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Originally Posted by dmaul1114
Same here. At least when confined to leisure reading as us academics all spend a lot of time reading journal articles, academic books, students papers etc. Probably why so few do much leisure reading and do other stuff in their free time--like play video games.
Agree 100%. I definitely see a device in the future that's basically a more functional and portable tablet PC that nearly everyone has and uses to read, surf the net, watch videos, take notes etc. etc. It will use color e-ink or something else thats easy on the eyes and has long battery life etc.
Something like that will come along a make ereaders that do nothing but display books, magazines etc. obsolete, and will expand ebooks to a wider market than these single purpose ereaders ever could.
I love my Kindle, but ereaders are a niche within a niche since not that many people are avid readers anymore. So it will take a good multipurpose device to really spike ebook interest and sales. Many won't buy a reader, but they may by ebooks if they have a device that has a lot of features and is also a good reader (unlikely the iPhone with it's tiny back lit screen).
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That day might already be here, although in a limited way. The Stanza app on the iTouch/Phone has actually been downloaded more times than there have been Sony Reader sales in the last two years, and here in Europe it's fast becoming popular as a way to read (I've already met a few people who are using it as opposed to zero people with a dedicated e-reader). If you're a casual reader, who does an hour or so reading at a time, then battery life isn't so important, and you'd charge once a day anyway. It's portable and can be used in cramped conditions, unlike the bigger e-reading devices. Add that to the Best Seller store on Stanza, no Kindle in Europe yet and you've got a very good argument not to buy a dedicated E-Reader.
I know I'm seriously re-considering my lust for a dedicated e-reader after using the iTouch and Stanza for awhile. The Txtr is still attractive to me, but the iTouch has rapidly become my most used electronic device, and I've actually been reading more since I started using it.