DR800 sources posted

[Mackx]

Originally Posted by Jumpn Jack Flash

I see 2.6.24 and HAL. HAL in particular would cause very slow cold boot which is what the Ubuntu and Fedora developers are trying to get rid of in order to get there 10 second cold boot to full desktop goal.
How close is the emulator for the 1000 to the 800 environment (note to self must find time to run it)

Until now people have changed the applications running in the linux environment, nobody tried to update the kernel yet. (Although some people have looked at the possibility to use USB as an input device, not sure how far they got.) As far as I can tell they use the same code(base) to run on the emulator and the real device, although my kernel knowledge is too limited to confirm this.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Which is very good news.

And which means effectively nothing at this point. The iPad announcement has wrapped up, and with it is the end of any sort of speculation on the future of most e-ink business. I'm beginning to think this is why iRex put the delivery of the DR800SG in the U.S. on hold for a while: just to see what Apple had up its sleeve. Now that it is out in the open, I'd be willing to bet good money that iRex won't even bother releasing the device in the U.S. now. What's the point? They wouldn't even sell a thousand units over here with a price so near what everyone can get an iPad for. Skiff and Plastic Logic basically just went out of business today, and a huge, wide swath of e-ink business was just vaporized by Apple in one 90 minute announcement. The DR800SG is DOA in the U.S.

It's really no wonder iRex released their source code: what's the point in keeping it under wraps any longer? Their business model effectively no longer exists, so they might as well let the few people who have already bought the thing to tinker with it.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

The iPad announcement has wrapped up, and with it is the end of any sort of speculation on the future of most e-ink business.

Apple fandom never ceases to amuse me.

It's really no wonder iRex released their source code: what's the point in keeping it under wraps any longer? Their business model effectively no longer exists, so they might as well let the few people who have already bought the thing to tinker with it.

You do know that they have always released the source code for their devices.

[Kolenka]

Seriously, the iPad will kill eInk readers?

I've yet to see how you are supposed to side-load content (even if they are using ePub, they don't seem to offer any syncing ability in iTunes), no publications as they seem to be happy making devs write their own apps to handle that (at least we will have PressReader updated for the iPad at one point?).

If anything, the eBook reading in the iPad is a me-too sort of affair with the way they designed it. Nice big screen to make up for it, but nothing ground-breaking. Heck, I still think Sony has em beat on a pure reading experience, and I'm a pretty big Apple fanboy (long-time Mac user, have owned all 3 models of iPhone...). This might be an interesting netbook replacement for quite a few people, including a couple I know personally... but not an eReader killer. Not in the short term anyways.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Apple fandom never ceases to amuse me.

Believe it or not, I'm actually a bit bummed about this announcement today, because it will instantly kill off the commercial viability of most e-ink readers, and I do prefer to read e-ink. The problem going forward, however, is that any e-ink device priced over $200 is just DOA at this point. No one except for e-ink fanatics would buy one, and there aren't enough fanatics around to sustain a business model for anyone except for perhaps Amazon. And since they have the Kindle app on the iPhone which will presumably work just as well on the iPad, I can't even see Amazon continuing the development of the Kindle. If Apple had priced the iPad at $999 instead of $499, we'd have a different situation. At $499, most e-ink business models just got totally hosed. Not because the iPad is a better reading device per se, but because of everything else it does as well, and the reading experience on it is going to be good enough for the vast majority of consumers such that no viable business market is going to remain just to supply the tiny segment of the market who absolutely demands e-ink and will pay any price to get it.

Shaggy, I and everyone else on these boards know you are just as much an iRex fanboy as any number of Apple fanboys, but the reality of the situation is that iRex, with their bumbling, incompetent management, basically just went out of business today, at least for any sort of sales here in the U.S. You think even in Europe that anyone in their right minds (unless they just have money falling out of their butt) will pay 500 euros for a DR800 now with this thing just 60 days out? Riiiiiiiiiiight.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

At $499, most e-ink business models just got totally hosed.

I agree, particularly the large screen devices. Also $499 is now the top end price. Don't forget that the enTourage eDGe is $490 for two screens. By this summer we are going to see Android-based iPad clones for way less than this.

[SplogSplog]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

You think even in Europe that anyone in their right minds (unless they just have money falling out of their butt) will pay 500 euros for a DR800 now with this thing just 60 days out? Riiiiiiiiiiight.

Maybe I am not in my "right mind" but I live in Europe and I would much rather have a DR800 than an iPad. The iPad is, in essence, a large iPod Touch - which is fine for watching videos or playing games, but not for what I do for many hours every day - which is read PDF files. My eyes just could not take the strain.

[Shaggy]

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I agree, particularly the large screen devices. Also $499 is now the top end price.

Absolutely, and at $499, Skiff and Plastic Logic effectively just went out of business. I seriously doubt they could sell their devices for, say, $200 or so, which is where they'd have to price them to get any serious interest generated. It's not so much that $499 is the top end price, it's that you'd have to price any e-ink device, no matter how large or well-designed, at least half that price to get enough consumer interest to keep an ongoing business viable. E-ink simply has too many limitations for the average consumer, who is going to want a device that has full color and all the other things the iPad can do that e-ink is at least 5 to 10 years away from being able to provide. If the device is priced low enough, then enough people will still buy them, which is why I see the Kindle and the smaller, cheaper Sony devices still perhaps remaining on the market. Anything over the 6"-sized readers, though, is basically out of business now. I think e-ink will continue to be developed, because at faster refresh rates and especially with a full color gamut, that sort of screen has interesting promise, but those sorts of things are still at least a couple of years or more off in the future. For now, e-ink readers are dead.

Don't forget that the enTourage eDGe is $490 for two screens. By this summer we are going to see Android-based iPad clones for way less than this.

The Android devices ought to be interesting.

[Iñigo]

Well, I live in Europe too, and I completely agree with some other people here.
I'll propably buy the DR800 in April (with the new firmware).

About Apple products... well, they have good marketing, mediocre products.

[Kolenka]

I sure hope iRex doesn't kill the US launch of the DR800SG. I'm rather close to picking one up now, especially with an SDK available. I'm just waiting to see when iRex decides to let the lowly little consumer know when it should start shipping for US customers.

What sucks is that no matter what the iPad does to the eBook market, it's built-in reader is extremely poor. TOC, Font changing, linear view of book covers and a store... full stop. That's all you get in terms of functionality.

No annotations? No tweaking readability beyond font family/size? No organization of my 300+ book collection? No mention of grandfathering us existing types into the ecosystem? Hell, they let me grandfather my MP3s and my MPEG-4 videos into their world... why not my ePubs?

I suppose I could use some updated version of Stanza, and it would be interesting to see iBooks and Kindle for iPad duke it out on the same platform (if they are even allowed onto the iPad in the future)... but again, it fractures the experience in a way that Apple rarely does. It seems almost as if they don't even know what they want an eBook reader to be like.

[catharsis]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

You think even in Europe that anyone in their right minds (unless they just have money falling out of their butt) will pay 500 euros for a DR800 now with this thing just 60 days out? Riiiiiiiiiiight.

I almost convinced myself to buy the DR800, but it's too damn expensive (I'm in Europe ). Are the e-ink and the battery life justifying such a high price? If it would have been 350-400€, I would of bought it right now, but 500 seems just too much. and also, I'm a grad student, so money is not falling out of my butt, but I have hopes of tricking some professors/managers of buying some e-readers from research money...

[electrotype]

Am I missing something or the iPad has a regular screen? Doesn't this mean it won't be good as an ebook reader, outdoor?

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by electrotype

Am I missing something or the iPad has a regular screen? Doesn't this mean it won't be good as an ebook reader, outdoor?

What you're missing is that you're not an Apple fanatic. There is a certain group of people that will buy any product that Apple puts out, and claim that it is the best "whatever it is", ever... just because it says "Apple" on it.

You're right though. The iPad is the same sort of device that many eInk buyers have already decided that they don't want. There are already LCD notebooks/tablets out there. Many of us have chosen eInk for our readers because we're not interested in backlit LCD. But let's not let reality get in the way of a good Apple party.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by Iñigo

I'll propably buy the DR800 in April (with the new firmware).

Good luck with that. You have followed iRex's pattern on promised delivery dates and firmware updates, haven't you? If they're saying April, you'll be lucky if a firmware update is released by the end of the year. Further, iRex has already responded to some user inquiries who have posted the replies on these boards and iRex's own forum boards that iRex now has no plans to update the firmware to include annotations.

Have no fear, though, Shaggy will hold your hand and soothe you through the whole thing.