CNET predicts dedicated ereaders are doomed technology

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by ApK

serves well the purpose of:

voice
Sure, one would hope, but some phone makers give this a back seat.

I'm not an audiophile, I prefer music. Suits me well enough if I can listen to people and understand what they mean.

or text communication,

Meh. Serves it about as well as a pager. Some people are OK with limiting their text communication to abbreviations and sore thumbs. Others need to actually write.

Believe it or not, most of my posts here come from my device, including this text from a bus. You should help yourself to some swype virtual keyboard these days and realize it's the best thing since sliced bread.

reading,
Awful.

I don't wear glasses nor need binoculars to enjoy quite a lot of reading in it. Webpages turn out ok in landscape mode, with letters about the same size/display distance ratio as in the desktop. If I have trouble clicking links, I just zoom in a bit. Same for e-books, but no need to zoom in.

I just ended my reading of Conan Doyle's A study in scarlet, btw. And before that there was some lovecraft...

watching
Awfuller.

Sure is no home theater nor anyone is expecting it to be. It's watch on the and, just as with voice, it is watchable.

[B] and listening to digital content. [B]
Sure, if you're willing to compromise.

Compromise what? It plays most formats and got good quality earphones..

Now excuse me, I arrived at my destination.

[ApK]

"...well enough..."

"...watchable...."

Stunning endorsements. You are kind of making my point for me.

As for music, I was thinking in terms of audio quality (which as you say, does not matter to you as long as it is intelligible, but it matters to many) and formats and storage capacity, but I'll believe that smart phones have closed the gaps in those areas.

For me, the main function of a cell phone is to be a phone that is always available to me. That primary function is compromised by size, shape, weight, battery drain, and cost considerations foisted upon it by all the other functions.

Mediocrity is indeed widely accepted, and often for good reasons, like cost or convenience, but quality for a purpose will never be a mere niche.
I hope.

And even so, that doesn't mean that all-in-one smart phones or tablets can't live along side GOOD readers, and GOOD cameras, and GOOD communication devices, and GOOD media players.

It's not an either-or proposition.

ApK

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by ApK

"...well enough..."

"...watchable...."

Stunning endorsements.

for voice

and video

for music playback, web browsing and e-book reading I consider it of high quality for a mobile device.

Carrying a 10" screen in my pocket is not my acceptable definition for a mobile device.

As for music, I was thinking in terms of audio quality (which as you say, does not matter to you as long as it is intelligible, but it matters to many)

nope, I was talking about voice as provided by phone operators.

Music playback and its DAC are pretty much a match to stand alone quality players.

For me, the main function of a cell phone is to be a phone that is always available to me.

yup, for me too. Which is why iPad and the likes don't suit me, aside even from their grotesque non-mobile sizes.

Since it also comes with all the rest, I'm not complaining.

And even so, that doesn't mean that all-in-one smart phones or tablets can't live along side GOOD readers, and GOOD cameras, and GOOD communication devices, and GOOD media players.

and then suddenly you have to carry in your backpack a large Pentax Camera with full binoculars, a 10" screen without a keyboard, a media player, a PDA and a portable game device and their respective power chargers. All of them using their own displays, memory, CPU and storage. I'd rather have it all in my pocket than in a loaded backpack.

In the end, the cheap, portable device which does everything adequately enough wins -- specially as adequate tomorrow means top-notch today. and then you let go a tear...

[ApK]

There will be both audiences as long as there is a technological society.
By definition.
See, if there's comes a time where there are only people who want cheap mediocrity, and people who demand excellence are relegated to a niche, then the cities they build will collapse (because that cheap steel was 'good enough') and they will die off (because that cheap medical equipment was 'good enough') and society will crumble.
QED.

[Namekuseijin]

the excellence of today is the mediocrity of tomorrow. Since I'm still listening to Bach and company, I don't care. on mobile hardware about as good as my old top laptop, BTW...

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

the excellence of today is the mediocrity of tomorrow.

Twice you've said this, yet your main point is in defending the cell phone mediocrity of today, and then you bring up Bach, an example of how the excellence of an earlier today still stayed excellent in the tomorrow.
Which side of this issue are you actually on?

[Namekuseijin]

Bach makes art, not technology. High art lives on forever. Technology wears off, turns obsolete.

You call them mediocre, but it's just old tech, now mobile. Your excellence will be laughably "mediocre" a few years down the road by your limited definition, but I'll be glad to pocket it away at the right price and size.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

Bach makes art, not technology. High art lives on forever. Technology wears off, turns obsolete.

You call them mediocre, but it's just old tech, now mobile. Your excellence will be laughably "mediocre" a few years down the road by your limited definition, but I'll be glad to pocket it away at the right price and size.

You're saying that because technology will improve in the future, there is no point in getting anything really good today.
Interesting philosophy. Have fun with that.

[Jar Jar Binks]

Green Monkey's "There was a recent blog like this that predicted that keys would go away for houses...replaced by digital access systems, keyless entry, etc.

Not. Going to happen. "

Was predicted at least 30 years ago. Still we all use the same old.
We will purchase what we want as always and they can keep predicting as they always do.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I don't wear glasses nor need binoculars to enjoy quite a lot of reading in it. Webpages turn out ok in landscape mode, with letters about the same size/display distance ratio as in the desktop. If I have trouble clicking links, I just zoom in a bit. Same for e-books, but no need to zoom in.

I don't mind reading on a 3" screen, nor reading on a backlit screen (both of those are nearly impossible for some people)--but I'm not bothering with a reading device with less than 8 hours of active battery life. And I want it to read both purchased ebooks and my own documents from the same menu; I don't want to switch apps or sectors or whatever to have access to my own formatted content.

I used to be willing to format my own content into ebook formats; I don't know if I would be anymore; I've gotten used to a device that reads RTF. I'd prefer one that reads RTF, DOC and HTML.

Sure is no home theater nor anyone is expecting it to be. It's watch on the and, just as with voice, it is watchable.

A lot of people aren't interested in watching video on a screen smaller than their palms. (Would I watch Star Trek that way? Sure. Watch a brand new movie I've never seen before? I don't think so.) And a lot of charts, tables & photos in books aren't useful at that size, and "zoom in and scroll around" completely fails to make them useful.

Smartphones do a lot of things "well enough," and that will be enough for most people. In every technological niche, however, there'll be people who need more quality than that, and there will be devices that cater to that need. They'll be more expensive than general-purpose devices because they're being made in smaller quantities, and the people who need that level of quality will pay for it.

Smartphones won't get rid of dedicated ebook devices any more than Swiss army knives got rid of the market for tweezers.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by ApK

You're saying that because technology will improve in the future, there is no point in getting anything really good today.

no, I'm saying things really good today are just meh tomorrow, only mobile and readily accessible.

I don't understand why you'd reserve your praise for them today and bash them in the future, which is just what you're doing to past top tech in the form of current quality mobile hardware.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I'm not bothering with a reading device with less than 8 hours of active battery life.

I don't mind that: I get on the bus and take almost an hour to get to work. Then I plug it to USB to get it to 100% by the end of the day. I get home again on bus and there's still lots of charge for the rest of the night.

sure, not so fun on long trips, specially if doing anything other than e-reading.

still, some years down the road and colorful high refresh rate e-ink screens will be the norm among all mobiles.

And I want it to read both purchased ebooks and my own documents from the same menu; I don't want to switch apps or sectors or whatever to have access to my own formatted content.

that would from be the Files app menu, opening them in the proper app.

A lot of people aren't interested in watching video on a screen smaller than their palms.

who would be insane to do such?

still, it's available for news or humor short videos your friends mail you. It's a mildly useful bonus.

And a lot of charts, tables & photos in books aren't useful at that size, and "zoom in and scroll around" completely fails to make them useful.

Photos appear bright and lively when filling the whole screen and there's always zoom for details. Though I really wouldn't ever read something like comics or National Geographic on such small screen. It misses the point on having adequate "reading" on a mobile.

Smartphones won't get rid of dedicated ebook devices any more than Swiss army knives got rid of the market for tweezers.

I don't know. That sounds a lot like what owners of mainframes used to tell about PCs. Surely there's still mainframes around, as there are fossils.

Surely smartphones won't ever replace TVs or physical books. Not so certain about other niches. How many people buy PDAs or large stereo gear today? A personal mobile experience makes much more sense for certain things, like listening to music by yourself rather than trying to push down your bad taste on other people's ears...

In the end, I fear pocket book size will be the standard for e-books...

[Belle2Be]

Originally Posted by gmw

Interest vid', thanks for posting. Actually I think he's probably technically correct. Dedicated ereaders are almost certainly doomed, but it's not going to happen this year.

Why "almost certainly"? For the same reason so few own a dedicated mobile telephone any more - you just can't buy them. Now you can only by a combined phone/camera/video/mp3-player/reader/internet-browser/text-sender/alarm-clock/what-did-I-miss. All I want is a mobile phone, but I can't buy one.

Eventually technology will overtake dedicated ereaders. I think we probably have a few years left of "effectively" dedicated devices, but already some are starting to look more like thin-client computers (anything with an internet browser sufficiently capable is able to be a thin-client computer) than they are simple ereaders.

I guess I'm in the niche then. All I want my ereader to do is show books, just like all I want my phone to do is make calls and occasionally text. I have no want to be so connected to the world.

[Belle2Be]

Originally Posted by jocampo

A lot of people will hit back, but Nook Color is a tablet, with the Android interface locked in order to provide a fixed and customized UI. Anything with LCD screen as main input/output device and a virtual keyboard, is a tablet.

It is an ereader that can be hacked into to become a tablet. Come on, you know that.

[OverTwo]

Blu-ray?

Are you serious CNET?

I'm sorry but such ridiculous predictions will doom your site CNET. I can't believe a technology website thinks Blu-ray is a doomed.