MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - It is the Worst of Times for Reading EBooks

leebase · 06-07-2019, 11:58 AM

It is the worst of times....

Looking back over ten years of participating on this forum, I think it is the worst of times for reading ebooks. IMHO.

eInk innovation has all but come to a stop. Where are the large eInk readers with pen input and worklow? Where is color? Yeah, yeah...yet another one is "real close" and just showed something "promising" that they never said would make it into a tablet ereader.

eInk pricing fell to a certain point, and then stopped. Tablets are now cheaper than an eInk reader.

There are no more independant eInk devices to speak of. Surely not of the quality of the Sony line. Pretty much "eco system" plays like Amazon, Kobo and Nook are all that's left. And only Amazon has a healthy business.

Fictionwise and many many other beloved ebook stores are gone and are never coming back. Along with them are the special pricing deals that so many of us loved.

The rise of audio books is a detriment to actual reading. It's bad enough with the twitters, face place, and insta-whosit's of the world destroying people's attention spans....now folks are too lazy to learn to read and are counting listening to a book as if it's reading.

The big 5 are all still in business. There is no difference in pricing of books from the big 5 in any of the stores.

Sometimes eBooks cost the same or even MORE than a paper book.

You still don't own an ebook, you have a license for it.

eBooks are too d@mned expensive. Apparently.

Apple still sells ebooks.

DRM is still the norm. Everyone's ebooks can disappear at any moment.

People are going blind because they are reading on tablets and phones which shoot light DIRECTLY INTO YOUR EYE. eInk, where light must first bounce before finding your eye, isn't being embraced by everyone the way SCIENCE tells us it SHOULD.

It is the worst of times for reading ebooks.

06-07-2019, 11:58 AM	#1
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,975 Karma: 26738313 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	It is the Worst of Times for Reading EBooks It is the worst of times.... Looking back over ten years of participating on this forum, I think it is the worst of times for reading ebooks. IMHO. eInk innovation has all but come to a stop. Where are the large eInk readers with pen input and worklow? Where is color? Yeah, yeah...yet another one is "real close" and just showed something "promising" that they never said would make it into a tablet ereader. eInk pricing fell to a certain point, and then stopped. Tablets are now cheaper than an eInk reader. There are no more independant eInk devices to speak of. Surely not of the quality of the Sony line. Pretty much "eco system" plays like Amazon, Kobo and Nook are all that's left. And only Amazon has a healthy business. Fictionwise and many many other beloved ebook stores are gone and are never coming back. Along with them are the special pricing deals that so many of us loved. The rise of audio books is a detriment to actual reading. It's bad enough with the twitters, face place, and insta-whosit's of the world destroying people's attention spans....now folks are too lazy to learn to read and are counting listening to a book as if it's reading. The big 5 are all still in business. There is no difference in pricing of books from the big 5 in any of the stores. Sometimes eBooks cost the same or even MORE than a paper book. You still don't own an ebook, you have a license for it. eBooks are too d@mned expensive. Apparently. Apple still sells ebooks. DRM is still the norm. Everyone's ebooks can disappear at any moment. People are going blind because they are reading on tablets and phones which shoot light DIRECTLY INTO YOUR EYE. eInk, where light must first bounce before finding your eye, isn't being embraced by everyone the way SCIENCE tells us it SHOULD. It is the worst of times for reading ebooks.