanks - E-Ink, despite its shortcomings is fine. 5" display? I'll pass.
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To each their own. I have found the TFT display to be fine. The lack back lighting reduce eyestrain to the same level as the E-Ink devices; contrast is better on eInk, but this device supports more 16 level grey scale as opposed to 4-8 on the 6" eInk units.
As for 5", I find it more that sufficient for most reading. The device fits in the pocket of my jeans and my jacket pocket. Ultimately, I doubt that anything larger would. So I expect if I was to replace it in a few years with an eInk unit, I would want a 5" screen size. That being said, if you do most of your reading at home, 6" or even 8" might be more desirable.
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Aesthetics and ergonomics: I wonder if it is possible to fit more buttons on such a small device? Having such a clutter is really going to discourage prospective first-time e-reader buyers from making a purchase - they'll think that e-readers must be very complicated to use. How many buttons does an ipod have? Has this affected their acceptance in the market? You betcha it has. Why are interfaces for e-readers so different to interfaces for MP3 players?
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This seems like a rather interesting complaint to make when one considers the fact that man ebook readers have a similar number of buttons and some have quite a few more! Granted the simplicity of the ebookwise is nice, but being able to do text searches on the book is nice as well.
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It is easy to dismiss the appearance of the device with comments like "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" but there are nevertheless good solid reasons for making design decisions that affect both perception of the device and usability. And I don't think the designers of the jetBook considered any of these.
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You know, having had the device for a couple of weeks now, I would have to say that the device is actually very easy to use. It is easy to hold without accidentally turning pages, and all the buttons you complain about make it very easy to navigate through the various features of the device.
While I think it is fair to say that the initial format support should have been better on this device, I will say this; it works. The main issues I have with it have less to do with the reading experience and more to do with how it interfaces with the Mac (Which I will cover in another week or two when I write up my full review).
It is easy and fun to read books on the jetBook; this is not to say that it is not easy and fun to read on the other readers as well but that being said, trashing a device you have obviously never used for reasons like usability is frankly silly.
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While we need devices that support open formats common across all devices, we don't need another poorly thought out device that is destined to fail in the market place.
At least this almost makes the V3 look good.
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Well the market place will decide what will succeed and what will fail. That being said, they support the only truly open format out there (good old ASCII txt files) and are working on supporting the "open" format that the Publishers support (ePub). Not all of the other devices can claim that can they?
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Bill