Is the ereader dead?

[macminer]

Originally Posted by crich70

Calibre is your friend there.
...
I grant you that the 6" reader isn't made for such. Some books will always be better read in paper.
...
The Kindle Fire tablet can have a bluetooth keyboard synced with it. And you can make notes with it.
...
PDF's were never intended to be an ebook format.

Yes, I guess it is my specific needs that make me not the right customer for a dedicated ebook reader, as it stands today. I do use Calibre, but because I read a lot of academic books, preserving the original page layout is often crucial for me. Calibre might convert an epub into mobi or even a PDF into mobi, but retaining the original layout is often beyond its possibilities.

One thing I noticed with the recent version of Kindle for Android is the new way of displaying footnotes (a simple popup window with an [x] button) - I consider it a huge improvement over the previous mode.

My ideal e-book reader would have the following features:

• E-ink screen, 8" in the typical p-book proportions
• Open source or at least providing the option to sideload applications like Evernote
• Ability to use different formats, including PDF
• Page refresh fast enough to deal with complex formatting in the case of PDFs, so that I can easily zoom in and out

I guess with today's e-ink technology limitations, this is just not possible. I wonder how many other potential customers for ebook readers there would be if they weren't so clearly cut for the "average" fiction reader? Maybe there are still many niches unexplored and this could be a direction for future ereader development?

[montalex]

What I find amusing are those who’ve never so much as held an ereader who will loudly proclaim the superiority of paper books, as though reading anything else is somehow anti-intellectual. Or they simply don’t realize that an eink screen is not at all like a computer screen, and is really very much like reading print on paper.
Whenever they publish those interviews with authors in the NYTimes Book Review, the authors are asked if they prefer to read paper or “electronic”, and the authors invariably chose paper (of course!). I worked for years in bookstores when I was younger, and had quite a collection of paper books. I’m a bit of a book snob, actually, reading literary fiction and intellectual non-fiction mostly, but I love my Kindles! I don’t need to tell you why. I mean, having the OED with me at all times is kind of a perk! I can’t read comfortably on back-lit screens, and, anyway, a cell-phone is simply too small for reading on the bus with enlarged type so that I don’t have to drag out my glasses. I am always surprised at how few ereaders I see on Montreal public transport, actually. I don’t think that most people I see on their cell phones are actually reading – they are poking their screens much too often...
I can’t help thinking that if people could try out an ereader for a book or two, they might change their minds. Maybe venders and libraries should have loaners.
I was extolling the virtues of my old Kindle 3 to a student (a composer and a real snob!) and he jumped in quickly to state that he would never read on one of “those things”. I replied, “I know... I much prefer stone tablets, but they are hard to find today.”

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by macminer

Yes, I guess it is my specific needs that make me not the right customer for a dedicated ebook reader, as it stands today. I do use Calibre, but because I read a lot of academic books, preserving the original page layout is often crucial for me. Calibre might convert an epub into mobi or even a PDF into mobi, but retaining the original layout is often beyond its possibilities.

One thing I noticed with the recent version of Kindle for Android is the new way of displaying footnotes (a simple popup window with an [x] button) - I consider it a huge improvement over the previous mode.

My ideal e-book reader would have the following features:

• E-ink screen, 8" in the typical p-book proportions
• Open source or at least providing the option to sideload applications like Evernote
• Ability to use different formats, including PDF
• Page refresh fast enough to deal with complex formatting in the case of PDFs, so that I can easily zoom in and out

I guess with today's e-ink technology limitations, this is just not possible. I wonder how many other potential customers for ebook readers there would be if they weren't so clearly cut for the "average" fiction reader? Maybe there are still many niches unexplored and this could be a direction for future ereader development?

You might want to look into the Boyue ereaders.

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...nd-android-os/

It's not latest Android and refresh is still eink speed but they tick off most of your wishlist.

[Frenzie]

They can go plenty fast (video from 2011 on E Ink Pearl):

Logically it's therefore mostly about the video processor and the CPU.

Contemporary (2012) on the Nook:


More recently (2015) on the Yotaphone 2:



Battery life would be as bad as on LCD I'm sure while doing that, but normally I imagine you wouldn't be watching videos or playing motion-heavy games much. :P

[Tarana]

Thanks for the tips on the larger screen ereaders. I'm going to start saving immediately to get one.

My brother has one of the new 10.1 Fires. It works for him because HE DOESN'T READ. The reflections drove me bonkers in only a few hours of usage. Adding an anti-glare plastic didn't actually help much (I added it to his Fire to prevent scratches).

[frahse]

I speak of E-Ink devices now and then.
-reading while fishing from a boat on the water
-reading while camping on a bright mountain side.
-reading while in a car

People ask how does that work for you with the sunlight. I hand the device to them, and say "see for yourself."

Usually they are impressed, but that doesn't necessarily mean they go and buy a Kindle for themselves.

[Richwood]

Per a MM Romance author I queried on Facebook who distributes via Amazon and Smashwords, with print on demand handled via Amazon, less than 2% of her sales are printed books. Via Smashwords her ebooks are available from Kobo, B&N, Apple and other ebook retailers. This is an author successful enough to be making a living from her writing who has had several of her books listed as the #1 seller in her category by Amazon.

Based on this I question the original author's comment about ebooks dying any time soon as I suspect that it is very dependent on book category.

[Wearever]

Originally Posted by frahse

I speak of E-Ink devices now and then.
-reading while fishing from a boat on the water
-reading while camping on a bright mountain side.
-reading while in a car

People ask how does that work for you with the sunlight. I hand the device to them, and say "see for yourself."

Usually they are impressed, but that doesn't necessarily mean they go and buy a Kindle for themselves.

All great places to have an e ink device. My elderly uncle uses an old one I gave him at his fishing camp. No wifi , so he loads up on books before he goes.
He used to read paper books there, but likes the light and can adjust the letter sizes. He also uses it when he goes ice fishing on the frozen lake. He has a small ( Bob House ) a little shelter that he can stay out of the wind and has a small kerosene heater. Also a battery lamp, he likes to read while he's waiting for the fish to bite.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Is anybody still selling PDAs?
I thought they didn't just go niche but extinct.

They became tablets that lack the following features:
* Microphone;
* Camera;
* WiFi;
* Cell service connection;

Amber

[Alpha o]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

They became tablets that lack the following features:
* Microphone;
* Camera;
* WiFi;
* Cell service connection;

Amber

Beg your pardon. The last Sony Clie I had used wifi and IR. You could surf the web with it.
The camera was good for its time - 640x480. (Nokia was doing short movies - )
It had a microphone. I had apps that would work with a go-to telescope. You could read on it.
IR to IR - you could print, transfer files, and the Clie would even act as a TV remote. Good game selection if you like games. You could read on it, and with programs like Documents to Go, you could edit Word and Excel. Very easy to Sync. Our whole office used ACT.

The Treo was a cell phone put out by TMobile.

Newer tech supplanted all this. But it was there.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Did you show her your e-ink Kindle? If so, what did she think?

I haven't showed her my Kindle but I did tell her about it. I'll show it to her at the first opportunity. She'll be surprised, I'm sure.

This isn't the first time I've run into this. Another tenant got a Nook Color, which was their first tablet with LCD. In her case the LCD didn't bother her eyes but she thought that's what an ereader was till I showed her. She eventually got an e-ink Nook.

Barry

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by montalex

I can’t help thinking that if people could try out an ereader for a book or two, they might change their minds. Maybe venders and libraries should have loaners.

My local library does lend out Kindle Paperwhites. They load half a dozen recent best seller titles and you can check one out for 3 weeks at a time.

I've checked one out twice now and read one book each time. I was happy enough using it, but I didn't feel it was any better for reading indoors over the phone I normally use.

If I read outside much I'd be more interested in getting one myself, but I don't.

[Sarmat89]

Originally Posted by Wearever

He also uses it when he goes ice fishing on the frozen lake.

E-Ink is not operable by the negative temperature.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

My local library does lend out Kindle Paperwhites. They load half a dozen recent best seller titles and you can check one out for 3 weeks at a time.

Hmmm, I wonder if having 6 books on the reader means all those books are not able to be borrowed by others. Some ebooks expire based on number of borrows - seems a wasteful way to lend ebooks. It could be they have a special deal with Overdrive or something....I just wonder how that all works.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Hmmm, I wonder if having 6 books on the reader means all those books are not able to be borrowed by others. Some ebooks expire based on number of borrows - seems a wasteful way to lend ebooks. It could be they have a special deal with Overdrive or something....I just wonder how that all works.

I didn't see any indication that Overdrive was involved. I think the library just bought the 6 books as a normal user would. I was slightly curious, but I didn't ask. If they're bending some rules, I don't want to know about it.