The future of e-readers

mdmorrissey · 03-16-2011, 05:22 AM

I predict they will be replaced very soon by tablets or netbooks with improved displays, portability, and battery life -- which are the only (current) advantages of e-readers.

wyndslash · 03-16-2011, 05:44 AM

i hope not. i like having a dedicated e-reader that does its job well rather than paying a lot more for features i won't be using and will just be a distraction

serpentium · 03-16-2011, 05:48 AM

Im sorry to notice that in the last few months i didnt turn on my beloved sony prs550 to read even a line. Unfortunately the ipad i carry around is able to let me read enough and i feel the burden to bring two devices.
Im sorry because i love my ebook reader (ipad isnt) and i believe im reading less and less because the many apps and games and newsreader i have aboard of my ipad.

avantman42 · 03-16-2011, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdmorrissey

I predict they will be replaced very soon by tablets or netbooks with improved displays, portability, and battery life -- which are the only (current) advantages of e-readers.

Those aren't the only advantages. Cost is another advantage of e-readers. My Kindle 3 cost me £149, which includes free 3G. I could have got the wi-fi only version for £119. I seem to recall seeing an e-reader for £80, but I've never seen a tablet that cheap.

I've no doubt that tablets will come down in price, but I suspect e-readers will come down in price too. Someone in another thread predicted the price will keep falling until it gets to around the $30 mark.

I suspect dedicated e-readers will exist for as long as they have a price advantage over tablets.

DiapDealer · 03-16-2011, 07:55 AM

I too, hope there will always be a cheaper, reading-only eink device available. I'm not interested in an expensive, multi-function computer with an LCD screen that -- oh yeah -- has eReader apps for it, too. I believe the price of tablets will guarantee that a scooter-model, black & white eink reader will always be on the market. There's enough market for both -- unless tablets start selling for $139, that is.

jbcohen · 03-16-2011, 08:05 AM

I have heard similar things in the IT news media from such excepted IT sources such as CNet news. However, they have told me that it is unlikely that laptops and netbooks will replace the electronic reader as they are heavier and larger then their reader cousins. However the tablet PCs are a destinct possiblity as they are the same dimmensions as the typical reader, simply pack more power then the typical reader does. I have also heard perdiscitions in the next fifty years of IT we are headed into what is often referred to as holographic computing. There will be no more monitors on your desktops and no more screens on your laptops, blackberries fifty years from now will have no screen. In stead these items will project imiages into the air around you that you will interact with using your bare hands. Fifty years from now you will have a reciever on your belt which you will activate by voice, and it will project your books into the air around you. You will scroll through the book by using your index finger to push the image up, down, left or right. Both the reader and the tablet will be merged into one device that will interact with you no matter where you are. They will operate similar to Star Treck computers do, you will place the device on your belt and will say "computer on, display <and give a title>" that book will be showed in front of you in the air.

I have also heard of the Star Treck transporter technology is being worked on. We can dematerialize a orange, move it across the room but reassembling it on the other side has proved to be a bit dificult. Reassembling the orange tends to get messy scientists have gotten it reassembled but turns out to be a tangled mess. Still work in progress, in fifty years scientists are expecting to have it worked out. Imagine buying a weeks worth of food on the PC and a minute latter the whole order materializes next to you, no need to go to the store. You can still shop around any store can transport you anything at any time.

feenix1363 · 03-16-2011, 08:09 AM

Android tablets are already cheaper than Ereaders.

As stated earlier though, an E-ink didsplay takes some beating imho. It gives longer battery life, and better reading conditions (easier on the eye) than back-lit devices.

I'm pleased to see that ereaders are coming down in price but that for me is not a priority. I also don't need my ereader to take notes, display photos, connect via anything more than USB, be touch sensitive. What I'm looking for is colour, and bigger screens. Lets have a proper comic reader, that works from e-ink. Make the machine smaller, make the battery last longer.

Innovation is the way forward so far as the ereader of the future is concerned. But without complicating the functions. More isn't always better.

DiapDealer · 03-16-2011, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

50 years ...<snip>... holographic ...<snip>... star trek

Since I won't be alive then, I don't care. I was talking about the immediate (with me in it) future.

avantman42 · 03-16-2011, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feenix1363

Android tablets are already cheaper than Ereaders.

I'll admit that I hadn't realised how much Android tablets had come down in price. A quick Google suggests I could get one for about £65. Mind you, I also found an e-book reader at WHSmith for £60 (with a TFT screen, but marketed as an e-book reader, none the less)

So, I'm not sure that Android tablets are cheaper, plus, the store that would sell me the tablet is a web shop that I've never heard of, whereas WHSmith has a shop in pretty much every city in the UK. So, I'd suggest that the general public's perception is that e-readers are cheaper. My entirely unscientific check seems to back up that perception.

Quote:

Originally Posted by feenix1363

I'm pleased to see that ereaders are coming down in price but that for me is not a priority. I also don't need my ereader to take notes, display photos, connect via anything more than USB, be touch sensitive. What I'm looking for is colour, and bigger screens. Lets have a proper comic reader, that works from e-ink. Make the machine smaller, make the battery last longer.

I'm happy with my K3, so I won't really be affected by changes in price or functionality until I come to look for a replacement. However, what I or you think isn't really relevant to the OP's prediction that e-readers "will be replaced very soon by tablets or netbooks" - that will be determined by what the general public think.

AlexSno · 03-16-2011, 08:34 AM

Well it depends basically on the mod you are. I thing a quality real touch book will never be replaced by an electronic one. Unless there is a wood shortage of course...

rogue_librarian · 03-16-2011, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexSno

I thing a quality real touch book will never be replaced by an electronic one.

Hey, there's a dead horse that could do with some flogging. Anybody care to join me? No? I didn't thing (sic!) so.

feenix1363 · 03-16-2011, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avantman42

..........what I or you think isn't really relevant to the OP's prediction that e-readers "will be replaced very soon by tablets or netbooks" - that will be determined by what the general public think.

We are the 'general public'. More than that, we are the 'early adopters' and so lead the way for the rest

Steven Lyle Jordan · 03-16-2011, 09:41 AM

Early adopters aren't "the general public"... and neither are the denizens of this forum. We are a niche group that sometimes leads the general public, and sometimes discovers that we turned right... and the general public turned left and left us behind.

feenix1363 · 03-16-2011, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Early adopters aren't "the general public"... and neither are the denizens of this forum. We are a niche group that sometimes leads the general public, and sometimes discovers that we turned right... and the general public turned left and left us behind.

Don't blame me. I didn't buy Betamax

avantman42 · 03-16-2011, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feenix1363

We are the 'general public'. More than that, we are the 'early adopters' and so lead the way for the rest

No, we're two individuals. Even if you extrapolate our views to everyone on this forum, that's still only about 109,000 people.

03-16-2011, 05:22 AM	#1
mdmorrissey Addict Posts: 232 Karma: 262 Join Date: May 2010 Device: PocketBook 360	The future of e-readers I predict they will be replaced very soon by tablets or netbooks with improved displays, portability, and battery life -- which are the only (current) advantages of e-readers.

03-16-2011, 08:05 AM	#6
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,032 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	I have heard similar things in the IT news media from such excepted IT sources such as CNet news. However, they have told me that it is unlikely that laptops and netbooks will replace the electronic reader as they are heavier and larger then their reader cousins. However the tablet PCs are a destinct possiblity as they are the same dimmensions as the typical reader, simply pack more power then the typical reader does. I have also heard perdiscitions in the next fifty years of IT we are headed into what is often referred to as holographic computing. There will be no more monitors on your desktops and no more screens on your laptops, blackberries fifty years from now will have no screen. In stead these items will project imiages into the air around you that you will interact with using your bare hands. Fifty years from now you will have a reciever on your belt which you will activate by voice, and it will project your books into the air around you. You will scroll through the book by using your index finger to push the image up, down, left or right. Both the reader and the tablet will be merged into one device that will interact with you no matter where you are. They will operate similar to Star Treck computers do, you will place the device on your belt and will say "computer on, display <and give a title>" that book will be showed in front of you in the air. I have also heard of the Star Treck transporter technology is being worked on. We can dematerialize a orange, move it across the room but reassembling it on the other side has proved to be a bit dificult. Reassembling the orange tends to get messy scientists have gotten it reassembled but turns out to be a tangled mess. Still work in progress, in fifty years scientists are expecting to have it worked out. Imagine buying a weeks worth of food on the PC and a minute latter the whole order materializes next to you, no need to go to the store. You can still shop around any store can transport you anything at any time. Last edited by jbcohen; 03-16-2011 at 08:09 AM.

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03-16-2011, 05:44 AM	#2
wyndslash Wizard Posts: 2,951 Karma: 3000001 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3 wifi, Kindle Fire	i hope not. i like having a dedicated e-reader that does its job well rather than paying a lot more for features i won't be using and will just be a distraction

03-16-2011, 05:48 AM	#3
serpentium eAddictd Posts: 41 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Italia Device: PRS505, Iliad Book Edition	Im sorry to notice that in the last few months i didnt turn on my beloved sony prs550 to read even a line. Unfortunately the ipad i carry around is able to let me read enough and i feel the burden to bring two devices. Im sorry because i love my ebook reader (ipad isnt) and i believe im reading less and less because the many apps and games and newsreader i have aboard of my ipad.

03-16-2011, 07:55 AM	#5
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,568 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I too, hope there will always be a cheaper, reading-only eink device available. I'm not interested in an expensive, multi-function computer with an LCD screen that -- oh yeah -- has eReader apps for it, too. I believe the price of tablets will guarantee that a scooter-model, black & white eink reader will always be on the market. There's enough market for both -- unless tablets start selling for $139, that is.

03-16-2011, 08:09 AM	#7
feenix1363 Lost and clueless Posts: 194 Karma: 233336 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Glo, Kindle for Andriod, Kobo for Android	Android tablets are already cheaper than Ereaders. As stated earlier though, an E-ink didsplay takes some beating imho. It gives longer battery life, and better reading conditions (easier on the eye) than back-lit devices. I'm pleased to see that ereaders are coming down in price but that for me is not a priority. I also don't need my ereader to take notes, display photos, connect via anything more than USB, be touch sensitive. What I'm looking for is colour, and bigger screens. Lets have a proper comic reader, that works from e-ink. Make the machine smaller, make the battery last longer. Innovation is the way forward so far as the ereader of the future is concerned. But without complicating the functions. More isn't always better.

03-16-2011, 08:34 AM	#10
AlexSno Connoisseur Posts: 74 Karma: 330 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: none	Well it depends basically on the mod you are. I thing a quality real touch book will never be replaced by an electronic one. Unless there is a wood shortage of course...

03-16-2011, 09:41 AM	#13
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Early adopters aren't "the general public"... and neither are the denizens of this forum. We are a niche group that sometimes leads the general public, and sometimes discovers that we turned right... and the general public turned left and left us behind.

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