Are smartphones the future?

[JeremyR]

Nope.

Screen size is really important once you hit middle age, at least it is for me. I found I couldn't really even comfortably play games on the Nintendo DS (and I'm not the only one, they came out with a XL model with a decent sized screen).

Then again, I can't imagine browsing the web on a phone, either. But lots of people do it.

[aomaiga3211]

Chile is not intelligent, it does not matter, I only used for phone communication. Like reading a novel, the screen is too small.

[GreenMonkey]

I can't really read on a smartphone simply because I read pretty fast. I read about 2 pages a minute, that's probably about 4 pages on a 6" e-reader. On a smartphone I'd be forced to turn the page every 4-5 seconds or so! Can't even imagine it. Not to mention they eyestrain of reading on something that little.

Tablets beating e-readers? Maybe. But not phones.

[marimorimo]

Over the years I've read dozens of ebooks on my Palm devices and Nokia smartphones.

It made me realize I needed an eINK reader.

And I'm only 25.

[Asawi]

I brought a bunch of eInk readers with me from USA a months ago, and several of the people who bought them has told me they wanted better reading experiences than their fancy phones could give them.
(Those people couldn't care less about Internet capabilities and such on their eReader though. For that their phones are a much better choice.)

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Re: Are smartphones the future?

Smartphones are the present. Welcome to 2011.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Reminds me of that goofy haired guy on the Ancient Aliens show on the Discovery Channel; "We don't really know, sooooooo... we're going with aliens here."

[cue coffee spew]

[taosaur]

Smartphones are a huge vector in ebook adoption, but a lot of people who start on phones are going to move on to something larger, be it more tablet or more ereader.

[Penforhire]

Sabredog, I think you missed my point about why the big box is endangered. Large display technology has to become portable. I used examples of heads-up, other light projection, and direct mental communication.

With my desktop publishing (Quark), Photoshop, and Lightwave uses I don't want to give up my dual-monitor real estate either.

But the processing power we require is getting smaller and more energy efficient. There is a Moore's Law-like computing power-per-watt trend that goes all the way back to the 1960's that suggests we could be there in about five years (meaning a battery that can power today's typical PC processing). Our wireless protocols continue to get more power efficient as well. Why have a big box when a smartphone sized box will do the work? I get the display (output) and data (input) issues but I see ways to solve those that don't require physical monitors and physical keyboards, perhaps coming a bit later than the powerful-PC-in-our-hands.

[outlander78]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Re: Are smartphones the future?

Smartphones are the present. Welcome to 2011.

That's pretty arrogant. Last week, I read that 30% of Americans have a smart phone. You need more than 30% of the market before you start calling yourself the dominant solution.

I'm not terribly old yet (33) and I already can't stand smart phones. People who use them seem to get addicted, can't follow conversations without reflexively checking their phones - it's brutal.

The aging population will have an impact too - more and more of us don't want to have to focus on a small screen, and a large screen is no longer portable.

I don't doubt that smart phones offer a lot, and will continue to grow in popularity, but I don't think they will be the standard everyone uses for some time yet, especially not at a price tag of $600 per year ($50/month) while the world is again sliding towards recession.

[jlmwrite]

I'm with an earlier poster in that I read VERY quickly; reading on my smartphone does necessitate page turns roughly every 4-6 seconds. And as with a few other posters, my over-50 nearsighted vision is complicated by presbyopia (meaning reading glasses with my contacts, or multivision contacts, or pushing my progressive lens glasses on top of my head because they still aren't strong enough...)

Like many of the MR forum members I own a smartphone and an e-reader (or two). I use both to read based on where I am.

My smartphone lives in my pocket, whether in scrubs or in my jeans. I have it with me when waiting to pick up a kiddo from sports practice or after school, or when alone standing in a particularly long line at the store, or... You get the idea. My beloved NC always goes in my bag for those long stretches at work, and fits well in the pocket of my cargo shorts and pants.

Yes, I prefer reading on my e-reader. But my smartphone is a great backup and fills in for those times when I don't have an e-reader with me. Until technology changes form factors of smartphones or e-readers I'm going to use both to read.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by jlmwrite

Yes, I prefer reading on my e-reader. But my smartphone is a great backup and fills in for those times when I don't have an e-reader with me. Until technology changes form factors of smartphones or e-readers I'm going to use both to read.

Before the iPad, I did a lot of my reading on my iPhone. Now, like you, it has been relegated to mere backup duty when I'm waiting around with just my phone. (which isn't too often-I take my iPad everywhere).

But it is nice to have handy, especially with auto-sync.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by jocampo

The future for what, reading? ... no, I don't think so.

We have had PDFs, monitors, computer, for a long time. That did not replace regular ebooks.

Nobody ever wanted to read sitting at a table looking straight ahead at a "TV". People enjoy reading holding the "paper" in the hands, in comfy chair, on the sofa, spread in bed or perhaps on the go. Smartphones are ideal for that.

Smartphones are too small for reading. Take for example computer books. You need a 10" screen or landscape in order to be able to read code properly, same for poetry.

Why would you read code instead of program it?

But poetry? come on! It's the shortest, most compact literary format! It just begs to be read on a smartphone. Even the Iliad, one stanza a time...

[Pinecone]

I have read on my iPhone. It can be done. But my PRS-650 is SO much better for reading.

[Phogg]

I will point out that the screen on my phone is 5 inches like my PRS-350.
There doesn't have to be a smaller screen on your phone.