MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why don't e-readers try to offer more extra functions (mp3 player, games...)?

ItalianUruguayan · 03-23-2018, 05:30 AM

While I know that e-readers are designed specifically for reading, I cannot understand why they shouldn't offer some extra functions.

The first readers I used all tried to offer something more than a reader. The Sony PRS-T1, for example, was an amazing device that rocked a nice mp3 player and a web browser that is still a pleasure to use today, almost eight years later. It also had a notes app, a sketch pad for drawing and a photo gallery. All of them were nice features that added value to its reading experience without interfering with it.

Nowadays, Kobos are pretty hackable and offer some really basic beta features, like a sketch pad and a web browser so simple that it doesn't even remember cookies. They have already stopped supporting some of them. A year ago, Kobos had a nice chess app that has dissapeared from the new firmwares. Kindles, as far as I know, offer only a web browser, and it is atrocious and unusable.

It is obvious that tablets are way more useful as all-purpose devices, but I can't understand why ereader companies refuse to provide some basic utilities that would require almost no manteinance, like a simple web browser to read the online newspaper at a coffee break.

03-23-2018, 05:30 AM	#1
ItalianUruguayan Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 55058 Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Spain Device: Kobo Glo HD	Why don't e-readers try to offer more extra functions (mp3 player, games...)? While I know that e-readers are designed specifically for reading, I cannot understand why they shouldn't offer some extra functions. The first readers I used all tried to offer something more than a reader. The Sony PRS-T1, for example, was an amazing device that rocked a nice mp3 player and a web browser that is still a pleasure to use today, almost eight years later. It also had a notes app, a sketch pad for drawing and a photo gallery. All of them were nice features that added value to its reading experience without interfering with it. Nowadays, Kobos are pretty hackable and offer some really basic beta features, like a sketch pad and a web browser so simple that it doesn't even remember cookies. They have already stopped supporting some of them. A year ago, Kobos had a nice chess app that has dissapeared from the new firmwares. Kindles, as far as I know, offer only a web browser, and it is atrocious and unusable. It is obvious that tablets are way more useful as all-purpose devices, but I can't understand why ereader companies refuse to provide some basic utilities that would require almost no manteinance, like a simple web browser to read the online newspaper at a coffee break. Last edited by ItalianUruguayan; 03-23-2018 at 05:32 AM.