Quote:
Originally Posted by dmaul1114
The fact is most "consumers" don't.
Most people don't read enough to need one.
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Yep. I think the tech will improve where there are lightweight color tablets & netbooks that are readable like eInk, have great battery life, but that are also fast enough to support multimedia and productivity applications. The current crop is still subpar for reading but I don't think we're that far off with screen tech, power saving tech and improved batteries. (Just looking at what PixelQi has coming supposedly this fall as far as screens is heartening. They're saying daylight readability and 20hrs use. Their next step is even more power saving.) Fix these things and you'd have a device that would be an excellent reader, but that wouldn't be the only thing it could do well. At that point, many people will have these things for work and play, not just the students and other heavy readers. Folks can read their magazines or the occasional book on them as well as web surf, watch movies, play games, etc. People will move away from print to digital because they already have a good device to read on. As you say, most won't buy a device
just so they can get digital publications. That takes a hardcore reader unless the device is dirt cheap.
I just don't see stand-alone reading devices being with us long term. They're a stop along the road. I'm glad I have one for now but I doubt I'll have one ten years from now. Maybe not even five. They make sense with the tech as it stands now but the only thing you can count on is change.