CNET predicts dedicated ereaders are doomed technology

[silasgreenback]

Originally Posted by abookreader

ah - channeling the Steve Jobs "Nobody Reads Books Anymore" line of thought!

I agree that dedicated eReaders are devices that are best appreciated by dedicated readers. We are a niche and hopefully a niche that won't be forgotten in the tablet era. For the average woman and man about the street an ability to play Angry Birds is just as important as the kindness of eInk upon the eyes.

I can only talk about what I see in my area of the U.S.A., but I'd seriously say that most people I come in contact with have never read a book at their leisure or have enough fingers on one hand to count how many they have read...even if they've had bad luck with fireworks.

I really hope that the bookworm crowd continues to be catered to, but it really does seem to be a niche market.

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Who do you recommend instead? My husband swears by CNET (I tend to swear at CNET, but that's a different story. )

Goodsound.com, sterophile, hometheaterhifi.com, there are many that imho are more credible. CNET is fine when reviewing products geared at the mass market in a best buy, but when it comes to upperend audio, video, or niche products, I find them seriously lacking in reputability and knowledge. AVSforum is another good source for user reviews.

[Francesco]

it depends on how you define doomed. I don't think dedicated (eink) ereaders will completely disappear, but their market will remain very limited. I'm a happy kindle owner, but the truth is I'm already salivating for a nook color. I'm not a big consumer, so I'm thinking to get one of them mini-tablets as my next reader in two or three (four?) years.

[astra]

I don't trust CNET at all.
I have come across quite a few good reviews about things that were bloody disaster but they conveniently avoided mentioning cons., highlighting pros only.

[Nick_Djinn]

This article is a bunch of hot air......Just because 'dedicated' readers give way to e-ink or similar tablets that can do more than read does not mean a whole lot. There will still be e-ink like devices to read our books on.

The wording is alarmist like you wont be able to get readers anymore, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

...it 'd in fact be nice if the ereader makers 'd regain common sense and go on improving reading-related feats on their devices in hard and software you know...

Absolutely, I'm with you. I don't know if anyone has noticed recently but in spite (deliberately!) of all of the enhancements made in the last ten years we are still quite a long way from reading perfection on our e-reading devices. So much still feels like it is just barely hacked out on the software side (which still needs massive improvements) and the hardware side still has years (apparently) to go before we are all reading free and easy.

But they will continue to dither away on their crappy little web browsers using open source components on e-ink screens while the rest of us just wait around for better PDF support (like, you know... maybe something approaching adequate?), and a plethora of book related things concerning formatting and fonts and advancements that will distance e-readers further from the impersonation act they are so vehemently pursuing at this point.

(And don't even get me started on backlit LCDs being used as reading machines. Pfft!)

[DarkRoast]

Well, if eInk readers disappear, I would like to go back to pbooks then and if pbooks have disappeared I think I would prefer audiobooks (I think they are very passive way of 'reading') to a horrible backlit LCD screen for reading. I would love a tablet but I certainly don't see it as a replacement for a reader, I only see it as a web browser, photo viewer and maybe as a replacement for newspapers/magazines. i hope eInk readers are here to stay. They do they job they are supposed to do so perfectly. Plus, it's so nice to be able to do something that doesn't involve a lcd screen.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by DarkRoast

Well, if eInk readers disappear, I would like to go back to pbooks then and if pbooks have disappeared I think I would prefer audiobooks (I think they are very passive way of 'reading') to a horrible backlit LCD screen for reading. I would love a tablet but I certainly don't see it as a replacement for a reader, I only see it as a web browser, photo viewer and maybe as a replacement for newspapers/magazines. i hope eInk readers are here to stay. They do they job they are supposed to do so perfectly. Plus, it's so nice to be able to do something that doesn't involve a lcd screen.

+1

Agree!

[amward]

I hope it doesn't happen, to me a dedicated ereader is like a book and that's what I like, I don't want it to do anything else. That's why I still have a mobile phone that is just a phone, hope it lasts forever.

Anne

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by elcreative

And if you noticed the thread on that tablet then you'd have realised that they're basically unavailable and we've yet to hear from anyone receiving the one they ordered... and how long can a company claim to be a startup??

Ah ha. I was wondering where all the cries of "vaporware" had gone. Glad to see there are a few sobs still around.

So I guess this is just a cardboard cutout of an Adam, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yq8xRdsSY4

Here is some creative use of paper and crayons to fake an unboxing video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFTF5L9rT68

And here we have some use of "trick photography" to pretend to open an Adam!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_H27...eature=related

[elcreative]

Some of us have a life and better things to do than haunt YouTube... several people on this forum have said that they have the device on order and promised to put up details of it and how they find it... none posted yet... and where is the "vapourware" comment from, certainly not me??? People in this forum are generally users of eReaders and tablets and if they haven't yet received theirs then they aren't exactly pouring out from the manufacturers... try to buy one tomorrow and let us know how you get on...

Nice use of sarcasm though...

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

Ah ha. I was wondering where all the cries of "vaporware" had gone. Glad to see there are a few sobs still around.

So I guess this is just a cardboard cutout of an Adam, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yq8xRdsSY4

Here is some creative use of paper and crayons to fake an unboxing video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFTF5L9rT68

And here we have some use of "trick photography" to pretend to open an Adam!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_H27...eature=related

[JeremyR]

Well, I think there will always be a market for e-ink e-reader only. I mean, hell, you can (or could as of a couple years ago) buy new versions of those old LED handheld sports games by Mattel.

As long as Amazon is around, IMHO they are going to offer an e-ink Kindle. Maybe a tablet as well, but surely a dedicated e-reader.

Still, I think the final form of the e-reader might be basically be a real book, with pages, but with each page actually being e-ink (or e-paper). That what it would literally be like reading a book, but have almost all the advantages that an e-reader has as well.

[Elecman]

CNET is not to be taken seriously. Just look at their video reviews.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by silasgreenback

I can only talk about what I see in my area of the U.S.A., but I'd seriously say that most people I come in contact with have never read a book at their leisure or have enough fingers on one hand to count how many they have read...even if they've had bad luck with fireworks.

I really hope that the bookworm crowd continues to be catered to, but it really does seem to be a niche market.

I see folks reading here all the time, including e-readers - though not so many Kindles, mostly nooks. Lots of paper books, too.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

http://cnettv.cnet.com/?tag=hdr;brandnav

On January 24th CNET TV posted a video predicting their top 5 doomed technologies:

5. Blu-ray
4. dedicated ereaders
3. 3D TV
2. Wireless HDMI
1. Wi-Fi in cars

CNET predicts that dedicated ereaders are a doomed technology and they will soon be over taken by tablets. "Readers, they're a niche for life."

And here I was thinking of buying a Sony PRS-950.

CNET is good for technology news stories, but I don't trust their analysis. The editors are all (or almost all) Apple whores. Putting the e-readers on the list was just meant to put more wind in the iPad's sales (as if it needs it).

It's not that I think dedicated e-readers will always be with us. It's just that I think that illiteracy is being overestimated. The big argument in favor of dedicated readers going away is that people don't care enough about reading to want a separate device tailored for it. I think sales of the Kindle, Nook, and Sony readers are positive evidence that that's false.

I see one of three things happening: Either dedicated e-readers will become so cheap (< $100) that choosing between a tablet and an e-reader will be unnecessary, tablets will become so cheap ($150) that people will just swallow the LCD screen as "good enough" for the price, or else tablet screens will get color displays that have better reading properties (whether that means special glass or some form of eInk that can move as fast as an LCD display).

In the near term, I see e-readers getting cheap enough to where people won't have to choose. $140 for a Kindle, but if they can knock $50 off of that for the same experience, that will make it very hard for tablets to overtake them (I think).