Poll: Touchscreen or Buttons (E-ink)

[ApK]

Originally Posted by astra

On Sony you just double tap on a word you want to search.

Not possible when the word you want to search is not displayed on the screen.

If you need more, then you just press option button, tap on search, and type in anything you want on a virtual keyboard.

I prefer to skip all that and just type the word.
Plus I do not like virtual keyboards. It may be partially that I have big hands, but I don't like them on large tablets or touchscreens, either.
The Kindle keyboard is far from word-processor grade, but tactile feedback seems to keep me from needing to correct or re-tap nearly as much as even on, say, an iPad or the email entry screen of a Redbox machine.

Anyway, I didn't say I didn't know how to search on my Sony. I didn't say YOU should like the hard keyboard better.
I said I like the hard keyboard (and much about the Kindle) better.
And it's not because I just like that what I have...I have both and have tried many.

And I am fully capable of making intelligent, informed decisions for myself. And I know I'm not alone in this, so I share my reasons and recommend others decide for themselves.

I'd also warn that people be careful in how they take buying advice from folks (and, btw, I don't think I talking about Astra here, as far as I can recall) who say stuff like "Swiping is obviously superior and people who say they like buttons have never tried a good touch screen."

Interesting to see the current poll results, BTW.

[astra]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Can you guarantee that at smaller font-sizes, my fat-ass sausage-digits will be able to highlight the exact word I want, the very first time, every time?

There's a balance between highlighting the wrong text very quickly and highlighting the correct text somewhat slowly... and I'm in no hurry to get frustrated.

If you are in no hurry, then just pull out the stylus that sits on the side of the reader.
My fingers are no small at all. I have quite big hands, yet I have no trouble at double tap the needed word at small size. extra small probably would be a problem but then I don't know how many people are able to read such a small text.

[fjtorres]

Buttons, buttons, buttons.
That does not mean keyboards, though.
Onscreen menus and keyboards controlled by a 5-way thumbpad/stick is both minimalistic and ergonomical. See the Pocketbook360 Plus for a good example.

I'm not religiously opposed to a touchscreen as a throw-in feature, as long as the reader has at least one set of side-mounted paging buttons, but I won't pay a premium for it. The NOOK STR seems to fit that bill but I want to see what the feel of the buttons is like.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by astra

If you are in no hurry, then just pull out the stylus that sits on the side of the reader.
My fingers are no small at all. I have quite big hands, yet I have no trouble at double tap the needed word at small size. extra small probably would be a problem but then I don't know how many people are able to read such a small text.

I'm afraid to use the stylus for fear of losing or breaking it. According to the forum here, it's uber-fragile and expensive to replace. I have not even told my son it exists.
Nor would I choose to fiddle with a stylus in one hand just for reading if I had the choice.

I have better luck picking a word to lookup with my Kindle than with touching the Sony even at moderate text size.
It's partially that I'm practiced with Kindle, no doubt, but there was sure no "OMG this is SOO much better!" moment with the Sony for me.

ApK

[astra]

To each its own then

[ApK]

Originally Posted by astra

To each its own then

THAT is what I've been sayin'!

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by djgreedo

I think Amazon would be insane to not put touch controls on the next Kindle. So many things work better with touch: footnotes, hyperlinks, menus, word lookup, etc.

But I also think they'd be insane to not keep some buttons, especially to turn pages.

I would bet against touch on the low end Kindle for a while.

I think that Amazon wants to postition itself with the low cost EBR vis a vis the other large players in the EBR business. Evidently, their costs for the current low end Kindle are low enough for them to do that. So any NEW low end Kindle will have to be priced as low as the present KwSO. I don't see how adding a touch screen will keep costs down.

On the anticipated high end Kindle(s), I have to believe that you are right - these are going to be touch devices. But I don't see the point in adding page turn buttons to a device that is built around touch, unles their focus groups tell them that a significant proportion of potential customers will not buy the new EBRs without page turn buttons. Reason being that the addition of page turn buttons will add some cost, and will also add another potential point of failure on the device, to merely duplicate the funtion that touch can perform.

But what is possible - barely - is "touch buttons" on the bezel portion of the EBR. I can imagine a kind of "margin swipe" up or down on the bezel to turn the page forward or back, using my thumb while holding the EBR. I just tried it out on my Sony 650 & it seems to be a perfectly natural move.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I would bet against touch on the low end Kindle for a while.

I think that Amazon wants to postition itself with the low cost EBR vis a vis the other large players in the EBR business. Evidently, their costs for the current low end Kindle are low enough for them to do that. So any NEW low end Kindle will have to be priced as low as the present KwSO. I don't see how adding a touch screen will keep costs down.

On the anticipated high end Kindle(s), I have to believe that you are right - these are going to be touch devices. But I don't see the point in adding page turn buttons to a device that is built around touch, unles their focus groups tell them that a significant proportion of potential customers will not buy the new EBRs without page turn buttons. Reason being that the addition of page turn buttons will add some cost, and will also add another potential point of failure on the device, to merely duplicate the funtion that touch can perform.

I'm not sure one can say there is a low-end vs high-end Kindle. There's one, and then there's the bigger one. The KSO is the same device with a software alteration. Buttons/Touchscreen/combination thereof is an ergonomics issue, so function redundancy doesn't really come into play if they feel elimination of either/or would alienate some customers. Likely the costs are negligible for both as well, as evidenced by the new Nook's $139.

[fleaaaaaa]

I have had a non touchscreen Ereader and a touchscreen one.

I had the bookeen cybook and now have the Sony 350. I have this feeling that if I had had the older Sony reader I would have also come to the conclusion I will tell you about. I watched how you peddle through books and dictionary words on youtube for the non touch screen sony it was similar to my cybook.

Now here we go, I never thought initially when I heard "these are touch screen now" that it was the best idea I had ever heard. However upon trying the sony instore, I really liked it and I felt it sped up the whole process of finding a book, looking up words etc. The onscreen keyboard is a little slower than you may hope for though I don't use it that often. Dictionary lookup is the most impressive aspect (bookmarking is nice and quick too), on the cybook I had to take many more steps to look up a word, now its a simple double tap.

I love the 350, I don't have a screen protector but I might get one, however the stylus (I didn't find it till I got home) means you don't HAVE to touch the screen.

My answer to the pole though is that I want both buttons and touchscreen, like the sony becaue I always turn page (90% of the time) with my buttons.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

Hell, if the beer is free, I can clasp the ereader betwixt my knees and turn the pages with my nose

Isn't that sort of like using a dictaphone?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Isn't that sort of like using a dictaphone?

He said 'nose.'

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

I'm not sure one can say there is a low-end vs high-end Kindle. There's one, and then there's the bigger one. The KSO is the same device with a software alteration. Buttons/Touchscreen/combination thereof is an ergonomics issue, so function redundancy doesn't really come into play if they feel elimination of either/or would alienate some customers. Likely the costs are negligible for both as well, as evidenced by the new Nook's $139.

The high end Kindle(s) I was talking about were the anticipated Tablet version(s), not the existing K3G or the KDX. I agree with you that the latter really can't be considered "high end" except, of course, in terms of price.

In fact, the lack of wifi for the KDX makes it, in my view, the lowest of the low end. The reason is that you need wifi to get articles onto the KDX, or go to the trouble of hooking it up to your computer to get the articles. There are now several ways to send articles directly to your kindle from an internet browser, for example - but you can't use your free.kindle address without wifi. (You can use the regular kindle address for 3G delivery, but you have to pay. The "small fee" does add up.)

[ApK]

You can download content to the DX for free via it's own browser. Since reading is still the primary use, the large screen alone makes any argument that it's 'low end' hard to agree with. Wifi is great, but there are still popular ereaders without any wireless at all. It hardly defines it.

[Shushan]

Actually isn't this push toward touch-screens moving readers back towards being more of a tablet, net-book, or DS? Sure seems like it to me.

Since my earliest eBook reader was/is a Franklin LCD KJV Bible with a very well used word game cartridge installed in the back, I can't honestly say I wouldn't use additional functions, but I am concerned that the dedicated features that make e-readers worthwhile may suffer for fashion. Right now e-readers are a bit under powered but fairly sturdy, have most of their memory devoted to carrying a library, and they remain focused on making reading easier on the go, and especially easier on the eyes with e-ink.

If this trend toward ipad-ness continues, I think we may lose some of those important considerations as the devices are made more internet capable, able to use cool apps/games etc.

So - No, while I wouldn't object to some touch screen functions, especially if a few simple games (crosswords, anagrams, hangman, solitaire, chess, pente) were included in that functionality, I don't want to play Angry Birds on it or be forced to use the touch screen constantly - while reading. I prefer to read with buttons, as touchscreens are distracting with my big ole fingers in the way, and you have to use both hands to hold the device or else only use certain positions (like resting it the bed or sofa) to get that one-hand option back. I like hugging a kid or petting a cat while reading. Its one of the things that e-readers have allowed that physical books did not.

I would love it if that Kindle keyboard allowed you to do word processing on your device, or at least keep a journal in an exportable format, but I read that they only allow you to make notes on books you are reading?? If they won't do the digital diary thing, I personally would prefer it wasn't in the way. Actually, if it was covered or an onscreen option, invisible except when you needed it, that would be better for everybody, yes?

Stylus functionality certainly would reduce unsightly fingerprints, mistakes in highlighting etc, but I don't really want to have to keep track of a stylus unless it has its own little slot like the Nintendo DS

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Shushan

Actually isn't this push toward touch-screens moving readers back towards being more of a tablet, net-book, or DS? Sure seems like it to me.

Since my earliest eBook reader was/is a Franklin LCD KJV Bible with a very well used word game cartridge installed in the back, I can't honestly say I wouldn't use additional functions, but I am concerned that the dedicated features that make e-readers worthwhile may suffer for fashion. Right now e-readers are a bit under powered but fairly sturdy, have most of their memory devoted to carrying a library, and they remain focused on making reading easier on the go, and especially easier on the eyes with e-ink.

If this trend toward ipad-ness continues, I think we may lose some of those important considerations as the devices are made more internet capable, able to use cool apps/games etc.

So - No, while I wouldn't object to some touch screen functions, especially if a few simple games (crosswords, anagrams, hangman, solitaire, chess, pente) were included in that functionality, I don't want to play Angry Birds on it or be forced to use the touch screen constantly - while reading. I prefer to read with buttons, as touchscreens are distracting with my big ole fingers in the way, and you have to use both hands to hold the device or else only use certain positions (like resting it the bed or sofa) to get that one-hand option back. I like hugging a kid or petting a cat while reading. Its one of the things that e-readers have allowed that physical books did not.

I would love it if that Kindle keyboard allowed you to do word processing on your device, or at least keep a journal in an exportable format, but I read that they only allow you to make notes on books you are reading?? If they won't do the digital diary thing, I personally would prefer it wasn't in the way.

There is a notepad app or two for the Kindle.
Also, you are free to load a personal document document called "Notes" or something like that...it could even be an empty document...and take all your notes on that. Your notes are saved to a text file which can be copied off and edited on any computer.