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firekat · 01-18-2007, 12:22 PM

nekokami,

I sense your frustration building with not getting an Infopad device. I would love to have one too!

Even though you might be lusting over an iLiad and see it as a Valhalla to your needs I can assure you that it is not even close to being ready for prime time, nor is it even close to being an Infopad.

If you are a dedicated hacker you might be able to edge out more functionality. For us mortals the thought of bricking a very expensive device is a good deterrent to not messing around with the iLiad too much. I have only installed ipdf 8.1 so far. I am waiting for more updates from iRex, and this is very frustrating, especially in these "I WANT IT NOW!" times.

Some of the things that will keep the iLiad from being a Infopad is the painfully long boot time, and the screen refresh rate just to mention a few. Currently not having bookmark support in PDF's renders it about 25% functional for reading technical manuals. Writing on the device is not that great, it is not like writing on paper. The pen is still not calibrated and Myscript software is not that great, you cannot from what I have seen even build a template (unless you want to spend even more money) that you can use as a form to enter data and then sync it to your computer.

FYI, let it be known that the bigger and more complex your pdf document is the longer it will take to load and navigate. This is another detriment to device utilization. It still is time consuming in some cases to format pdf's to display well on the device.

Overall the way I see it if you are going to use the iLiad for more that just the most basic of reading purposes you will become more of a slave to the device than it serving your purposes. You will spend hours figuring out how to format your documents, downloading appropriate software to accomplish that, learning about xml, html, css, and a myriad of other things just so that you can get more functionality out of it. All this time could be better spent doing your studying.

I have shown the device to a number of different people. I download weather graphics and occasionally format some technical manual excerpts for use in my preflight briefings. I get lots of compliments on the device but they are always suffixed with statements of how slow the boot time is and how long it takes to refresh and navigate documents.

I always have to give the caveat "this is still a beta device and not completely finished". With the shortcomings of the device I see a large lack of interest in the iLiad after people's initial positive response. When asked the price, I have to say "Expensive" and not give them the real price as it is just too embarrassing that I paid so much for something that is not fully functional and is so hobbled by it's current operational state.

I think that eInk is a neat and innovative technology. IMHO there are shortcomings that negate the suitability of it's use as anything other than the most basic reader. The technology is well suited to other applications, not to an Infopad. It's sort of like the Wankel engine. When the Wankel was marketed by Mazda it was touted as the replacement to the regular piston engine. It was promised to be smoother and more fuel efficient. The truth of the matter is that there were serious shortcomings. Any positive aspects of the engine were usurped by continual improvements made to the piston engine. The Wankel has been relegated to a niche market and from my understanding is being used in other capacities that it is well suited for. That is what I think we might see with the eink technology. LCD, OLED, and other technologies will be further tweaked to get their performance enhanced. Who knows, maybe in time the same will happen to eInk, but I don't see that in the immediate future.

What I have seen that is interesting is the ETI-1 & ETI-2, See here Now these devices are limited in their own way, but I see the Infopad going more in this direction than the iLiad. Right now they are very proprietary. If some talented hacker type people could get their paws on these or something like it I am sure that they could turn it into an Infopad type device.

I guess what I am trying to say nekokami is that if you purchase the iLiad you will be disappointed if you are expecting it to be anything other than a basic ereader device. In short the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

I like my iLiad and I honestly and wholeheartedly hope and wish that it will mature and become what I and many others fully expect it to be, so it is not for sale yet!

01-18-2007, 12:22 PM	#16
firekat Groupie Posts: 157 Karma: 314 Join Date: May 2006	nekokami, I sense your frustration building with not getting an Infopad device. I would love to have one too! Even though you might be lusting over an iLiad and see it as a Valhalla to your needs I can assure you that it is not even close to being ready for prime time, nor is it even close to being an Infopad. If you are a dedicated hacker you might be able to edge out more functionality. For us mortals the thought of bricking a very expensive device is a good deterrent to not messing around with the iLiad too much. I have only installed ipdf 8.1 so far. I am waiting for more updates from iRex, and this is very frustrating, especially in these "I WANT IT NOW!" times. Some of the things that will keep the iLiad from being a Infopad is the painfully long boot time, and the screen refresh rate just to mention a few. Currently not having bookmark support in PDF's renders it about 25% functional for reading technical manuals. Writing on the device is not that great, it is not like writing on paper. The pen is still not calibrated and Myscript software is not that great, you cannot from what I have seen even build a template (unless you want to spend even more money) that you can use as a form to enter data and then sync it to your computer. FYI, let it be known that the bigger and more complex your pdf document is the longer it will take to load and navigate. This is another detriment to device utilization. It still is time consuming in some cases to format pdf's to display well on the device. Overall the way I see it if you are going to use the iLiad for more that just the most basic of reading purposes you will become more of a slave to the device than it serving your purposes. You will spend hours figuring out how to format your documents, downloading appropriate software to accomplish that, learning about xml, html, css, and a myriad of other things just so that you can get more functionality out of it. All this time could be better spent doing your studying. I have shown the device to a number of different people. I download weather graphics and occasionally format some technical manual excerpts for use in my preflight briefings. I get lots of compliments on the device but they are always suffixed with statements of how slow the boot time is and how long it takes to refresh and navigate documents. I always have to give the caveat "this is still a beta device and not completely finished". With the shortcomings of the device I see a large lack of interest in the iLiad after people's initial positive response. When asked the price, I have to say "Expensive" and not give them the real price as it is just too embarrassing that I paid so much for something that is not fully functional and is so hobbled by it's current operational state. I think that eInk is a neat and innovative technology. IMHO there are shortcomings that negate the suitability of it's use as anything other than the most basic reader. The technology is well suited to other applications, not to an Infopad. It's sort of like the Wankel engine. When the Wankel was marketed by Mazda it was touted as the replacement to the regular piston engine. It was promised to be smoother and more fuel efficient. The truth of the matter is that there were serious shortcomings. Any positive aspects of the engine were usurped by continual improvements made to the piston engine. The Wankel has been relegated to a niche market and from my understanding is being used in other capacities that it is well suited for. That is what I think we might see with the eink technology. LCD, OLED, and other technologies will be further tweaked to get their performance enhanced. Who knows, maybe in time the same will happen to eInk, but I don't see that in the immediate future. What I have seen that is interesting is the ETI-1 & ETI-2, See here Now these devices are limited in their own way, but I see the Infopad going more in this direction than the iLiad. Right now they are very proprietary. If some talented hacker type people could get their paws on these or something like it I am sure that they could turn it into an Infopad type device. I guess what I am trying to say nekokami is that if you purchase the iLiad you will be disappointed if you are expecting it to be anything other than a basic ereader device. In short the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I like my iLiad and I honestly and wholeheartedly hope and wish that it will mature and become what I and many others fully expect it to be, so it is not for sale yet! Last edited by firekat; 01-18-2007 at 12:45 PM.