Opus not very robust?

[Hellmark]

Transparent aluminum requires MASSIVE amounts of power to create. Not commercially feasible using current production methods. Not to mention, it is really too thin to be usable (50 nanometers thick), and that it is only temporary.

[igorsk]

...and it's only transpared to X-Rays, not visible light. Still, I guess that's a start

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Transparent aluminum requires MASSIVE amounts of power to create. Not commercially feasible using current production methods. Not to mention, it is really too thin to be usable (50 nanometers thick), and that it is only temporary.

Not a problem, we'll just use dilithium crystals to power it, or maybe anti-matter. And I'm sure the thickness and life-span are just temporary engineering challenges that can be easily fixed .

[tompe]

Originally Posted by emellaich

As HarryT said, I can't believe someone put this in their rear pants pocket. I can believe that running down the stairs could put quite some pressure on the screen as you bend your legs.

Read Bookeen's statement here:

http://www.teleread.org/2009/08/17/b...youre-careful/

To summarize Bookeen position:

1) The device can remain in one’s pocket (loose or tight) as long as one doesn’t sit on it or sustain a shock.

2) We provide a protection sleeve by default in the box to protect the device while transported in a bag or purse.

From that statement it is perfectly reasonable to put it in a trouser pocket.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by tompe

Read Bookeen's statement here:

http://www.teleread.org/2009/08/17/b...youre-careful/



From that statement it is perfectly reasonable to put it in a trouser pocket.

Thanks, tompe! Very enlightening!

[John Bailey]

Wasn't there one manufacturer that dispensed with the glass component of the display, and made an e-ink display that they demonstrated being hit by a shoe? Plastic Logic I think.. When these displays come out, there will be a truly pocket friendly e-ink display.

With my limited engineering knowledge, even I know that glass doesn't flex very well, so anything that may lead to flexing is a thing to avoid when considering a very thin device with very little extra rigidity. My Cybook is a few mil thick, and has only a plastic case and a circuit board to support the screen. Not a heavy steel chassis. I can remember having credit card style pocket calculators years ago and I cracked the display when they got squeezed against the sides of my filofax, so I can imagine very little flexing being needed to break the glass layer of current e-ink display. A little pressure on the screen, or a twist to the frame and game over.

My Cybook lives in it's case all the time. The only time it is taken out is when I have to reset it for any reason, which is not often, and put straight back in. I know WH Smith has a very accommodating warranty policy, but I wouldn't take advantage of their generosity by returning the device under warranty for something that happened due to my carelessness.

In this case, my money is on the whole device being subjected to shearing forces, which even though light, were enough to stress the glass and snap it.

[EowynCarter]

Wasn't there one manufacturer that dispensed with the glass component of the display, and made an e-ink display that they demonstrated being hit by a shoe? Plastic Logic I think.. When these displays come out, there will be a truly pocket friendly e-ink display.

Yeap.
And no mater what bookeen says, i'll never put my reader anywhere else but my bag.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tompe

Read Bookeen's statement here:

http://www.teleread.org/2009/08/17/b...youre-careful/



From that statement it is perfectly reasonable to put it in a trouser pocket.

It may sound perfectly reasonable. But I think it's a rather big risk. Too big to actually pocket it.

[Andybaby]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Seems pretty likely, then, that it got "twisted" in the pocket. That, as you know, is what generally breaks screens.

I agree, it looks like a break from the screen flexing. as it broke at its weakest point. I put my reader in my back pocket all the time, but that's a sony. they are made out of solid aluminum, they don't flex like a plastic reader can.