Quote:
Originally Posted by crossi
When's the next improvement to paper going to be out? It's been centuries and it's pretty much the same. Why this insistence on constant "improvement"? If something is good enough for the job that's good enough for me.
|
eInk film looks to be as optimized as it's going to get.
eReaders could stand some improvement but not in the "sexy" specmanship places. What we have is about as good and cheap as the mainstream needs.
We see no real changes because good enough is good enough.
Durability, which is where plastic substrates come in.
The electronics could go to even lower power, maybe enough to be powered by transparent solar cells at some point. (Would likely require ditching wifi).
Bezzle-less designs to accomodate larger screens in the same form factor.
Lower cost? Not a great priority with current volumes.
Larger screens? Not without significant weight reductions which brings us back to plastic substrates. Glass is fragile and heavy or expensive and heavy.
What else does a dedicated reading device really need?
Most of people's wishlists are software features anyway, not hardware.
And even there it is techies and enthusiasts pining for fancy features. Plus academics pining for big pdf-worthy screens but that's a different market anyway.