E-ink is dying(?)

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Ooooh, clickbait title! Yay!

E-Ink is not dying. You just are seeing lots of people who aren't the target audience.
You aren't all of a sudden in the minority, you always were.

My experience matches the OP. But, I have also noticed that it has changed. When I started looking at ereaders in 2011, there would normally be several e-ink readers in use on the train carriage I was in. Or on the platform while I was waiting. Now, I rarely see another. A good half of the people are using some electronic device (excluding people using a phone as a phone). Probably half of those people are using a smartphone, the rest are split between tablets and laptops. And of course there's the guy I see at least once a week sitting there with his Macbook on his lap, his iPad on the seat next to him and listening to music on his iPhone (or maybe he's on the phone, but he doesn't seem to be saying much. Not even "Yes, dear"). And I do see people reading books on the tablets.

The same goes for the shops. When I bought my Kobo Touch, one chain had Kobo's, Sony's and one or two other brands. Plus a couple of cheap LCD readers. A second chain had Kobo's and something else. Now, that first chain only has Kobo's and the store I normally visit doesn't have any on display. The other chain doesn't carry them at all.

My take on this is that e-ink ereaders are becoming even more of a niche product than before. For most people, the extra function that a tablet has for not that much more, will outweigh the better reading experience of e-ink. In 2011, the price/performance of tablets was a lot worse. An ereader was relatively inexpensive, so a lot more people would have gone that way.

And there is the simple fact that an ereader is an extra device to carry. Each day I carry a laptop, an iPad, at least one ereader and my phone to work. Most people would find that excessive (to be honest, I do) and the ereader is the easiest to drop as all three other devices can perform the same function.

[cvkemp]

I guess I could live without an e-ink reader if I only read for 10 minutes at a time but I read sometimes for 4 to 6 hours at a time and my eyes cannot take the backlights of my IPad for that long. So I use my voyage. Hack it is very small and even with its case it weights I guessing less than a half pound.

[Ravensknight]

Saying that e-ink is dying because you don't see everyone using it is like stockholders of a company saying "we are failing!" because they only made 10% profit instead of 15%.

Now, if amazon stops producing an eink kindle, then we can talk...

[eschwartz]

^^ Yup -- just a niche product, that is all...

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

I guess I could live without an e-ink reader if I only read for 10 minutes at a time but I read sometimes for 4 to 6 hours at a time and my eyes cannot take the backlights of my IPad for that long. So I use my voyage. Hack it is very small and even with its case it weights I guessing less than a half pound.

Well since most people are casual readers, the back light probably doesn't bother them.
Voracious readers are the usually the e-ink buyers.

[Turtle91]

I'm a voracious reader on my smart phone. I've never had problems with the backlight hurting my eyes, but I understand others have. I would be interested to know if the newer model phones/pads wouldn't be a big improvement over those of a few years ago. If those that had eye problems with the older devices, and chose the e-ink team, wouldn't do just fine with the newer ones.
I know that my reading app has many functions to dim backlighting, change the background/foreground...I even do the triple tap at night with all the lights in the room off so I don't bother my wife with the light. (the triple tap puts it in reverse/night mode - white letters on a black background - and with the dimming set all the way to zero you wouldn't be able to tell it was on more than a few feet away but it is plenty bright for my reading)

??

[DiapDealer]

I read for hours and hours every day on my tablet. Never had a bit of trouble.
And the only thing I do in direct sunlight is mow the lawn.

[cvkemp]

I have the newest IPad and it does help somewhat but not near enough. I cannot seem to find that spot where the screen is bright enough but not too bright. I have the beginnings of cataracts and also macular degeneration so my eyes just cannot take bright light. I wear shades even on cloudy days outside, and we keep the lights low in the house. I only manage to watch TV for maybe an hour of news at night. I find myself listening to TV and not watching it. But I don't have an issue with the e-ink displays. I keep the light on the voyage at no higher than 10 most of the time.

[Atunah]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

I'm a voracious reader on my smart phone. I've never had problems with the backlight hurting my eyes, but I understand others have. I would be interested to know if the newer model phones/pads wouldn't be a big improvement over those of a few years ago. If those that had eye problems with the older devices, and chose the e-ink team, wouldn't do just fine with the newer ones.
I know that my reading app has many functions to dim backlighting, change the background/foreground...I even do the triple tap at night with all the lights in the room off so I don't bother my wife with the light. (the triple tap puts it in reverse/night mode - white letters on a black background - and with the dimming set all the way to zero you wouldn't be able to tell it was on more than a few feet away but it is plenty bright for my reading)

??

I didn't even have a phone when I got my kindle back in 2008. My first smart phone was a old firs gen iphone. Only used for calls. I finally got a moto G last year, the smaller version. I could read on it for a few minutes, at a doc office and such. But not comfortable immersive reading sessions.
I just got a brand new phone with fantastic screen, it has a built in blue filter, great PPI, just great screen and its larger, 5.5. Probably the best tablet type device I have read on so far. But I still can't read as long on it. But at least I can now read some of those pesky epubs I can't read anywhere else. But it is much much slower than reading on my kindles. And not as comfortable. My eyes do burn more after a while so I keep having to look away, which of course takes me out of the story. So takes longer.

I don't take my Voyage out on the road so you'd see me reading on the phone. But I read for hours on my Voyage at home. That is my reading time and what is most comfortable on my eyes. I tried my husband ipads just to see, he has a mini and one of those thin thingie. I am not very familiar with apple stuff as I don't use it, but as far as I know its the newest as he gets them provided at work. I wouldn't want to read on it more than a few minutes either.

My eyes just don't work with tablets for reading long term. My eyes work best with e-ink.
The act of immersive reading is very different than say reading a site, an app or a game or such things. Short bursts of this and that. Not like reading 100 pages in a book in one sitting.
So yes, newer devices are better than old, but they are still back lit tablets so the same issues still apply for me. Just lesser degree.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Doesn't the Voyage have a glass screen, rather than the plastic substrate the many of the others do? I've wondered if there would be an increase in the glare from overhead lights with a glass screen.

No, the screen is etched to prevent glare. No noticeable reflection from it.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

They all use a glass substrate.

They all use a glass substrate, yes. The Voyage is the only current eInk device with a glass outer screen. All the others are plastic. The glass screen gives a noticeably sharper image, to my mind.

[NickyWithNook]

I don't always think to bring my ereader out with me. I remember when I have a kid at the orthodontist's office, but not usually for my own appointments. I read on my phone in those cases. Not as good a reading experience, but it isn't usually for very long.

[cvkemp]

The Voyage is great to use inside or outside, no glare at all. I had to put an non glare screen protector on my IPhone 5s, but my IPad Air 2 comes with the non glare screen. But neither are a good as the voyage for not have the glare.

Also I would like to add how long does your batteries last on your smart phones. I can say safely that it would not last near long enough for me to read as much as I do in a day, but the battery in my voyage last days is not weeks.

[Ripplinger]

I never leave the house without my ereader, I never know when I'll get the chance to read. I basically carry just the smallest purse possible with cash, keys, various necessary IDs and cards, my phone and my reader, so it's still very light. I no longer mind the long lines at the post office because I read while waiting. Same with any appointments. Last year my car broke down and I had to wait several hours for the tow truck, and I wasn't even annoyed because I got to sit and read for all that time, and read while the guy drove me back. It makes the usually unbearable impatient times when I'd normally be crawling out of my skin even downright pleasant.

The phone is just too small for me to read comfortably plus the battery issue is huge. I need it to last all day for calls, there's no way it would if I spent several hours reading on it. Tablets are too big and heavy and have the same battery issue. And neither of those will let me read in sunlight.

[Phogg]

I always expected electronic ink to evolve into device primarily for people who spend much of their time outside.

Frankly, I don't understand why the market for a thicker tablet with a huge battery isn't on the market yet. That would skim off the readers who just want a long battery life, leaving people who read in sunlight and people who get eyestrain from back lit devices.

[cvkemp]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Frankly, I don't understand why the market for a thicker tablet with a huge battery isn't on the market yet. .

The reason is that the market is aiming at thinner and lighter devices. And in doing so the battery gets sacrificed.