So, did companies give up on two page devices?

[JAcheson]

I like the idea of two screens that work together as a big display. It would be much better for reading PDF than a standalone 6" screen.

It would also not need a cover, as the screens would be protected on the inside.

And seriously, if it was twice the weight and cost of my NST, it would still be cheap and portable enough.

In a perfect world, it would also have solar panels on the outside so that it could recharge itself while sitting around on a table.

[maryaie]

I think it is a nice idea ...
First, you don't need to be worried about zooming some pdf books because screens can be merged and instead of 6" you will have a 12" ...
Second, the weight won't be doubled because electronic chips are the same and battery doesn't necessarily need to power both screens at the same time ... you can have the option to just use one of the screens and stand by the other that will reduce the power consumption ...

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by maryaie

I think it is a nice idea ...
First, you don't need to be worried about zooming some pdf books because screens can be merged and instead of 6" you will have a 12" ...
Second, the weight won't be doubled because electronic chips are the same and battery doesn't necessarily need to power both screens at the same time ... you can have the option to just use one of the screens and stand by the other that will reduce the power consumption ...

So how will you merge those screens? There would possibly be a bezel surrounding each.

Current batteries are not that big and bulky. You would have to run wires/cables from one side to the other to operate them both from one battery.

But again, all the technology is there. You could even put two identical ereaders side by side in a case and make a mechanical device that would touch both screens at once or push both page forward buttons at once and you would have such a device.

Helen

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by maryaie

I think it is a nice idea ...
First, you don't need to be worried about zooming some pdf books because screens can be merged and instead of 6" you will have a 12" ...
Second, the weight won't be doubled because electronic chips are the same and battery doesn't necessarily need to power both screens at the same time ... you can have the option to just use one of the screens and stand by the other that will reduce the power consumption ...

Well if you do that, you are right back to reading only one screen at a time so what is the point?

This is simply a matter of people not wanting to let go of the past, in which case they should just stick with paper.

[grumbles]

Printed books have facing pages because that is the most efficient (economical) format to produce them. It really makes no sense for an electronic device. Rather than having two screens to show (for example) text and an illustration, it would be far better to have software that would allow split screen operation, say top half for text and bottom half for images (or side by side in landscape). This would work better with a larger screen, say 7 or 8 inches but could still be usable on a 6" device. And this could be done with existing devices just by having better software.

[Sokudoningyou]

I admit that I like the idea -- I have an Entourage Pocket Edge myself -- but after I got myself a Galaxy Note 10.1, I haven't used it since. The biggest factor was the weight, honestly; it was just awkward and heavy to use with one hand. And honestly, depending on the app, my Note 10.1 can splitscreen an ebook like a regular paperback just fine. And the battery is way better, likely because it isn't supporting two entirely different screens.

[Cheerful Hamster]

I'm more intrigued by that 13.3" device that Sony showed off at SID, but I read mostly non-fiction and I could see how dual displays would be useful. The folks at Good E-Reader interviewed the guy from E-Ink about the Mobius display at SID, and he made it sound like the heaviest thing in e-readers is the glass. Since the Mobius sits under plastic, the weight is greatly reduced. Perhaps that new screen design would make dual displays more feasible.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by auspex

the case and the display are the two heaviest items

the battery would still be the heaviest component. eink displays weight next to nothing. for instance the new 13.3 inch Mobius flexible tft based eink displays weight only 63 grams

[Ansileran]

I guess there is absolutely no point if you only read fiction. If a map or appendix is needed, it could be provided as "popup" content (those linear=no in the content.opf file of epubs) so that you could look it up and be right back to your current reading page...

A larger display allowing you to have a split display would be good but 13" is not exactly portable anymore: it wouldn't fit in my (admittedly rather small) backpack. Unless it's foldable. But if I could replace my work computer screen with an e-ink display, that would be great!

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by auspex

You think? For reference books, it could be invaluable. Especially if you could actually make the two pages scroll independently when you needed to keep one page visible. I don't know that it would find much interest, but it's certainly more than "no point".

If the two screens are displaying independent content, you can achieve the same result right now, by having two readers in a joint case.
Maybe it is over the top to say that there is no point to such a device, but I think it is reasonable to say that there is no economically viable market for such a device.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

The screen is possibly the biggest part with the circuitry to drive it. If you only have one processor and one battery you would need additional circuitry/wiring between the two which would be across the hinged part and susceptible to breakage. No hinge? Then one large screen with a dual page display is what you have got.

Not necessarily. In theory, you could have the hinge behave as a port, just by using round contact "strips" instead of standard pins. That way, the two halves are always in contact, regardless of the hinge's position...yet there's no special wiring or complex circuitry. It's just a matter of thinking in three dimensions. After all, look at how few metal connections even a SATA interface uses...

As for keeping the strips in contact, some small magnets might do the trick, like what Pebble uses to attach their USB charging cable to their watch. Assign a couple of the central strips to carry power, and that's taken care of. As for the actual communication...isn't this a pretty low-bandwidth application anyway? During normal reading, you should be able to build the next screen well before the user's ready for it; it's only a matter of sending the new image while waiting for the page-turn signal and then sending that "okay, NOW" message when the signal's received. I definitely see this as more of a master/slave than peer/peer device, though. There's just no need to duplicate much of the hardware beyond the screens themselves.

Granted, I'd prefer a "pull-out" screen where you've got a second screen physically on top of the first, and you just release a latch to allow one to slide out and dock into its new position...but a clamshell's a much easier place to start, and has the inherent benefit of protecting the screens during travel.

[fjtorres]

Those that lust after two-page displays will have their prayers answered, someday, when we finally get truly flexible folding displays.
At that point it would in fact make sense to build a 13" display that folds to half size for storage or travel.
But that point isn't coming soon nor would it be cheap.

[maryaie]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

So how will you merge those screens? There would possibly be a bezel surrounding each.

Current batteries are not that big and bulky. You would have to run wires/cables from one side to the other to operate them both from one battery.

But again, all the technology is there. You could even put two identical ereaders side by side in a case and make a mechanical device that would touch both screens at once or push both page forward buttons at once and you would have such a device.

Helen

I don't think it will be hard to modify the software to show half of the text on one screen and the other half on the other screen ...
I was talking about this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=2YzBoEs0B1o

[maryaie]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Well if you do that, you are right back to reading only one screen at a time so what is the point?

This is simply a matter of people not wanting to let go of the past, in which case they should just stick with paper.

to be honest, it is really hard to read everything on 6". Specially when it comes to specialized papers that are in PDF format. zooming in and zooming out is really frustrating.

imagine that you can detach one of the screens ... there are some android devices that already have two screens attached to each other ... when you are outside, you can read on one-screen, when you get home and you want to read a pdf you can connect the other piece ...

[jersysman]

PDF... PDF... (I'm not a big fan, but...)

The market might bare a reader to better support PDF files (The 13.3 and maybe a dual reader), but I cannot see the market able to bear both. The market would not be big enough to justify it. I believe it will come down to one or the other.