Seriously thoughtful How long should a liseuse last for?

[acidzebra]

Wouldn't the featureset of upcoming readers be a factor too? I'm sure I can keep my Sony hardware alive for a long time but I can imagine certain advances in tech which would make an upgrade tempting, perhaps inevitable. And if anything the ebook hardware world is going through a stormy development path.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

Wouldn't the featureset of upcoming readers be a factor too? I'm sure I can keep my Sony hardware alive for a long time but I can imagine certain advances in tech which would make an upgrade tempting, perhaps inevitable. And if anything the ebook hardware world is going through a stormy development path.

It depends what you want to use it for. If your sole use for a reader is, for example, reading public domain classics (as 90% of mine is), then advances in hardware (such as wireless book delivery) are relatively unimportant. If, on the other hand, you want "instant" access to all the latest best-sellers, new delivery systems may be of great importance to you.

[acidzebra]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It depends what you want to use it for. If your sole use for a reader is, for example, reading public domain classics (as 90% of mine is), then advances in hardware (such as wireless book delivery) are relatively unimportant. If, on the other hand, you want "instant" access to all the latest best-sellers, new delivery systems may be of great importance to you.

Well, I kept it very non-specific, but some advances which would make my wallet burn are a good dual-screen system, wireless without the power drain, a big screen with excellent battery life and sturdiness, color, animation (high refresh rate), to name just a few off the top of my head, and that is not taking into account whatever exciting new hardware and ideas will become reality in the next five or ten years.

I do agree with you in general terms though, although I would point out this large list of reader hardware mentioned in your profile...

[HarryT]

To which I must now add a Kindle 2, but that's just because I'm a sucker for new gadgets .

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

Wouldn't the featureset of upcoming readers be a factor too? I'm sure I can keep my Sony hardware alive for a long time but I can imagine certain advances in tech which would make an upgrade tempting, perhaps inevitable. And if anything the ebook hardware world is going through a stormy development path.

I'm sure this will be a factor for some, but not for me. There is only one feature I want from my reader: being able to comfortably read on it. I have that already Of course maybe there will be a killer feature some day that I just have to have, but I can't imagine which one right now.

Apart from the reader or the battery dying, the only reason I can think of to buy a new one would be being forced (by the market) to change to a new format that wouldn't be supported on my current reader.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It depends what you want to use it for. If your sole use for a reader is, for example, reading public domain classics (as 90% of mine is), then advances in hardware (such as wireless book delivery) are relatively unimportant. If, on the other hand, you want "instant" access to all the latest best-sellers, new delivery systems may be of great importance to you.

I buy a lot of e-books, but I don't see how that makes wireless delivery desirable. I wouldn't mind having it of course, but given that it would probably mean being tied to a single reseller (such as the iTunes store for the iPod), I'm not going out of my way to get it.

[CleverClothe]

There weren't many options above 50, so I chose "Forever and a day".

A liseuse can last a long time, as long as it is made out of good quality wood and you take care of the springs (though I suppose metal or plastic could be used). I'm sure there are still some liseuses around from the 18th century.

Oh, you were not talking about reading desks? Ok.

In that case, the average lifespan of a liseuse is about 84.23 years in France (assuming that avid readership has no effect on life expectancy, this varies by country, ymmv). However, you do risk your liseuse leaving you. So you should always take precaution and love your liseuse right. Occasional flowers are helpful.

So, love your liseuse and she may never leave you.

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

Wouldn't the featureset of upcoming readers be a factor too? I'm sure I can keep my Sony hardware alive for a long time but I can imagine certain advances in tech which would make an upgrade tempting, perhaps inevitable. And if anything the ebook hardware world is going through a stormy development path.

Sure, but buying a new device doesn't make the old one die

Of course, your point about wanting to upgrade is quite valid -- any current ebook reading device is likely to live longer than our desire to live with it before upgrading.

[brecklundin]

anything less that 10yrs and maybe even 20yrs and we run into a distinct possibility that pbooks are "greener" than the electronic reading device analog. Additionally anything less than 10yrs and you will likely spend less on pbooks over that time than the cost of the reader+ebooks purchased over that period.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

anything less that 10yrs and maybe even 20yrs and we run into a distinct possibility that pbooks are "greener" than the electronic reading device analog. Additionally anything less than 10yrs and you will likely spend less on pbooks over that time than the cost of the reader+ebooks purchased over that period.

Very good point. This is perhaps one of the best reasons that liseuses will eventually standardize both display sizes and feature sets. Liseuses, for the average person, will never be like cell phones... and the person whose overpriced and underperforming device fails on them after 2 years will go back to buying $0.99 - $19.99 paper books every now and then, instead of shelling out another $200 - $300+ for the most limited portable computer they ever owned.

- Ahi

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

There weren't many options above 50, so I chose "Forever and a day".

A liseuse can last a long time, as long as it is made out of good quality wood and you take care of the springs (though I suppose metal or plastic could be used). I'm sure there are still some liseuses around from the 18th century.

Oh, you were not talking about reading desks? Ok.

In that case, the average lifespan of a liseuse is about 84.23 years in France (assuming that avid readership has no effect on life expectancy, this varies by country, ymmv). However, you do risk your liseuse leaving you. So you should always take precaution and love your liseuse right. Occasional flowers are helpful.

So, love your liseuse and she may never leave you.

A periodic rub down with Tongue Oil or other sort of clean 'n feed oil helps keep you liseuse from cracking and drying out as well. Beeswax is not always good because of potential yellowing over time.

I find if your treat you wife, errrr, liseuse like your dawg she will never leave you.

EDIT: D'oh!! I neglected any leather involved with use of your liseuse...proper care is needed to keep it supple yet toned...I find a good saddle soap best...Neatsfoot Oil done properly will help restore mositures as well, but too much and it could become a tad oily...

[tomsem]

There's no technical reason electronic devices can't function for 20 years or more. I'm sure many of our ebook readers will still work 20 years from now, if they haven't been thrown out.

But we have some cultural dynamics that render them obsolete long before they stop working:

- need for manufacturers to make a profit by selling as many as possible (little or no incentive to make products that have lasting value)
- consumer appetite for new features and capabilities
- savvy marketing designed to manufacture demand, and make people want to buy stuff they don't need with money they don't have
- technological advances lowering cost, Moore's law etc. that accelerate rate of change
- environmental costs (of resource extraction, recycling, disposal) are socialized and/or passed on to future generations to deal with

And so forth. It's a chaotic mess, and it's not particularly sustainable.

I'm fortunate in that I have a genetic indisposition to spending money. Still, it is all I can do to keep myself from wanting to replace a perfectly functional ebook reader I've had less than 9 months.

[Penforhire]

I view e-readers as I do portable PC's. They lead a rough life and I would be ecstatic if mine lived 5 years (and voted as that). You can't compare these to TV's that just sit in a corner of a temperature-controlled house. At the same time, I expect to purchase one with a better-looking display much sooner than that. So if I get three years out of my PRS-505 I will still be overjoyed.

Note that "Pb-free construction" means solder joints that will NOT last as long as traditional electronics used to. I know someone who collects old radios and has functional ones that are 40+ years old with no repairs. Don't expect that in our brave new environmentally friendly world. Besides, since when did you have something battery powered whose battery was not crap in a few years? These readers do not have high-end batteries (e.g. Sanyo Eneloop) in them.

[ahi]

Wasn't there a poll somewhere about how many years people actually got out of their liseuses?

Can somebody link to it?

- Ahi

[ardeegee]

What I wonder about is the long-term effects of aging on e-ink displays. Nobody knows what type of physical degradation they will undergo with time because, obviously, they haven't been around long enough. Will the "black" fade, or the "white" darken? Will the capsules leak? Will the fluid "dry out?"