Quote:
Originally Posted by aegeus
I would say it very easily 
My opinion is that although capable of handling many formats and having many features compared to it's rivals; our device does not even have a full keyboard! Just think how hard we will be using the dictionary function after it has been added to our device.
Don't get me wrong; I love my device and use it a lot; but it doesn't make me forget it's lacking parts. I am pretty sure next time this year we will be talking about color screens, touch screens, full keyboards, connection types of the device (wi-fi, gsm etc.) integration with bookstores etc. I believe that this development speed in e-book readers is very rapid, compared to similar products (like for example mp3 players)
I believe that our devices are first and good premature examples of e-book readers. If we can not get more firmware updates and new features till next year; our device will look like a gray screen calculator compared to upcoming new products. I just don't want to have an outdated reader next year, which is a short period I think for this product.
There's still a lot to add to our device which can easily be seen from the suggestions and I know that I shouldn't be eager to get a new firmware each month; however I just don't want to stay with an "damped" device.
Regards. |
Response:
I have few things to say about this post and this is really geared towards a mentality not the person specifically but I do appreciate a debate if they would like to discuss this.
The mentality of the latest and greatest is what I feel hampers many of these new devices and technologies. Let me take a few of the point in this post and give my commentary.
1. It needs a color screen - I bought a eInk device specifically because it would not have glare and would display text in a close manner to a book, so in my opinion resources would be better spent on other areas of this devices lifecycle.
2. It needs a keyboard - Why, sure if you need to look something up in a dictionary that could be interesting but other than that it is not that useful if it increases cost. I need a device that turns pages fast, supports a gazillion formats, long battery life, awesome bookmarking and a simple way of getting files in and out of the device on Windows, Mac and Linux.
3. It needs a Touchscreen - could be nice but only if it was a minor increase in price and didn't hamper the quality of the reading experience and the touchscreen is only good if the user experience was made better so I can navigate my reader better, only then would I say "yes" I will upgrade for that feature. I am talking Apple level of UE here.
4. Wireless connection - Maybe but that will be a huge drain on battery life and honestly, we all need to get back to a little more reading because with the amount of books I have in EPUB and PDF, I need to read a whole lot more before I am even going to need to add a single book.
5. Bookstore Integration - I would say yes, this is an area that is rapidly developing and Astak should build in application that can serve as that integration so we can get DRM stuff pretty easy. This improves the readers experience.
All in all, I want a better ereader, not some device that will eread and do all this other stuff not as good or makes it have a keyboard, color and wifi so it can compete with every device on the planet. Just give me a fast, good user interface, bug free ereader with a decent screen size so I can do whats most important.... getting back to reading.
Thoughts?
