An e-reader with a touchbar

apastuszak · 09-11-2025, 03:20 PM

I bought a Kindle Scribe a few years ago to read PDFs on it. Most of the PDFs are magazines and RPG rulebooks.

Any kind of reference book involves a lot of flipping around, so I had this idea.

Imagine an e-reader that had a touch bar on the side the length of the screen, and you could slide your thumb up and down the touch bar to flip through a book quickly.

Am I crazy?

Aleron Ives · 09-11-2025, 04:12 PM

Yes. You could use the edge of the touch screen for the same purpose without needing to have a touchbar.

apastuszak · 09-11-2025, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Yes. You could use the edge of the touch screen for the same purpose without needing to have a touchbar.

I'm so sick of touchscreens. Rather than a touch bar, I'd love a physical slider. Slide to flip through a book. Click to turn the page.

Bring back real physical controls please.

Renate · Today, 12:02 AM

Mmm, you could make a Bluetooth keyfob with a thumbwheel.
You could even try it out with a Bluetooth mouse.
You could disable the mousy part if you like.
Of course your reader software would have to handle scroll.
I've used mouse and digitizer (like Wacom) on Android but I've not tried scroll wheel.

Whether the latency on eink would be too annoying or not is unknown.
On my current BT button keyfob I can flip back a half dozen pages in one (longer) click.

Looking through my code I see that I've experimented with joysticks.

nana77 · Today, 01:09 AM

There are not ereaders within that feature, but the (pricely) GPD Pocked 2 had it, and for less than that price a second hand Macbook Pro 13" has it, too; maybe using linux in it and customizing the buttons; or there are several Wacom tablets that has those side buttons and/or touch bars too.

09-11-2025, 03:20 PM	#1
apastuszak Fanatic Posts: 515 Karma: 125599 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bensalem, PA Device: Kindle Scribe, Nook Glowlight 4, Apple iPad Pro 12.9"	An e-reader with a touchbar I bought a Kindle Scribe a few years ago to read PDFs on it. Most of the PDFs are magazines and RPG rulebooks. Any kind of reference book involves a lot of flipping around, so I had this idea. Imagine an e-reader that had a touch bar on the side the length of the screen, and you could slide your thumb up and down the touch bar to flip through a book quickly. Am I crazy?

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09-11-2025, 04:12 PM	#2
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 16308824 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Yes. You could use the edge of the touch screen for the same purpose without needing to have a touchbar.

Today, 12:02 AM	#4
Renate Onyx-maniac Posts: 4,041 Karma: 18026955 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Nook NST, Glow2, 3, 4, '21, Kobo Aura2, Poke3, Poke5, Go6	Mmm, you could make a Bluetooth keyfob with a thumbwheel. You could even try it out with a Bluetooth mouse. You could disable the mousy part if you like. Of course your reader software would have to handle scroll. I've used mouse and digitizer (like Wacom) on Android but I've not tried scroll wheel. Whether the latency on eink would be too annoying or not is unknown. On my current BT button keyfob I can flip back a half dozen pages in one (longer) click. Looking through my code I see that I've experimented with joysticks.

Today, 01:09 AM	#5
nana77 Fanatic Posts: 567 Karma: 860470 Join Date: May 2025 Device: Kobo Forma	There are not ereaders within that feature, but the (pricely) GPD Pocked 2 had it, and for less than that price a second hand Macbook Pro 13" has it, too; maybe using linux in it and customizing the buttons; or there are several Wacom tablets that has those side buttons and/or touch bars too.