Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff2
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.
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I wouldn't care for a device like that at all. It feels like the skeuomorphism early mobile OSes had that seems so quaint now. Part of the appeal of e-readers is that they are thinner and lighter than most books.
Also, if you have pages on top of pages and you try to swipe, won't the page just turn like it does in a paper book?
You could just get a nice leather cover for your current reader and be halfway there. The official Kobo cover for the original Aura gave the device the feel of a small hard backed leather bound book.
