Quote:
Originally Posted by Philippe D.
Right now when I go to work, I am carrying my tablet (iPad) as a quick connected device and games carrier, my Remarkable as a notepad, and my Onyx Max 2 as a portable bookshelf. All combined, they are still lighter than my laptop (which I will sometimes carry as well).
I'd be happy to carry one less device if, say, the tablet could comfortably fulfill either the notepad or reading function. Right now it cannot - e-ink screen is really that much more comfortable for reading, and note taking on a hard surface screen is something I cannot do.
Now, with ereaders we are either talking niche products, or cheap reading devices. Both have their uses - in public transports I see a lot of Kobos and Kindles, in the hands of people who just want to read and like the comfort. My guess is that these people could be easily converted to regular tablets if they offered comparable screen comfort (like, full-color, e-ink-like screens) at not too high prices, but right now they seem to be sticking to their e-readers despite also having smartphones (I'm guessing).
On the large screen readers - they are expensive enough to be in the same price range as slightly smaller, full-purpose tablets, so I don't see them becoming mainstream items, but I don't see them being taken over by tablets either (I mean, large screen tablets were around before large screen readers), unless said tablets get dual display options.
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All of this is totally off topic. The topic is "10 years from now" and not "what exists today".
While I agree that today's 2017 vintage hardware keeps ereaders and tablets largely distinct beasts, I still feel that they will merge in the rather distant future (e.g. 2028+) with the Triumvirate (ereader-tablet-phone) becoming a pair of just two dominate devices, the document handling device (ereader + tablet) and the more portable communication device (phone + email + messaging + social media junk).