The future of digital reading is on the phone

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I have fond memories of a Sony Clié PEG-SJ20. An active matrix reflective monochrome LCD, but with backlight. It was the best combination of sunlight-visible but with a light for dark rooms I ever owned, until I got my Paperwhite.

The hardware design of the Flip-n-twist models was excellent.
The pricing wasn't.
I went with the Jornada 56x series with that flip cover and the side mounted rocker switch.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Peanut Press was around back then if I recall correctly.

It was, and I bought a copy of the Complete Enchanter from Peanut Press. Don't remember anything else that struck my fancy. I lost access to the Complete Enchanter when Peanut Press went belly up.

[cfrizz]

50% of my reading is done on my Note 2, which is with me during my commute to and from work. I have my music playing and I'm reading at the same time. The other 50% of my reading is done at home on my 22" monitor at my pc.

My Sony T1 & Nexus 7 pretty much go unused.

[vsalvaggio]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

It's not that uncommon to use Palm Pilot to refer to the entire range a Palm devices.

What he said.

Sorry if I misspoke and confused you. What ever kind of Palm I owned had an sd card slot.


Update: Haha! I just found it in the "dead electronics box." It was a Palm T|X.

[TimW]

The Ereader format has an interesting history although its demise at the hands of B&N makes for an unfortunate ending. Not with a bang but a whimper. B&N's first Nook used both the PDB and ePub formats.

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EReader

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I read for several years on PDAs, which had much worse (& smaller!) screens that today's smart phones. I would have loved to have a device with my iPhone 5's screen back then.

So I'm not at all surprised that lots of people read on their phone now.

Personally, I'd much, much rather read on an EInk device. My new Paperwhite 3 is marvellous.

There's one huge difference between those old PDA's and today's phones: ratio. Those PDA's where 4:3, today's phones are generally 16:9.

I never had any problem reading my PDA, but I hate reading on my phone. It's way too narrow compared to the length. A 16:10 ratio would be much better (I like reading on my tablet, which has that 16:10 screen, but I prefer the 4:3 of my e-ink readers over that)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

There's one huge difference between those old PDA's and today's phones: ratio. Those PDA's where 4:3, today's phones are generally 16:9.

ISTR that Palm devices actually had square screens - at least some of them. But yes, Pocket PCs were 4:3.

Like you, I prefer to read on 4:3 devices, which is why I read PDFs on my iPad and fiction on my Kindle, both of which are 4:3.

[DiapDealer]

Any device I read with goes completely away within a chapter or so, if the book was written well enough. That might be different if I read anything but fiction for reasons other than pure pleasure, but I don't, so ...

[astrangerhere]

I went from reading on this:



to reading directly on e-readers. I skipped phones and tablets completely. When my m100 gave out, I converted to an analog organizational system (bullet journals ftw!) But the old screen here was much closer to e-ink than my bright, high contrast smart phone screen.

If I ever thought e-readers were going to disappear without an adequate read-in-full-sun screen, I would be buying up readers on clearance in the hopes that I would have a working device for years to come.

[Tarana]

Before my vision worsened last year, I always took my Itouch with me for my own appointments since I often have longish breaks while waiting for the doc to come in, blood draws, xrays and the like. Very often got in 10-20 minutes of reading in many spurts. For other times, such as taking family members to appointments, I always bring a kindle. The bigger screen is just easier to read. In addition, I always remembered my Itouch and sometimes forgot to put the Kindle back in the purse, so I'm never without. I just can't stand the magazine drivel in doctor's office and auto places.

My cousin is a nurse and many of the nurses and techs use their phones to read during breaks. They have their phones anyway and they don't have to carry something extra.

As far as audiobooks, that's my primary source of 'reading'. However, interruptions of late have made it difficult to finish. I also find I can't listen to an audiobook in high traffic, which has limited that option on drives.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I have fond memories of a Sony Clié PEG-SJ20. An active matrix reflective monochrome LCD, but with backlight. It was the best combination of sunlight-visible but with a light for dark rooms I ever owned, until I got my Paperwhite.

I have that PDA, and its problem for long-session reading is the backlight. It's too bright for reading in a dark room. There is no brightness control, only contrast. (Later Sony PDAs had a brightness control.)

Otherwise, I would still be reading on it with its handy page turning toggle switch. It was early tech, and I got talked into buying an extended warranty because "the battery gives out in a year." Still the original battery since 2003.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I strongly suspect what will happen is that, at some point in the next 5-10 years, a screen technology will emerge that combines the sunlight readability and low power consumption of eInk with the colour and high refresh speeds required by tablets. At that point, dedicated readers probably will disappear because the need for them will have gone.

The ones used on the show Earth Final Conflict looked neat.



http://www.tomsguide.com/us/notebook,news-2062.html

[QuantumIguana]

My wife reads on her phone. She calls it her "Mini-Kindle" - it's really just a Motorola phone. I will read on the phone if it is all that I have available. I have a Kindle Keyboard that I leave at work, I use it when I'm on the treadmill in the gym. At home, I will use my wife's old Kindle Fire. She doesn't use it much since she got her phone. I don't like it as much as an e-ink Kindle, but it has a light. One of these days, I will get a lighted e-ink Kindle, and I'll be all set.

[Cajun]

I doubt I will ever consider reading on a phone. I value my eye sight. Give me my eReader or give me a printed book.

Just my opinion and what works for me.

[cvkemp]

Originally Posted by Cajun

I doubt I will ever consider reading on a phone. I value my eye sight. Give me my eReader or give me a printed book.

Just my opinion and what works for me.

I agree with you I cannot read on my phone. And I even have issues reading on my tablet now. I do love reading on my kindle voyage. And will always choice e-ink or real books.