Is the ereader dead?

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by Celestial

App updates are far from being all that matters. System updates are even more important. Your Samsung Note 2 has so many security holes from running an ancient version of Android that it is as easy to get into as a box of Cheerios.

It would be a problem if I had a data plan, but I don't since I don't need one. I only can connect through wifi which I do every once in a while to update any of my apps through Google, then it goes back into airplane mode.

The phone is only activated when I need to make a phone call.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

In fact, battery life is a complete non-factor for me when choosing a device. They're all good enough to get me through the day/evening (and most of a second should I happen to forget to charge every now and again). That's all I ever need. *shrug*

I like my Blackberry Q10 because I only have to charge every two or three days. With the Android I used to have, it had trouble making it through the day. That said, I'm not a heavy smartphone user.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I do agree with you and I do think the importance of the battery life of e-ink readers is sometimes oversold. But there is something to be said for not having to plug in all of my devices to charge every night.

My tablet lasts for days because I don't use it often and my e-ink reader lasts because that's what they do. But if I used a tablet for my daily reader, I'd feel the need to charge it every night. And when taking a trip, I would worry a lot more about relying on a tablet to read on a long flight with layovers/delays.

My Fire tablet is turned completely off most of the time, so its battery holds pretty well for the short spaces of time I use it. But my kids have Fire tablets also and they're either constantly plugged in, or the battery is dead. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

But if I used a tablet for my daily reader, I'd feel the need to charge it every night.

That's what I do. Never really felt that charging every night was any kind of hardship. The charging cord is within reach of my bed; when I'm done reading for the night, I plug the tablet in and place it on the nightstand. No muss, no fuss. It's habit. I can do it blindfolded. *shrug*

And when taking a trip...

I'm unfamiliar with this "trip" thing of which you speak. Is that where people voluntarily leave their homes for long enough periods of time that they feel compelled to bring many pieces-parts of home along with them when they go? I no longer comprehend such odd behavior.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I do agree with you and I do think the importance of the battery life of e-ink readers is sometimes oversold. But there is something to be said for not having to plug in all of my devices to charge every night.

Yeah. For me, both e-reader and tablets last more than long enough for "all-day" reading. Beyond that is typically unnecessary. I even have one of those 10-port Anker USB chargers by my bedside for charging my cornucopia of tech devices simultaneously overnight. That said, I don't like using my devices when they have cables hanging off (and yep, I've got multiple iPads and Kindles).

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

My tablet lasts for days because I don't use it often and my e-ink reader lasts because that's what they do. But if I used a tablet for my daily reader, I'd feel the need to charge it every night. And when taking a trip, I would worry a lot more about relying on a tablet to read on a long flight with layovers/delays.

Lol, I tend to use multiple devices during long flights - e-ink and tablet. I prefer to read on e-ink but the tablet gets used for casual games when I can't concentrate enough to read (e.g. kid in the back kicking my seat) or epub downloaded via wifi that I didn't have the time to convert and copy to the Kindle. Smartphone, only as a last resort if I'm super bored since we need to conserve battery life for communication upon landing.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That's what I do. Never really felt that charging every night was any kind of hardship. The charging cord is within reach of my bed; when I'm done reading for the night, I plug the tablet in and place it on the nightstand. No muss, no fuss. It's habit. I can do it blindfolded. *shrug*

That wouldn't be so bad, but I already have my phone and Bluetooth and smart watch charging there every night. I don't want or need a small electronics store by my bed (the reader and tablet stay in my satchel at night, since neither requires daily charging).

I'm unfamiliar with this "trip" thing of which you speak. Is that where people voluntarily leave their homes for long enough periods of time that they feel compelled to bring many pieces-parts of home along with them when they go? I no longer comprehend such odd behavior.

I moved to Texas. My family didn't. So outside of any trips for pure enjoyment, odds are I'll be travelling to California, Washington or Arizona (or a some combination of them) yearly. Luckily, I get lots of vacation time

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Lol, I tend to use multiple devices during long flights - e-ink and tablet. I prefer to read on e-ink but the tablet gets used for casual games when I can't concentrate enough to read (e.g. kid in the back kicking my seat) or epub downloaded via wifi that I didn't have the time to convert and copy to the Kindle. Smartphone, only as a last resort if I'm super bored since we need to conserve battery life for communication upon landing.

I use my tablet to read comics and play the occasional game of solitaire. I kind of think of my Kobo and my tablet as simply two different types of e-reader.

The Kobo is superior for fiction. The Lenovo is lovely for comics.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I use my tablet to read comics and play the occasional game of solitaire. I kind of think of my Kobo and my tablet as simply two different types of e-reader.

The Kobo is superior for fiction. The Lenovo is lovely for comics.

I do read Japanese manga on the PW3. I've read bunko ban on occasion and the PW3's not that much smaller. Not comics, though. For comics, I use tablets.

While I do prefer to use the PW3 for fiction, I do read a lot of fanfics and it's a hassle (plus requires a PC) to load them to my Kindle. Hence, I often take the easy way out and read on a tablet.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Not comics, though. For comics, I use tablets.

I hope I don't detail the thread too badly here.

I know you mentioned you use an iPad, which has a 4:3 ratio. Have you ever read comics on a 16:9 ratio screen?

I'd heard 4:3 was closer to the true ratio of a comic, but now that I have tablets in both ratios, that's simply not true.

On my 4:3 Windows tablet, there are bars on the sides of the screen. On my 16:9 Android tablet there are bars on the top and bottom. But if I open the same comic on both devices and lay the two screens on top of each other, the page on the Android tablet is bigger.

I know manga is closer to 4:3 and so are British comics. But for American comics from the '70's through now, the Android tablet gives a bigger image on the same-ish size screen.


Sorry for the diversion.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I hope I don't detail the thread too badly here.

I know you mentioned you use an iPad, which has a 4:3 ratio. Have you ever read comics on a 16:9 ratio screen?

I'd heard 4:3 was closer to the true ratio of a comic, but now that I have tablets in both ratios, that's simply not true.

On my 4:3 Windows tablet, there are bars on the sides of the screen. On my 16:9 Android tablet there are bars on the top and bottom. But if I open the same comic on both devices and lay the two screens on top of each other, the page on the Android tablet is bigger.

I know manga is closer to 4:3 and so are British comics. But for American comics from the '70's through now, the Android tablet gives a bigger image on the same-ish size screen.


Sorry for the diversion.

American comics are typically 3:2/15:10 (6.75" x 10.125") which is close to the aspect ratio used on Android tablets (16:10 1280x800, 1920x1200). I think Japanese manga uses the same AR. For reading comics in portrait, then a 16:10 tablet fits better. Personally though, the weight distribution on 10.1" and bigger 16:10 tablets feel off to me. I like it on the 2013 Nexus 7, though.

However, I read in 2-page landscape mode and for that, 4:3 is more ideal. Besides, the 12.9" iPad is large enough to display comics full size in portrait (although you do get large margins).

4:3 is also closer to magazines, letter and A4 size paper.


Note: Text is perfectly clear and legible on the iPad mini 4. It's my camera and low light conditions that are at fault when it comes to the following pics.

From left to right:

iPad Pro 12.9, iPad Pro 9.7, iPad mini 4 (7.9)




iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Pro 12.9, iPad mini 4 (7.9)



Bigger pics

Spoiler:

From left to right:

iPad Pro 12.9, iPad Pro 9.7, iPad mini 4 (7.9)





iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Pro 12.9, iPad mini 4 (7.9)

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by rcentros

My Fire tablet is turned completely off most of the time, so its battery holds pretty well for the short spaces of time I use it. But my kids have Fire tablets also and they're either constantly plugged in, or the battery is dead. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

One of the reasons I have an iPad. Most Android tablets I tried had poor battery life.

Problem is Apple has the high end and now even mid-range tablet (with mobile OS) market cornered. Most Android tablets I see now are just budget models and one of the areas that get cut is the battery.

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by pittendrigh

Most in this thread are missing the embedded video point. Video will become increasingly important as book reading habits evolve. Are you reading about Bonobos on the Congo River? A few well-placed video clips would be attractive to me. Embedded video is too big to download and store on a dedicated device. They will need to work more like browsers where video is streamed and not stored.

Dedicated devices as they are do their best to mimic the paper technology experience--which shackles the technology as a whole. Ebooks are more powerful than paper. If and only if they act like browsers.

Personally I DO NOT want that for fiction stories. One reason I prefer reading fiction to watching movies and TV is that the book allows me to use my imagination rather than being limited to what some script writer, producer and director imagine for a given scene. The fiction book has survived for 4000+ years approximately without being turned into a movie and considering the cost of adding movie type scenes to a fiction book I hope it does not happen.

I also subscribe to Sky & Telescope, Nature, Scientific American and National Geographic and see no need for anything beyond the still photos and diagrams in them to illustrate and clarify the reasonably well written text. I do NOT want my books and magazines turned into the equivalent of Classics Illustrated Comic Books (I think I just badly dated myself with that reference )

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by rcentros

My Fire tablet is turned completely off most of the time, so its battery holds pretty well for the short spaces of time I use it. But my kids have Fire tablets also and they're either constantly plugged in, or the battery is dead. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

One of the reasons I like the USB battery packs. A 5000 mAh to 10,000 mAh USB battery pack is small enough to fit any pocket or purse and can recharge a Kindle reader multiple times.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Richwood

One of the reasons I like the USB battery packs. A 5000 mAh to 10,000 mAh USB battery pack is small enough to fit any pocket or purse and can recharge a Kindle reader multiple times.

I like the Anker Astro Mini and Astro E1 (have an older model with 3000 and 5200 mAh respectively) for pocketability. The 10,000+ mAh packs feel like I'm carrying a brick in my pocket. I believe even the Mini has sufficient juice to full charge a Paperwhite twice.

[taosaur]

The fact that I can leave my Kindle in my bag and it's ready to use when I pull it out, will give me days of warning before I *need* to plug it in, and is usually ready for a multi-hour session should the mood strike me, is a major appeal for me. No, it wouldn't matter if I found my phone or tablet just as comfortable for reading, but I don't. My tablet is basically a dedicated comic reader and travel device, neither of which is a daily driver scenario for me, so a tablet is going to need charged before I use it more often than not.