Timeline of Future Reading Innovations

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

I don't understand the focus on foldable and flexible eInk devices. Unbreakable, yes certainly.

Flexible e-ink gives you that unbreakable e-ink screen. I doubt that we would actually see foldable devices, at least not for some time, but flexible e-ink screens would be a big advance, making e-readers much more durable as well as lighter, because it wouldn't need material to prevent the screen from flexing.

[HarryHutton]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Flexible e-ink gives you that unbreakable e-ink screen. I doubt that we would actually see foldable devices, at least not for some time, but flexible e-ink screens would be a big advance, making e-readers much more durable as well as lighter, because it wouldn't need material to prevent the screen from flexing.

One potential issue with flexible and foldable e-ink is preserving an evenly lit display - frontlighting may not be possible.

[treadlightly]

Originally Posted by murg

The package to be carried is smaller than the screen to be read. Sort of like folding up a piece of paper to put in your wallet.

What sort of application do you see this used for? Folding a 8.5"x11" screen in half? Folding up a newspaper sized screen? I just don't see the demand for it. Do we need ereaders that can be folded into a wallet? I'm merely curious.

[Section8]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

What sort of application do you see this used for? Folding a 8.5"x11" screen in half? Folding up a newspaper sized screen? I just don't see the demand for it. Do we need ereaders that can be folded into a wallet? I'm merely curious.

As I age and anticipate needing larger font sizes to read, I will welcome a device like this - big enough screen to accommodate larger fonts but also portable.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

What sort of application do you see this used for? Folding a 8.5"x11" screen in half? Folding up a newspaper sized screen? I just don't see the demand for it. Do we need ereaders that can be folded into a wallet? I'm merely curious.

Perhaps not folded, but pulled out from a roll - like a scroll - that would be great for a highly portable reading device. There was a device which did this a few years ago (the Readius), but the technology wasn't mature enough at the time.

[WillAdams]

Not getting that ``good pen annotation'' is pushed out into the future --- I've been marking up .pdfs using a digitizer pen for about as long as there's been that feature in Adobe Acrobat, and there was a PenPoint app which would take a .ps file and turn it into a predecessor to a .pdf.

Similarly, tablets as good for only consuming? What is this strange future in which no one draws or paints?

- Creaturehouse Expression
- Macromedia Freehand
- Inkscape
- Made with Mischief
- Artrage
- Autodesk Sketchbook

Still a bit bummed about Futurewave Smartsketch requiring me to install additional software (which I'm trying to avoid) and debating about digging out my old Adobe CS2 disks.

[treadlightly]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps not folded, but pulled out from a roll - like a scroll - that would be great for a highly portable reading device. There was a device which did this a few years ago (the Readius), but the technology wasn't mature enough at the time.

Ok, I looked up pictures of the Readius. I can see the use for an eReader that rolled up to the thickness of a highlighter for example. Thank you for the reference.

[murg]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

What sort of application do you see this used for? Folding a 8.5"x11" screen in half? Folding up a newspaper sized screen? I just don't see the demand for it. Do we need ereaders that can be folded into a wallet? I'm merely curious.

The application doesn't matter. The important part is that the screen is larger while reading than while carrying it around.

I'd expect the unfolded form factors to match current form factors. There are reasons that people like 5 inch screens, 6 in screens, 7 in screens, etc.

[Alohamora]

Ever since the TV Show "Earth Final Conflict" I've wanted one of these (pull out screen)

http://www.zdnet.com/i/story/61/45/0...er_concept.jpg

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Ever since the TV Show "Earth Final Conflict" I've wanted one of these (pull out screen)

http://www.zdnet.com/i/story/61/45/0...er_concept.jpg

The Polymer Vision Readius Harry mentioned was something like that (if only grayscale and low-res). I'd love a 7", 300 dpi version, but nothing came of it, alas.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Quexos

There are lots of new technologies for batteries that are coming in the near future but nuclear batteries for portable devices are so totally NOT part of it. I assume your post is pure irony but it fails as the batteries I'm speaking of are very real. Read and learn...

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/1303...r-over-the-air

As for reading in bright sunlight, e-readers will indeed keep this advantage but will that very last advantage be enough to sustain a market for future e-readers?

Yeah, but the only super-awesome-amazing battery I am really looking forward to is the one that lasts thousands of years on a single charge, so I never even have to consider the idea that an actual power source is involved.

I don't care how much/little meaning battery life has -- that holy grail of "irrelevant" which you originally spoke of is a high bar.

And yes, reading in sunlight will remain an advantage, if only the advantage exploited by a niche device, for as long as that advantage exists.

[Dopedangel]

I would love to get a smartphone that I can unfold into a reader. It should look like a normal phone but can be opened like a book and inside you have an eink screen. We are few years away from the tech that would make it possible. The problem that LG and Samsung have with bendable screen is not that the screen can't bend but that the other components like the battery cant bend.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

The problem that LG and Samsung have with bendable screen is not that the screen can't bend but that the other components like the battery cant bend.

... which is precisely why they are working on bendable batteries, too.