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BigWaffles · 01-07-2010, 05:47 PM

I’ve just finished reading several posts & articles about the new e-readers coming out of the CES 2010. I’ve gotta say, it looks like e-readers are taking off in a big way. One article mentioned that there are almost 24 different models being introduced this year:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34753992...h_and_gadgets/

At first I was excited about some of the new offerings but after reading a bit deeper into the articles & posts I started to get a bit concerned. Judging from the current offers (and I’m sure there will be more reported from CES) there seems to be an early trend to offer more & more features. It seemed like a lot of the new readers are trying to be everything to everybody by including web surfing, color LCD screens & Video chat just to name a few. At first glance it seems that e-readers are starting to suffer from feature creep. One of the devices included a video camera for video chat and boasted a battery life of 6hrs. Not days, hours.

Now I know that a lot of people want these type devices and that’s fine, they now have a good selection to choose from. The problem is that they are being marketed as e-readers. People who tend to get distracted by shiny things will buy these all-in-wonders and ignore something as old-fashioned as a black and white screen. They will come to believe that an e-reader must have all the bells and whistles that these current models offer. If this keeps up, the basic reader might get pushed aside in favor of more/better features and become a niche product with little support.

Now I’m not a purist by any stretch, but I would like to see the basic e-reader remain as it was intended; a basic device for reading books, nothing else. While there is a market for readers with all the other features, a lot of people have no use for them. For myself (and a lot of other people I’m sure), I just want a basic e-reader to read books. No web surfing, no video watching and no color LCD screen. I want a long battery life and an easy-on-the-eyes screen. Hopefully that won’t change.

With any luck, Amazon, Sony and others will keep the basic reader basic while adding the extra features to new devices for those who want them.

C.P.T.

P.S. Don’t even get me started on what this is going to do for the average person buying their first e-reader. I have a feeling it will be easy to get a new reader and lots of books only to have the company go under a year or so down the road leaving you with books you can’t transfer to a new device. We really need some sort of standard for this. Maybe the silver lining will be a push for standard content that can be used on different devices. Some sort of digital signature that you keep on a SIM-type chip that can be transferred from one reader to another if you decide to upgrade, allowing you to keep all your books.

01-07-2010, 05:47 PM	#1
BigWaffles Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 970 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: North Pole, AK Device: K2, KDX	Far from the Tree I’ve just finished reading several posts & articles about the new e-readers coming out of the CES 2010. I’ve gotta say, it looks like e-readers are taking off in a big way. One article mentioned that there are almost 24 different models being introduced this year: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34753992...h_and_gadgets/ At first I was excited about some of the new offerings but after reading a bit deeper into the articles & posts I started to get a bit concerned. Judging from the current offers (and I’m sure there will be more reported from CES) there seems to be an early trend to offer more & more features. It seemed like a lot of the new readers are trying to be everything to everybody by including web surfing, color LCD screens & Video chat just to name a few. At first glance it seems that e-readers are starting to suffer from feature creep. One of the devices included a video camera for video chat and boasted a battery life of 6hrs. Not days, hours. Now I know that a lot of people want these type devices and that’s fine, they now have a good selection to choose from. The problem is that they are being marketed as e-readers. People who tend to get distracted by shiny things will buy these all-in-wonders and ignore something as old-fashioned as a black and white screen. They will come to believe that an e-reader must have all the bells and whistles that these current models offer. If this keeps up, the basic reader might get pushed aside in favor of more/better features and become a niche product with little support. Now I’m not a purist by any stretch, but I would like to see the basic e-reader remain as it was intended; a basic device for reading books, nothing else. While there is a market for readers with all the other features, a lot of people have no use for them. For myself (and a lot of other people I’m sure), I just want a basic e-reader to read books. No web surfing, no video watching and no color LCD screen. I want a long battery life and an easy-on-the-eyes screen. Hopefully that won’t change. With any luck, Amazon, Sony and others will keep the basic reader basic while adding the extra features to new devices for those who want them. C.P.T. P.S. Don’t even get me started on what this is going to do for the average person buying their first e-reader. I have a feeling it will be easy to get a new reader and lots of books only to have the company go under a year or so down the road leaving you with books you can’t transfer to a new device. We really need some sort of standard for this. Maybe the silver lining will be a push for standard content that can be used on different devices. Some sort of digital signature that you keep on a SIM-type chip that can be transferred from one reader to another if you decide to upgrade, allowing you to keep all your books.