Design an ideal book reader?

[folecr]

Originally Posted by stxopher

1) a secure ID chip on the hardware and
...
Second, the first. (sigh, really, I had a english teacher in school. They learned me good!) A secure ID chip. Something that is an accepted form of identification for that unit by all (not just a mobi, ereader or kindle number). Why? To ease the panicky jumping and skittish behavior of publishers and help bring libraries and ereaders together. Libraries still have to pay for books and have to keep track of how many times each went out. A secure chip would let libraries (or even businesses with time sensitive data) lend out the book to a particular reader for a certain time while the publishers can take comfort in knowing that the lent books is a single lend and not copied, transferred or enjoyed by anyone but the person it was lent to.

My ideal reader would certainly not have this.
1 - A username/password is a perfectly capacle form of identification.
2 - Trust. Let the library trust you. Or the publisher trust you. Rather than the other way around. Would you rather have trust placed in individuals or corporations?

Originally Posted by folecr

2 - Trust. Let the library trust you. Or the publisher trust you. Rather than the other way around. Would you rather have trust placed in individuals or corporations?

The library would love to trust you. After all, their primary purpose is to get as much readable and informative material out there as possible. But they are hobbled quite a bit by required accountability. They have to report (and pay) every time something gets checked out in many places so publishers get a bit uptight about the thought of quick and easy access to all of their books. A use there is to ease tensions. No, it wouldn't truly be useful since it would be broken in no time but all that is needed is enough to calm the houses down so they can feel they are doing something to protect their way of business. Isn't that really what DRM is? Heaven knows it's basically useless for what they say it is.

Another plus (for my uses) is that a secure ID chip can be used to more easily encrypt data on the device. (Amazing how many devices around here have some sort of encryption due to business and military use.)

[ted11]

Having stumbled on this site, and thread, I noticed the mention of solar power in an ideal device.

I hadn't thought of that, but as these e-paper displays use so little power, it sounds like a great idea. Just have a bar at the top like on calculators--even if it just topped the thing up and was only sustainable for low use, that would be an excellent improvement.

[folecr]

Originally Posted by stxopher

so publishers get a bit uptight about the thought of quick and easy access to all of their books. A use there is to ease tensions. No, it wouldn't truly be useful

Add complexity to a device that I would buy.... just to give a publisher the warm fuzzies? No, thanks.

[folecr]

Originally Posted by stxopher

Another plus (for my uses) is that a secure ID chip can be used to more easily encrypt data on the device. (Amazing how many devices around here have some sort of encryption due to business and military use.)

A secure ID chip does not provide encryption facilities. It provides two-factor authentication - think of it as the equivalent of your fingerprint. It will help identify you but will not keep your information any more secure.

[cerement]

I think in the long run, we're going to end up with three categories of readers:

1) Mobile/Economy/Compact - along the lines of iPod Touch or Readius, more likely using a backlit LED (iPod Touch) or reflective TFT screen (JetBook) and definitely with wireless and/or cellular connectivity

2) Midrange/Reader/Generic - common 6" eInk display, but most of the other features are optional and matter of personal taste

3) Deluxe/Corporate - large letter/A4 size screen (large enough for tables, charts, and badly designed corporate memos using Times New Roman in unreadably long lines), color eInk but more likely to use something along the lines of Pixel Qi's reflective LCD, wireless and cellular pretty much mandatory as well as touchscreen

[folecr]

FYI, I just found out that a rep from Astak is posting here
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22658

[Pandora Moon]

Ok here goes my ideal e-reader would be.

1. Have colour e-ink or something like e-ink anyway

2. I think this is real important. a good choice of e-books to download for all reading tastes and without resident restrictions! since being in the UK might really limit my choice of e-book.

3. Have enough room on the screen to read a graphic novel clearly on it without losing portabilty

4. this may sound silly but I would like some choice of the colour of the device as black, white or grey doesn't really appeal to me. I like it to look different you know?

5. this is more of an idea but what about someway of getting the books you already have in paper to be tranfered to e-book without having to pay for it again?. Like maybe typing the ISBN code in?.

6. oh yeah and maybe for the turning the page buttons to be placed where your thumbs would be so I could turn pages easily one-handed no matter which hand I'm using

That's all I can think of for now. I'll edit if I think of something else

[dmaul1114]

For me there really isn't an ideal, and I'd probably always need 2.

For novels, I'm fine with my K1 and would be a bit better with K2. Really just need instant page turns and menus, dictionary look up etc. My only real gripe is speed. Doing anything other than turning pages takes too long on current e-ink devices.

But what I really want for another type of reader is a larger screen (say 8.5 x 11 to be great for academic PDFS) that you can write on with a stylus just as easily as you can paper (no lag, easy to write neatly etc.) to mark up PDFs etc. I'm fine with LCD or OLED type screens as I want full color as ideally the device would be able to do full internet browsing, watch videos, be a planner etc. etc. as I wouldn't buy such a reader soley for my academic PDFs as I'm perfectly fine with just printing them out, marking them up and sticking them in a filing cabinet.

So I guess what I really want in that regard is a well designed tablet device, rather than a reader.

[evwool]

It must have *2* hinged screens (like a real book when open) and a hard outer shell so that it can be clipped closed with the screens safely inside.
It must have a backlight - if I can read my Palm M515 clearly with one then this nonsense about no backlight being better is just the Kindle designers making a virtue out of a design lack.
It must be the size of a thin paperback when closed, so it can fit in my handbag; I can't travel with something I have to hold in my hand.
I must be able to 'scribble in the margins' of my ebooks, just like I do with my real ones but I must also be able to back up my scribblings onto my PC and bookmark and highlight just like I can on my free Bible program on my Palm.
It must be able to read my home-made text and HTML docs without losing the formatting as well as letting me read bought ebooks.
A smart manufacturer will also sell cute quilted and embroidered carrying pouches as accessories but will also make a designer range of the ebook with the hard cover in leather for the wealthy executive or diamond studded for David Beckham.

[evwool]

Oh, and I nearly forgot.
It must have a slot for an SD card or micro SD card
It must have a usb cable which can either charge it via a PC as well as letting you transfer data but will also plug into a charger plug so you can take it on a PC-less holiday.
It must be able to zoom in much larger than any of the current ereaders available so that it can double up as a Large-Print Edition for the visually impaired. I was surprised on watching the Kindle review that it does not even do this