Astak Mentor eBook readers with WiFi and Touchscreen (read-only)

[Emu]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear tompe:

The problem is that most retailers (such as COSTCO) are vehement on wanting 3G as it locks the end user into buying books only from them.

Robert B

That's so stupid. Sorry, but shops should lock me with their good service (amazon did that to me), and not with a contracts or any other foul strategy. I left my internet provider after two years, just because they locked me for two years. I hate these people forever

I love my new provider, alone because I can quit every 4 weeks.

[brudigia]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Wallcraft and all:

FRY's.com will ship the EZ Reader. However, they are out of stock due to the rather unreal low price.

.......
Robert B

Is it a commercial secret how many EZ Readers have been sold ? Is it comparable to Kindle / Sony (guessed, or better published on web articles and blogs) numbers ? (they speak about a few hundred thousand devices). Just curiuos, I understand if you cannot answer. It just seems that nobody really knows how big the ereader business is.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by brudigia

Is it a commercial secret how many EZ Readers have been sold ? Is it comparable to Kindle / Sony (guessed, or better published on web articles and blogs) numbers ? (they speak about a few hundred thousand devices). Just curiuos, I understand if you cannot answer. It just seems that nobody really knows how big the ereader business is.

Dear brudigia:

eBook Sales Statistics

The association of American Publishers estimates that net sales for U.S. Publishers last year fell $700 Million, or 2.8 percent, to $24.3 Billion. Audio book sales fell by 21 percent to $172 Million.

Meanwhile, eBook sales grew “significantly” up 68.4 percent to $113 Million, the association said.

It is no secret that the EZ Reader is only now gaining sales traction. Our devices, I do think, are better and more reliable and are a better value... but we are almost unheard of. We have sold about 5,000 units. We are caught in the problem of needing to sell so we can market but needing to market so we can sell also. You can invent a better mousetrap... and still the world will not beat a path to your door (to paraphrase an old saying).

If Amazon belches it is news. If we have a new device only MobileRead Forum notices and comments. I am really wanting to see sales climb and grow.

Robert B

[kyliedork]

sub $200 price, wow. Now i can start buying readers for my kids

[brudigia]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear brudigia:
....
If Amazon belches it is news. If we have a new device only MobileRead Forum notices and comments. I am really wanting to see sales climb and grow.

Robert B

Thanks and I wish you good luck. Right now, you are concentrating in the USA, where, it is plain, the big market is. Should you be able to market to the EU, in the future, we shall see. Are you partner with Bebooks, which I understand sells a verson of the EZreader ?
And remember that word of mouth, if only from mobileread people, is powerful. Maybe not allconvincing, but can be still strong.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by brudigia

Thanks and I wish you good luck. Right now, you are concentrating in the USA, where, it is plain, the big market is. Should you be able to market to the EU, in the future, we shall see. Are you partner with Bebooks, which I understand sells a verson of the EZreader ?
And remember that word of mouth, if only from mobileread people, is powerful. Maybe not allconvincing, but can be still strong.

EZReader and BeBook are both partners with Jinke using the Hanlin V3. See the wiki for more details on these and many other partners around the world.
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Category:Hanlin

Dale

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Robertb

The problem is that most retailers (such as COSTCO) are vehement on wanting 3G as it locks the end user into buying books only from them.

Given the buying power of a COSTCO, I would not be concerned that they added 3G, which I might not use, since the device might still end up cheaper for the consumer. I would be concerned if they only allowed buying of DRMed titles from their ebook store. This is what Amazon has done with the Kindle, but it would a huge mistake for others to try the same approach. I think it is also a mistake for Amazon to do this, but at least that have 250K titles so they have mostly avoided a consumer backlash. It is sufficient to tie the 3G to your store, so it is much more convenient to buy from the original seller but still possible to buy from other sources (e.g. via a Desktop PC). This will generate more sales of the device, and may even get you more buyers of ebooks because consumers who think they will buy elsewhere end up buying via 3G.

The other issue with 3G is that consumers will expect web access and wiki lookup as on the Kindle. This means someone has to write and maintain that software. Same thing with WiFi obviously. Note that the iRex iLiad had WiFi and never had a iRex-supported web browser - if iRex had more programmers they could have sold many more iLiads by increasing its capabilities via software.

[sirbruce]

This thread is getting a bit long in the tooth.

[pdurrant]

It's worth bearing in mind that the 600dpi/1200dpi of laserprinters really is dpi - dots of black (toner) and white (paper), while the 180dpi of eInk is really 180ppi - pixels of black, dark grey, light grey or white, which is 'equivalent' to about 300dpi.

Of course, the 'equivalence' numbers are only a guide, and are more applicable to continuous tone images (e.g. photographs) than text.

For example, I'd much rather have 360ppi eInk at 4 grey levels (600dpi 'equivalent') than 180ppi at 16 grey levels (700dpi 'equivalent'), even thoug the latter has a higher dpi equivalent.

Originally Posted by Xenophon

MUCH higher resolution would be wonderful. [...]
I'm one of those folks who is bothered by the difference between a good 600DPI laser printer and a good 1200DPI laser printer (emphasis on "good," as there may be no difference between units that aren't good). The ~180DPI res we have on current generation eInk readers is just barely sort-of kind-of acceptable.

[Xenophon]

Yes, PPI and DPI really are different. And greyscale PPI indeed relates to a larger-numbered DPI value. I've not previously seen 'equivalence' numbers; where did you get them from? That's curiosity, not doubt, btw.

All that said, I long ago concluded that 300DPI was thoroughly inadequate. I'm OK with a good 1200DPI laser printer, but setting my inkjet to 720DPI instead of 1440DPI gets low enough to bother me (thinking text here, not images). So I really REALLY want that 1200DPI-equivalent eInk display. You know, the one that's made of 100% pure unobtanium, with a bolonium back-plane.

Xenophon

[pdurrant]

The equivalence numbers are what dpi of black and white dots you'd need to make a geyscale display with the ppi. It's only a guide, but for example:

For 4 grey levels, (white, light grey, dark grey, black) you need a pixel containing three black or white dots. So to convert a 4 level ppi to dpi you multiply by the square root of three. and vice-versa.

It's only approximate, but it's about right. Obviously, if you're only displaying pure black or white, the extra grey levels do you no good. But even with text, some anti-aliasing can improve the apparent resolution of the text.

The trouble with increasing the resolution is that each pixel requires a transistor - the more that are needed, the smaller they are, and the likelier that there'll be a flaw in any one of them, and as there are a lot more of them, the chance of a flaw somewhere in the display gets bigger rapidly.

So for now, I'd settle for something with faster refresh and no glass. Lets hope we see it this year.

Originally Posted by Xenophon

Yes, PPI and DPI really are different. And greyscale PPI indeed relates to a larger-numbered DPI value. I've not previously seen 'equivalence' numbers; where did you get them from? That's curiosity, not doubt, btw.

All that said, I long ago concluded that 300DPI was thoroughly inadequate. I'm OK with a good 1200DPI laser printer, but setting my inkjet to 720DPI instead of 1440DPI gets low enough to bother me (thinking text here, not images). So I really REALLY want that 1200DPI-equivalent eInk display. You know, the one that's made of 100% pure unobtanium, with a bolonium back-plane.

Xenophon

[ahammer]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

So I really REALLY want that 1200DPI-equivalent eInk display. You know, the one that's made of 100% pure unobtanium, with a bolonium back-plane.

Xenophon

you forgot the 12' foldable touch screen.

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by ahammer

you forgot the 12' foldable touch screen.

To be really unreasonable, I'd say it had to have a 19" display, fit in my pocket, and whiten my teeth while I sleep! But then I'd be channeling the marketing folks at Dilbert's employer...

Xenophon

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ahammer

you forgot the 12' foldable touch screen.

A 12 foot screen? Is that not slightly excessive? Want do you want - a portable billboard?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

I'd say it had to have a 19" display, fit in my pocket,

It is not iRex's fault that your pocket is to small for the DR1000. Get a bigger pair of pants with bigger pockets.

BOb