Quote:
Originally Posted by wodin
Where is the line between recouping expenditures and shameless exploitation? There lies one of my preferences between eInk and reflective monochrome LCD.
LCD technology is mature, fast, only a little more power hungry than eInk, and arguably easier to read. eInk is revolutionary, proprietary, slow, and very battery friendly. On that only a little less than level playing field, I'll opt for cheap every time!
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Seconded. E-ink is frankly a pretty mediocre technology on the whole, as is reflective LCD at this time. I'm not anti-capitalist, but I'm certainly not going to be an e-ink apologist like many on these fora are. The technology is not that new and it is not that amazing or revolutionary. Its prices are a matter of marketing and exclusive fabrication, which is to be expected. It's not justified because of the research--that's mostly irrelevant when it comes down to pricing schemes anyway. It will be interesting when the exclusivity wears off. Only way I can see that happening is if companies stop producing lame clones of each other and start actually developing independently using varied technologies. Pixel Qi, Plastic Logic, and TMD among other companies will hopefully be able to provide some of that variety, though unfortunately e-ink is going to have a good headstart with its brand identity.