Quote:
Originally Posted by emellaich
Here is the deal. I'm all about doing what you can now with what you have now. I understand and support the current e-ink devices. However, as compared to what I truly want, they have just as many shortcomings as LCD, just different issues.
I think that the tech at pixelqi.com sounds like the most promising for the future. Mary Lou Jepson is promising high volume and low prices starting this summer. If I had to guess from what she has said in the press I would guess that she will be higher volume than e-ink out of the gate. She has already produced a generation I device for the OLPC at volumes higher than e-ink.
The evidence suggests that her price point will beat e-ink by a wide margin. The OLPC costs $199. She states that her second gen display will be comparable to standard LCD in both volumes and prices.
Her screen tech beats e-ink on every level except for battery life. In that regard she promises battery life five to ten times standard LCD. In one post she quotes battery life of up to 40 hours. I don't know how fast you turn pages, but for me that would be getting awful close to e-ink's 8,000 pages.
Furthermore, I think that current e-book designs are making a mistake. I understand that "thin is in". It certainly looks sexy. However, I've used quite a few of these devices: Palm devices, ebookman, Windows mobile, Cybook Gen 3. I am struck by the comments earlier in this thread about the rocket book's form factor.
The truth is that none of these tiny devices are really comfortable. Anyone who shells out the bucks for a dedicated reader is probably a high volume reader. I don't know if I am typical, but sitting there for hours holding one of these dinky little devices is not comfortable. You have to keep your hands off the screen and keep your fingers on the page advance buttons. I often find my hands tiring out holding these things by their thin edges. A more comfortable approach would be a big round handle - say the size of the cardboard tube from a toilet paper roll (maybe a little smaller). This makes me think of those who like the rocket book.
Now the truth is that, if I'm going to have these meaty handles on the sides, I might as well fill them with something. Maybe something like batteries? OK, that many batteries might be overkill (it might weigh too much). However, the point is that good ergonomics might suggest more space than the current sexy, but uncomfortable razor-blade form factor.
So, if we marry the PixelQi screen with a rocket book size/shape we might have an interesting combination. It sounds like Mary Lou plans to be in this market by the second half of this year. It might be appropriate for Astak to take a look at its product plan for 2nd half of 2009 and 1st half of 2010 and consider PixelQi.
Michael
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THANK YOU!! Normally I won't quote an entire post but yours completely hits the nail on the head. I have been trying to pass that exact info on to people here for a long while now. These devices are not conducive to hand holding for extended, or even brief, periods for a significant number of the exact people in their target demographic.
Few of the options for holding them make single handed operation virtually or completely impossible. Earlier I described how I use the "kick stand" on my N800 as a handle sort of rig. I open the kick-stand and slip my hand between the stand and the device. Works fairly well. Robertb did say he was going to mention something about this to the PTB's. The key point I have been trying, very poorly, to explain is not only do the current designs make hand holding difficult for many, eventually over time for people who use them for hours each day, RSI's are bound to crop up as our hands are not meant to grip anything for that long. Also, a bit more weight actually would make the device easier to hold.
And like you I also have a lot of hope in the "Mary Lou" display tech...as it also addresses the other problem I have with eink and that is the background is simply not white enough. I know eventually that will improve, but for now, the the grey background under less than perfect light does not afford enough contrast from the black text for my eyes.
Still, I am holding out hope that the newer displays at the end of the year will address the contrast/whiteness issue sufficiently. Though in the mean time should the Mary Lou displays come to market, I will be off of these eink devices which are hugely overpriced for a one trick pony that involve so many compromises. Get them under $200 and we can talk...not until then. I bought one and kept it only because my better half became enamored with it...otherwise I was ready to send it back 3-days after getting it.
My real hope is a convertible netbook with the Mary Lou display and a touch screen for $400 would win hands down over a $350 dedicated ebook reading device...the mythical bang-for-the-buck principle would sure be the deciding factor for a lot of us.
Thinking of that, a very simply way to make the current readers thicker w/o adding any significant weight is to put a 3/8" hinged cover on the devices. When flipped around the back it makes the device thick enough for many as well as gives the option of holding the device like a book. Plus adds protection for the display...very little in the way of design changes would be needed. For now a 3rd party cover is possible, but adds at least $50 to the price.
It sure is a lot of hand wringing over a reading device that should be as transparent as possible to the user.