Quote:
Originally Posted by brecklundin
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I would never recommend a client buy into ANY ereading device in the current market no matter what the marketing hype.
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Brecklundin,
Not to hijack this thread (ok, I will) but this is an interesting observation.
As I thought about it, I wondered whether ereaders are rugged enough for companies. I don't know what the actual breakage rate is. I have broken an eink device myself, but that doesn't tell me anything. When you have a large body of active posters, if anyone asks if devices have been broken, you will always get anecdotes even if the rate is low. We could try a poll, but I believe that the results would be biased towards those who have broken screens.
I see two problems with this from a business viewpoint. 1) It can make the average unit cost much more expensive. 2) The corporate breakage rate may be much more expensive. I envision an eink device with technical manuals being laid haphazardly on a copy machine under repair. I can see risks with the devices tumbling to the ground or getting something set on them. I don't see the same care being lavished on them as is the case for personal readers. The question is whether a lightweight device will ever be acceptable unless it can be tossed around on the job. I also wonder what a repair person would think about being limited to one screen at a time viewing. Finally, I wonder whether static contents are useful, or if they really want a real time access to a dynamic database via wireless and the internet.
I guess the bottom line question is whether the ereader device fits the needs of the corporate world? Any comments? Reactions?