5 Things That Will Make E-Readers Better in 2010

[emonti8384]

I just hope they don't disregard the products they have out there now- I don't want to be replacing my reader every year or 2 because they "need improvements" or some people fear they are inferior. Companies have a tendency to move on to the next thing and leave their past versions of a product in the dust to be forgotten.

[FireRunner]

Originally Posted by emonti8384

I just hope they don't disregard the products they have out there now- I don't want to be replacing my reader every year or 2 because they "need improvements" or some people fear they are inferior. Companies have a tendency to move on to the next thing and leave their past versions of a product in the dust to be forgotten.

Sadly, that is the schedule of devices these days. Every laptop is upgraded 12-14 months apart and every phone is upgraded almost 12 months on the dot. I'll assume eReaders will upgrade every year around Christmas time

[emonti8384]

I know; and I know that I don't have to buy a new one when they come out but it would be nice that if I want to replace my reader when it breaks that I can do with something similar to what I have now.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by emonti8384

I just hope they don't disregard the products they have out there now- I don't want to be replacing my reader every year or 2 because they "need improvements" or some people fear they are inferior. Companies have a tendency to move on to the next thing and leave their past versions of a product in the dust to be forgotten.

That shouldn't be an issue as the e-book formats are unlikely to change and are easily convertible to the format your device needs.

Even if reader devices are different in the future, they'll likely still be using ebook formats that either work on your current device or are easily convertible to work on it. So you won't be forced to scrap your collection or buy something new to read e-books that interest you.

Originally Posted by emonti8384

I know; and I know that I don't have to buy a new one when they come out but it would be nice that if I want to replace my reader when it breaks that I can do with something similar to what I have now.

However, for that regard time will tell. I think simple, dedicated readers will stay around as there's clearly a niche for them. They may end up not being the most used reading device in the mainstream, but as long as there's a sizable niche of people who want them, some companies will put them out as they're not going to pass up an easy chance to make some money.

[emonti8384]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

However, for that regard time will tell. I think simple, dedicated readers will stay around as there's clearly a niche for them. They may end up not being the most used reading device in the mainstream, but as long as there's a sizable niche of people who want them, some companies will put them out as they're not going to pass up an easy chance to make some money.

That's very comforting, thanks

[rixte]

The one thing I'm interested in from that list is screen flexibility - not that I want a screen that will bend, but one that's more robust - my Kindle is doing well on that front but I've had my moments of panic.

[rmm200]

I will say try a touch screen unit before you write them off. Simple things, like interfacing to a dictionary by tapping the word, I can't think of any way to do without a touchscreen.

Happy Sony user here.

Robert

[dmaul1114]

Yeah they have some uses. If they could do them without sacrificing contrast I'd be supportive.

That said, I've probably looked up a word on my Kindle 5 times or so in the year I've had it. My vocabulary is pretty solid, and many times I just don't bother since these e-ink readers are so damn slow to pull up a dictionary definition and get back to the book. Maybe the Sony's are quicker than the Kindle though.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Yeah they have some uses. If they could do them without sacrificing contrast I'd be supportive.

That said, I've probably looked up a word on my Kindle 5 times or so in the year I've had it. My vocabulary is pretty solid, and many times I just don't bother since these e-ink readers are so damn slow to pull up a dictionary definition and get back to the book. Maybe the Sony's are quicker than the Kindle though.

It depends what you're reading. Reading Dumas, I found that there were lots of words that I looked up - which I wouldn't have bothered with looking up on paper - and that I learned a lot by doing so. On the Sony, it's quick and easy to do this. I find it a real benefit reading the public domain books which tend to be >100 years old; a lot of words shift their meaning in 100 years!

[maggie*]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

If you're happy with what you have, then don't buy other products. What you have is not good enough for a lot of people. Let them buy the touchscreen gizmos that you don't want, and you can sit happy with what you have.

Yes, I'm happy with what I have and of course to each it's own. Looking at the market probably my next reader will have touchscreen and I'll have adjust. Hey! I may even like it!

What I find slightly irritanting is all the comments of people looking for something with tablet habilities slighting the available readers habilities because "they have no color" or "they have no touch screen" or "they don't have wifi"... If your main objective is just read, then those abilities aren't that important (specially if they may impair screen quality).

The Ipad looks nice, but it's reading ability seems like a secondary feature of the whole package, and it remains to be seen how easy on the eyes the LCD screen will be for reading a couple of hours (I would be very pleased if it was good, so don't take it as a critic!)

m*

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by maggie*

Yes, I'm happy with what I have and of course to each it's own. Looking at the market probably my next reader will have touchscreen and I'll have adjust. Hey! I may even like it!

What I find slightly irritanting is all the comments of people looking for something with tablet habilities slighting the available readers habilities because "they have no color" or "they have no touch screen" or "they don't have wifi"... If your main objective is just read, then those abilities aren't that important (specially if they may impair screen quality).

The Ipad looks nice, but it's reading ability seems like a secondary feature of the whole package, and it remains to be seen how easy on the eyes the LCD screen will be for reading a couple of hours (I would be very pleased if it was good, so don't take it as a critic!)

m*

For "just reading", I find color and speed and effective navigation to be very valuable and important, and I look forward to reader devices that support those features.

I don't feel quite so strongly about those things with regard to novels, but that's an extremely limited form of reading anyway. However, I think that speed and navigation are still major flaws with current ebook readers, even if only used for novels. Some people have low enough standards to accept or ignore those flaws, but not everyone is so tolerant towards expensive consumer technology.

[maggie*]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

For "just reading", I find color and speed and effective navigation to be very valuable and important, and I look forward to reader devices that support those features.

I don't feel quite so strongly about those things with regard to novels, but that's an extremely limited form of reading anyway. However, I think that speed and navigation are still major flaws with current ebook readers, even if only used for novels. Some people have low enough standards to accept or ignore those flaws, but not everyone is so tolerant towards expensive consumer technology.

Speed and efective navigation are important. I would also appreciate color but it's not available now so I won't moan about it. For the moment you have "black and white" e-ink, you take it or you leave it, and I prefer not to compromise it's quality with the touchscreen.

I don't know what kind of reading you prefer, I do mostly read novels so I guess my low standards are understandable. If I wanted a reader for technical documents, comics or newspapers or anything that required graphics or annotation I would have never bought my reader. As it is, I just don't see the need to complicate a gadget, giving it abilities I really don't require, and justifying even higher prices. But I understand other people with higher standards require something more sophisticated.

[dmaul1114]

I agree with that maggie*. My Kindle is fine for novel reading, page turns could be faster, as could the dictionary look up and other navigational features. But otherwise it's fine for reading novels which is all I use it for.

But I do need a tablet for other types of reading. Research articles in PDFs--need bigger screen and annotation. Magazines--bigger screen and color etc.

So I don't think it's a matter of having low or high standards, it's a matter of what types of reading one does.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

It depends what you're reading. Reading Dumas, I found that there were lots of words that I looked up - which I wouldn't have bothered with looking up on paper - and that I learned a lot by doing so. On the Sony, it's quick and easy to do this. I find it a real benefit reading the public domain books which tend to be >100 years old; a lot of words shift their meaning in 100 years!

Agreed. Most of the 5 or so words (if not all) I looked up were from reading Crime and Punishment.

Since then I've read pretty light and recent stuff so I haven't had much need.

Even with Dostoyevsky, I didn't look up most stuff I didn't now as the the Kindle is just so slow to pull up the dictionary etc. that I'd just read on.

I'd do it more on an LCD tablet I'd guess, as I could touch the word and get the definition to pop up nearly instantly. The speed of e-ink readers keeps me from using it as much as I would if it was fast.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Agreed. Most of the 5 or so words (if not all) I looked up were from reading Crime and Punishment.

Since then I've read pretty light and recent stuff so I haven't had much need.

Even with Dostoyevsky, I didn't look up most stuff I didn't now as the the Kindle is just so slow to pull up the dictionary etc. that I'd just read on.

I'd do it more on an LCD tablet I'd guess, as I could touch the word and get the definition to pop up nearly instantly. The speed of e-ink readers keeps me from using it as much as I would if it was fast.

And millions of L2 readers out there would probably enjoy the luxury of quick lookup with multilingual dictionaries. The implementations in ebook readers so far is pretty unconvincing. I would rather hang myself than use an E-Ink device to read Japanese or Spanish, where I may need to look up a word several times on each page. A PC with a good multilingual popup dictionary is far superior. A reader device with similar speed and usability could be the bee's knees for L2s of many languages, even those not actively studying language.

Of course, even native readers frequently lack the necessary vocabulary for some content...especially stuff with intentionally dense writing or archaic/deprecated usage. Quite common in some of the free material out there, just by virtue of age.