Suggest your own eBook Reader

[dj_modus_ponens]

hmm...where's UI my post?

*EDIT: oh, i forgot about the moderator checking. i think i just double-posted...oops.

[mogui]

dj_modus_ponens, did you lose a post? We often have to suggest to new users that they not use the advanced editor. You can go to User CP and select the next lower level editor. It works fine.

There have been suggestions about a dumb terminal approach to a handheld device here before. I, for one, am interested in this. I would like to see it wireless though. This device would not be for traveling, so I don't mind keeping it on a charger stand when I am not using it. With no controls other than a touch screen and a power switch, it would have uses way beyond just reading. One should be able to disable a touch screen though, to prevent unwanted phenomena when reading.

When we are considering a feature list to include in a reader, we can consider recurring costs versus non-recurring costs of development and manufacturing. Hardware is always a recurring cost for each unit produced, but for mature silicon, a more featureful chip is not necessarily more expensive than a chip with minimal features. The programming of the device is a non-recurring expense, so if enough units are sold, the cost is constrained.

One of the major uses of a reader for me is for travel. For this reason, e-ink and long battery life are a big plus. I am willing to forego backlighting for the ability to read sitting next to a train window or using the overhead light. Some sort of front-lighting would be a plus. Also, it is useful to be able to carry a large library on an SD card. The current library list of the Sony Reader becomes unwieldy very quickly. I once put about 1500 lrf eBooks on an SD card. The Reader took so long to index them that I finally gave up and removed the card. For this reason, we need the file management of files and directories built in. Perhaps we don't need to be able to create files and folders, but we would like to be able to move and delete files. I think this can be managed without a touchscreen.

I agree that a simple reader is a good approach to design. We have room in the marketplace though for other features. One feature I would use is the ability to switch to text-to-speech (TTS) mode when the sun goes down or I want to "read" in the dark or my eyes get tired. A speed control would be needed as well as a "jump back a few sentences" button, as my attention wanders when listening. This feature would open the market to the visually impaired.

Your list has shown a lot of thought. I think it is a good one for the simple reader we mostly agree should be available. We might see such a reader offered by ebook sellers as a subsidy option offered with a subscription. Other than the LCD screen and the weight, the eBookwise 1150 fits many of the above criteria. And at US$110 it is a bargain. We will see something similar with eInk, I am sure, in a few years when increased production of eInk brings the costs down. I think a US$50 reader is possible.

For those who want loads of features, a UMPC or a pocket computer is probably a better choice.

[dj_modus_ponens]

thanks, mogui. good points. i saw the ebookwise, but the LCD turned me off (i already read on a tablet, so i wanted something better for my eyes). i would go for it if they used the OLPC screen though (or maybe just the 'ebook' mode) -- seriously, they should release that tech (license whatever) so that EVERY LCD can be super low-power and more like paper. it's just such a no-brainer.

before i repost my design (yeah, i think the advanced editor lost it -- good thing i back up on notepad), i would say that i think whatever comes out should have plenty of extra space inside, so that the same form factor and 95% of the 'innards' can be reused to make increasingly complex models of the same device for different markets: like a 'basic', 'multimedia', 'business', 'travel', 'premium', etc version. i think manufacturers would go for that -- all you have to do is develop the most complex version, then strip out parts and repackage it, and then everyone will buy something, and everyone can be happy with what they get.

ah well, dream on...

[mogui]

Interesting idea -- modularity. Swappable displays -- maybe a plugin board that puts different connectors and controls on the outside of the case. It would be easier to do modularity with a touchscreen, though that could be one of the display options. In 1981 IBM introduced the modular PC and here we are today with many options and a lot of competition keeping prices down.

In another thread someone (NatCh?) said eInk and touchscreens were currently incompatible. Personally, I would go for a monochrome LCD if I could use AAA batteries. Monochrome Palm devices make great travel eReaders, but a larger screen would make them nearly perfect.

[dj_modus_ponens]

here's the double-post -- ignore if you've read

Basic Menu:

1. Read
2. Series
3. Shelf
4. Search
5. Settings
6. Sync

(see images for menu list -- 'Read' not shown because I definitely forgot about it until after making images, but we'll assume it's supposed to be there)

Up/Down generally moves through displayed list; Right/Left switches between basic menu items; Select makes choice.

Read:

Exits menu back to currently read book.

Series:

Lists your content; sorted by date viewed, date added, alphabetically, folder/genre, or by format. Originally called "List", I changed it since everything else started with 's'.

Up/Down - navigate list
Left/Right - switch menu choice
Select - start reading selection

(see Series depiction and menu layout in image)


Shelf:

View books by cover image. Sorted like Series. Probably not necessary (as it would jack up the processing requirements), but I thought it looked nice.

Up/Down - navigate list
Left/Right - switch menu choice
Select - start reading selection

or

Select - ask: start reading selection, go to menu, cancel
Up/Down/Left/Right - navigate choices (if not in menu); switch menu choice

Search:

Search for content by name (or metadata?). Displays nearest matches as you 'type' (select characters). Autocomplete. Can select from list instead of continuing to type.

"List" option lets you select from 'hit-list'
"Choose" chooses currently typed title
"Menu" goes to basic menu

Up/Down/Left/Right - navigate alpha-selector (if choosing character) or hit-list
Left/Right - switch menu choice (if in menu)
Select - choose selection (alpha or hit)

Settings:

Change reader settings.

• Rotate From Current (Clockwise 90, 180, 270)
• Sort Type (Date Read, Date Acquired, Title, Author, Folder/Genre, Format)
• Off-Timer (5 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 5 min, 10 min, Manual [soft-off press enter to turn off])
• Contrast Level (Sub, Low, Med, Hi, Super)
• Invert Color (Black on White, White on Black)

Up/Down - navigate choices
Left/Right - switch menu
Select - cycle through options? or toggle drop-down list (on category) and select (on option)?

Sync:

Readies wireless connection (turns on antenna). Prompt "Press Select to begin Sync." Acquires content from base (where program set up queue, preprocessed, etc. Turns off antenna when finished.

[dj_modus_ponens]

hm...my UI post just appeared on the previous page (forgot about mod approval), so please delete my upcoming double-post.

customer modularity is probably asking too much (way more compact/specific than a desktop), but it should be easy for the manufacturer. it would be like:

* basic/travel: what i described (simple reading functionality)
* multimedia: throw in an mp3 player for audio books, maybe the TTS mogui mentioned, and eventually when color is finalized and refresh is good enough (for eInk, unless you use the OLPC dual-mode display it could be sooner) then throw in video
* business: no TTS/movie, maybe mp3 player with microphone for recording meetings/lectures (or maybe not, mp3 is too much like fun), add in touch-screen note-taking ability (scratchpad, maybe hwr software for your base-station PC)
* premium: everything together, with case color options (those are so hot right now), maybe wifi web browsing

that's basically how i'd design a phone too (whole 'nother pet-project)...

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by mogui

In another thread someone (NatCh?) said eInk and touchscreens were currently incompatible

Someone did say that, somewhere, I can't keep up these days -- too much going on.

However, I clearly remember a discussion on e-ink's site a couple of years ago about the effect that overlaying a (non-wacom) touchscreen element onto an e-ink panel would have on it's viewability (the effect was minor, 5~10% reduction, I think), so evidently it can be done and made to work.

[anathema]

Take the current iliad. Give it proper battery management so it has the battery life of the sony. Get rid of the big bezel on the bottom.(should look like mostly screen, but enough to hold it). Keep that flip bar, good idea. Get rid of the wireless etc and other stuff that wastes battery. Make the bezel around the edges clear plastic and light it, so the page has decent even lighting. Not buttons except the flip bar, switch for backlighting, and power. Make it a touchscreen. Give it a decent UI (just read books, and do it well). As modern an E-ink screen as possible. Give it a SD slot. Give the option of folder view. Let it read most any format anyone could want(this is so easy for a team of devs, come on)

Done. I could use a device like this forever. I just want a device, like a book, that I can use to read books without thinking about the UI or what i'm doing, just read and lose myself.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I'm a fan of modularity, myself. In some of my novels I've hypothesized portable information storage/computing devices that were worn unobtrusively on the person (perhaps clipped to an ear), with direct verbal IO, to which you would use modules to extend its usability when needed. I see an e-book reader as such a module to the main device.

So the reader would wirelessly connect to the main device to download the desired book on request ("MyDevice, open Canterbury Tales." If you said "MyDevice, read Canterbury Tales", it would dictate it to you instead).

Internal storage would be minimal, enough to store a few books at a time (permanent storage would be in the main device). Since it is a module, bought separately, the user can choose screen type (because some of us prefer LCD, it has built-in backlight, color, etc), touchscreen or no, hard buttons or on-screen controls, keypad, etc, according to preference. The user can even purchase more than one screen module, depending on use (paperback-sized grey-only for basic literature reading, periodical-sized full-color for comics/graphic novels or textbooks, etc). Large readers should have some amount of size reduction capability, either through folding, roll-up, or fanning/accordion methods.

For performance, instant-on; minimum 48-hour constant use battery life, rechargable on the run by solar; less than .5 sec page change; if backlit, multiple brightness settings; adjustable contrast settings (in LCD or e-ink); size/font adjustability; ability to display or hide on-screen menus (to gain screen space, or remove distraction).

[scstraus]

The reasons ebooks have failed so far are always 1 of the following things, and they are what must be done right (in decending order of importance)

-Screen

e-paper, nuff said. Don't think color is super important just yet.

-Battery Life

(Battery life MUST be rated in pageturns, and you've got to be able to use the device for minimum of a few weeks on a regular basis for it to be useful. This is what the iliad got wrong and why I don't own an ebook yet although I desperately want a good one. If iliad had made a switch to turn off the touchscreen and power off the device (but leave e-ink screen on) between page turns I would own one, because then I wouldn't have to charge it every day.)

-Content

Extremely important. Without a link to at least 1 major ebook vendor and reader, I won't touch an ebook. I'm not going to spend my time scouring the internet for things to convert and format. I've got better things to do.

-Touchscreen

Okay, this probably isn't as important to many people as it is to me, but I want my ebook to double as a notepad. Also nice for annotation, but for me it's all about notes. I take a lot of them and an ebook would be the perfect place to index and store them all.

- Openness

Very important. Base it on linux, let people develop for it, and make sure it supports as many formats as possible. Don't be dumb and try to own the platform. It's lame.

-Usability

Buttons need to be in the right place for pageturns, it needs to work pretty quickly for turning pages, and the interface mustn't get in your way. Easily said but more difficult to do. But for me this isn't a huge priority as long at the thing works, I mean how badly can you screw up page flipping?





Personally if I were to make one (and believe me I thought about it), I would use something like what palm was going to use with the foleo (linux with instant on capability), and make sure to power off the processor between pageturns, but also make sure that it had the openness and power to do whatever people dream of with it and easy to port different readers to.

Okay, I've given away all the secrets to a good ebook, so make one finally.

[nekokami]

I'm going to add one feature I think is critical: automated backups. Especially for us note-takers.

[Dylrob]

I suppose my ideal device would be similar to the announced "Cellular Book", only will a larger, portrait-oriented screen and equipped with a SD or MiniSD slot.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by scstraus

This is what the iliad got wrong and why I don't own an ebook yet although I desperately want a good one.

Don't you think you're being a little foolish in waiting for your "perfect device"? While you've been waiting, I've been enjoying reading eBooks on a whole range of different devices for over 20 years, starting with a Psion II organiser in the mid 1980s; currently on a CyBook Gen3.

Enjoy life while it lasts - you only get one chance at it.