Wexler's Flex One Reader: Flexible, durable screen (video)

[QuantumIguana]

One of the big problems with e-readers is the fragility of the screen. This is going to make the e-reader much more practical to give to children.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by tdonline

I noticed the device in the demo used buttons rather than touch. Does the flexible plastic technology negate having the touch feature?

no. at least one company i know of has a flexible capacitive touch solution that can be bonded directly to the eink layer. because its bonded right to the eink it does not effect clarity of the display

[HarryT]

A capacitive touch screen is simply a transparent conducting layer painted on top of the outer screen of the display. Its associated electronics can go anywhere in the device.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A capacitive touch screen is simply a transparent conducting layer painted on top of the outer screen of the display. Its associated electronics can go anywhere in the device.

Yes, but the individual sensors are laid out in grids in the surface. Bending the display would move these elements closer together, decreasing the mutual capacitance (minutely, but it's measureable). This might cause false triggers. Also, glass is not affected by humidity whereas many types of plastic are. Any absorbtion of moisture by a plastic substrate would decrease its dielectric coefficient (insulation valve) and might require the touchscreen to be recalibrated.

Or possibly my brain has failed the smoke test, and the flexible display would work fine with a capacitive touch screen.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

Yes, but the individual sensors are laid out in grids in the surface. Bending the display would move these elements closer together, decreasing the mutual capacitance (minutely, but it's measureable). This might cause false triggers. Also, glass is not affected by humidity whereas many types of plastic are. Any absorbtion of moisture by a plastic substrate would decrease its dielectric coefficient (insulation valve) and might require the touchscreen to be recalibrated.

Or possibly my brain has failed the smoke test, and the flexible display would work fine with a capacitive touch screen.

All very valid points, but I suspect the initial use for this technology will simply be to produce shatter-proof "rigid" devices, rather than "bendy" ones.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All very valid points, but I suspect the initial use for this technology will simply be to produce shatter-proof "rigid" devices, rather than "bendy" ones.

I agree, I don't think we will see "Gumby" devices. The real benefit, at least for now, isn't bendable devices, but readers that can flex without breaking.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

You don't need color to read literature.

And literature accounts for what, maybe 15% of school assigned reading? There's definitely value in handing kids the whole Project Gutenberg library (and whatever else the schools can license), but if it can't handle textbooks it's going to be a hard sell.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I agree, I don't think we will see "Gumby" devices.

Au contraire mon ami...





(While I do agree, I could not resist entering "Gumby ereader" in a Google image search.)

[kacir]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All very valid points, but I suspect the initial use for this technology will simply be to produce shatter-proof "rigid" devices, rather than "bendy" ones.

Papyrus PageOne HD is an example of such device
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20.../#.T9IZG-rVZo4

But the device in the above video is Wexler Flex one
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20.../#.T9IZkOrVZo4

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20.../#.T9IZturVZo4
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20.../#.T9IZvurVZo4

They are going to sell it here in Europe for 230Euro.
It is already being sold in Russia for 8990 Rubles (the equivalent of 220Euro).
http://wexler.ru/home
http://wexler-global.com/

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps they mean "worse than LCD displays".

A lot of these 7" LCD tablets are 800x480. How is 1024x768 worse?

[JSWolf]

The pictures on Wexler's website show the reader to be curved. Now why would we want it curved? That is just stupid.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Now why would we want it curved?

To carry it in the jacket pocket?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kacir

To carry it in the jacket pocket?

But curved is not good for reading.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But curved is not good for reading.

We are used to flat screens, but most pieces of paper we read from aren't flat.
The vast majority of paper books I have read had pages curved. If you open any paperback, at least one side of the spread is curved. You would have to break the spine to have perfectly flat page in paperback or the vast majority of hardbacks.

I know that I am playing the devils advocate here.
Consider this. The device is bendable, so it would be well suited to carrying in the pocket and so it would be resistant to damage by bending. If the device is bendable, it will never be perfectly straight. The only way to prevent random buckling, while you keep the device bendable is to put it in permanent curve. Just grab a single printed page and observe yourself how you hold it.

I do realize that it is highly unusual, but I would give it a try. But not for 230Euro ;-)

EDIT: do you remember "good old" CRT monitors we have been happily using for decades? Most of them were curved in two axes. Just look left at my avatar ;-)

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kacir

We are used to flat screens, but most pieces of paper we read from aren't flat.
The vast majority of paper books I have read had pages curved. If you open any paperback, at least one side of the spread is curved. You would have to break the spine to have perfectly flat page in paperback or the vast majority of hardbacks.

I know that I am playing the devils advocate here.
Consider this. The device is bendable, so it would be well suited to carrying in the pocket and so it would be resistant to damage by bending. If the device is bendable, it will never be perfectly straight. The only way to prevent random buckling, while you keep the device bendable is to put it in permanent curve. Just grab a single printed page and observe yourself how you hold it.

I do realize that it is highly unusual, but I would give it a try. But not for 230Euro ;-)

EDIT: do you remember "good old" CRT monitors we have been happily using for decades? Most of them were curved in two axes. Just look left at my avatar ;-)

True, we do read a lot of things not straight like pBooks and newspapers. It's just odd to have a screen that is curved. But I do think the price is a tad high. $287 US (converted from 230 euros) is too expensive for a 6" reader these days.