Quote:
Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
Keeping in mind that the question posited is "what do you want in your ereader device," not "what do you want in your multi-function device that you could use to read ebooks:"
If you want a multi-function device, by all means go get a multi-function device -- i.e. something built from the ground up to accommodate a wide variety of functions.
I say focus on making ereaders the best possible device for the reading process, rather than bog it down with unnecessary and distracting functions.
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Fair enough. I just don't see reading functions getting hurt too much by other features--beyond eye strain and battery life until that technology improves. Text is text for the most part.
I just need something much more functional that current e-readers to even remotely consider switch from paper books and printouts of academic articles for work as I won't make the switch until I can highlight and annotate at least as easily as I can on paper as time is of the essence.
If I can get a device that lets me ditch my PDA, and has enough internet and e-mail functionality that I can take it instead of a laptop on a short business trip where I won't be working on stuff that I need a keyboard for, then all the better. Same with video playback etc. It's just nice to have all you use on a regular basis in one easy to use portable device--assuming it does it all well.
And that's all stuff any multi function tablet device should do well as it's all simple, standard PC tasks. And what I'm talking about is really just a tablet PC minus the keyboard. I think tech has gotten to the point where multi-function devices can do lots of things very well--from home theater PCs, to smart phones to the PS3 being one of the best Blu Ray players out there (where as past game consoles were crappy DVD players).
Give me something about the size of the Kindle DX or a bit larger screen size, a little thicker by necessity, with a nice stylus touch screen and I'll be a happy camper.
But like I said, no reason not to still have dedicated readers out there for those of you who just want as simple reader. I'd probably keep my K1 on the nightstand for leisure reading as smaller readers are fine and very comfortable for novels. Just 110% useless for academic or business work due to the small screen and god awful annotation options.