Quote:
|
Originally Posted by shousa
Things I would love it to really do
- connect to my PDA as a separate screen (wouldn't that be great? - this would be my number one reason to buy one. I could buy any ebooks I want and read them through my ebook reader as Palm handles DRM well both with ereader and .pdf files)
|
You know, that sounds crazy, and yet the more I think about it, the more it sounds pretty neat. In fact, what if a pda became like a portable base station server? We talk about a pda as being linked wirelessly over the internet to a server and able to do all kinds of computing. But what if, in addition to that, it's a smartphone that can stay in your pocket or purse while you use your bluetooth headset to control it (not yet because no stereo profile, caller id or voice command via headset, but I'm sure those things are coming.) Or may let it be a conduit to a server, and a nice input output pad wirelessly connects to a server through the pda.
But even forgetting those grandiose senarious, it would be handy to have the display for reading and controlled by the pda. For one thing it could handle syncing of bookmarks when you are reading the same book on the pda and the e-ink device depending where you are.
But for now, I think the main advantages of the Sony reader are that it will be available in stores, it's a smaller device, it's Sony engineering, it's a smaller up front price than the iRex device, and it still has e-ink technology. But the incompatibility with non-Sony purchased DRM'd materials is a BIG deal. It's a shame that we end up avoiding Sony devices because of their closed attitudes and unwillingness to play fair with outside content. The devices are great. The way the close them is not.