Quote:
Originally Posted by pondscum
Easy mental comparison: 6" screen == mass market paperback page, 8" screen == trade paperback or small hardcover book.
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I've seen this misinformation too often. I judge based on width because that has the most direct impact on readability, pocketability etc. and not height. Let us examine these sizes.
MMPB (US) = 4.25'' x 6.87''
TP/H (standard) = 6'' x 9''
TP/H (large) = 8.5'' x 11''
Basing the aspect ratio of ereaders at 3:4 we have
6'' (standard) = 3.6'' x 4.8''
7'' (premium) = 4.2'' x 5.6''
8'' (large) = 4.8'' x 6.4''
10'' (professional) = 6.0'' x 8.0''
13.3'' (pdf reader) = 8.0'' x 10.6''
Matching these we see that the 7'' ereader (and NOT the 6'') most closely matches the dimensions of a mass-market paperback. And the 10'' ereader (and NOT the 7'') most closely matches a traditional trade paperback or hardcover. Finally the 13.3'' ereader most closely matches the large trade paperback/hardcover and is also the best fit for reading pdfs without scaling.
I really think that 6'' wasn't chosen because it matches a size of any type of book. The first generations of ereaders had large keyboards on them and I think that if they went any higher on screen size it would lose all portability. And whether you have a keyboard or not once you go beyond 6'' it becomes less and less portable.
If you still don't believe me (I don't know why, it is direct factual information) try this... find the font size on your favorite 6'' ereader that will put as much text on the screen as a mass market paperback. Is the font size the same as you would find in an mmpb or smaller?