Hmmm. I hadn't realized that OLEDs 'ate themselves' during normal operation, that
would be a problem.
I think the concerned failure mode for e-ink is that the particles could lose their charge over time.
Of course, both of those scenarios might result in a patchy display, but it does sound like e-ink still has it over OLEDs for the time being.
Although ... OLEDs might be a good choice for some sort of built in edge-lighting approach, it wouldn't need to be on constantly, so the more limited life-span would be less of an issue, and the extremely low power consumption would certainly be a boon for an e-ink reader....
If you'd like a quick primer on how e-ink functions, have a look
here.
If you've got something that's working more or less satisfactorily for you, I'd recommend that you wait to buy until you're comfortable with the product you're looking at. We're supposed to see gen2 (Viziplex) screens popping up in commercial products sometime later this year.
A lot has happened in the e-reader market in the last 12 months, and the next 12 look even more exciting. I'm hoping that this is the decade in which e-books and e-readers get a true, practical, effective beginning in terms of availability, acceptance and market penetration. There are a number of stars seeming to align these days, so we'll see.
