|
I won't offer prognostication, but I'll tell you what I want: one really nice book. I don't think e-readers per se have much of a future. As others have pointed out, tablets offer more utility in (nearly) the same form factor. What I'd prefer to see is a narrowing -- and eventual closing -- of the gap between e-readers and the technology of books.
If I could will such a device into existence it would be a relatively small volume, leather-bound, of perhaps a hundred pages (size and materials could be customized). But these would be truly dynamic pages -- the look and feel of paper with all the capabilities of e-ink. All the libraries of the world in a single, compact volume.
As I flip pages, the book dynamically keeps pace -- when I get to the end of the hundred pages I can go back to page one and continue reading. Or if I prefer the feel of balance in my hands (not to mention the feeling of being in the middle of a good book), I can swipe to change the page without actually flipping. With a stylus or a finger, I can highlight, scribble notes in the margin, or even open an inline text editor with dictation and handwriting recognition features. I can also 'freeze' content on pages or groups of pages, then flip back and forth between the two. This would be especially useful for researchers or anyone who wants to compare passages, end notes, etc.
I could go on, but this is the point: the future of e-readers (at least in my fantasies) lies not in merging them into tablets, but in making them look, feel, and behave like books.
|