E-ink is dying(?)

[tdonline]

I don't use tablets and don't have any plans to until they provide something I can't get from my phone and laptops. I have zero interest in carrying a tablet around too. I don't read on my Samsung 3 simply because I use a large font and I just don't want to swipe the screen after every 2 sentences. Maybe I'll read more on my phone when I upgrade to a much larger phone. And reading a backlit screen makes me feel like I'm still on my computer which to me equals work or surfing the net. Maybe the backlit screen really doesn't bother my eyes all that much but mentally, e-ink gives me much more of a reading vibe.

For now, e-ink is the bees' knees for me.

[varlog]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I find my H2O to be a worthy replacement for the T1. In fact, that's exactly what I did.

no time to google it properly: is it rootable? not that I will - but I would like to be able to . what operating system has it?

[cvkemp]

Originally Posted by tdonline

I don't use tablets and don't have any plans to until they provide something I can't get from my phone and laptops. I have zero interest in carrying a tablet around too. I don't read on my Samsung 3 simply because I use a large font and I just don't want to swipe the screen after every 2 sentences. Maybe I'll read more on my phone when I upgrade to a much larger phone. And reading a backlit screen makes me feel like I'm still on my computer which to me equals work or surfing the net. Maybe the backlit screen really doesn't bother my eyes all that much but mentally, e-ink gives me much more of a reading vibe.

For now, e-ink is the bees' knees for me.

Since retiring I have gone to an IPad for surfing the web. When I sat down in front of a computer/laptop it reminds me of work and that is something I do not wish to remember anymore.

[varlog]

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

Doesn't your reading application allow you to change the paper colour of the book, rather than just giving you black on white or white on black?
...

Unfortunately, for reading, it's black on white for me only. Other combinations disagree with me. For instance: the web pages using other colors for text make me leave immediately. If I have to read them I try to get rid of css.

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by varlog

Unfortunately, for reading, it's black on white for me only. Other combinations disagree with me. For instance: the web pages using other colors for text make me leave immediately. If I have to read them I try to get rid of css.

Yes, I prefer not to use OTHER colours for reading books and so do not. However, I was not at all inferring that one goes to the likes of red on black or whatever (read my earlier post where I refer to the RGB model), but that there are "shades" of white. For example, I guarantee that whatever you read on you are in fact not getting pure white paper (although with AMOLED displays one will get pretty close to it) and pure black. And if one is using a matt screen (not likely for touch displays, but say on a small notebook) the matt will kill the white for a start. And if one is using E Ink then they are very, very low contrast displays (orders of magnitude less than LCD or OLED, for example) and so by definition they give very poor whites and blacks.

So what some reading applications give one is the ability to change the colours, but that does not mean that you have to go to colours other than blacks and whites. The example I gave in my earlier post of reading applications using the RGB additive model of using, say, RGB 255 255 241 (so reduces the blue slightly in the red, green, blue mix) gives a slight sand tint to the paper; if that slight tint seems too much then one can reduce it, or, as I suggested, grey the white slightly instead.

One can then, in effect, mimic the shades of black and white of an ereader screen as one likes, except that it will be backlit and capable of orders of magnitude greater contrast (if contrast should be wanted). And if one does not like backlit LCD screens there are small tablets (and plenty of large format phones) which are OLED and so not backlit, albeit quite expensive.

Some people seem very defensive of E Ink, but in my experience when people become defensive of some technology the gist is that the technology is dying and so is no longer able to stand on its own two legs. And in life I in fact I see fewer and fewer E Ink readers around, both on display in shops or being used, but more and more small tablets (which the shops are full of) and larger format phones being used for reading.

But in the end people can read on whatever they like as far as I am concerned, I am just pointing out my own observations and that flexible alternatives exist which it seems that many are unaware of (or actively do not want to be aware of ).

For myself I most often still read on an E Ink device; there were no (or very few) tablets of similar small format around when I got that and a 6 inch reader is convenient for portability (but pathetic for illustrations and non or poorly reflowing PDFs). However, when that dies it will be replaced by a small format tablet for reading (LCD or OLED, that choice depending on generosity of pocket at the time).

[varlog]

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

...

The difference of e-ink to all other: it is "light passive". You get only as much as environment allows you. Just like dead tree. This is a selling point for me.
As a matter of fact one of the (many) reasons I won't have a Kindle (paperwhite) is that it doesn't allow one to turn off the backlight completely.
Anyway, I'm off to my train, e-ink and "Blindsight". Merry Christmas to you all.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by tompe

And a lot of people that have trouble just read with the light to high. Sometimes you have to download a special app to you phone or tablet to be able to reduce the light to good levels for the environments you are reading in.

I use the apps Screen Dim and Low Light on my Fires and Android phone to get the backlight low enough to read comfortably in dim light. Without these apps, the backlight brightness can be very uncomfortable, but with these apps I can set the screen brightness perfectly for reading anywhere from bright outdoors, sitting in shade, to in bed, in the dark, at night.

Full sun is the only place I really need e-ink, and that doesn't happen too often these days. If I had a front-lit kindle, I'd use e-ink more, but the tablet/phone work too well to justify yet another device. I hate the low contrast of e-ink in my normal indoor house lighting.

BTW, to answer someone's question, the Kindle app does have brown on sepia and black on light green color schemes. I try them sometimes for a change, but end up switching back to black on white.

I know a couple of people who regularly read on tablets, but I can't think of anyone (besides myself) who uses an e-ink device.

[Rizla]

Lots of people cannot read for long periods on LCD. They will read e-ink or paper. They simply wont read regularly for long periofs on LCD. So there will always be a market for e-ink or something better. Will the demand remain enough that manufacturers produce e-ink devices? Sure has so far. Unfortunately it hasnt been enough to produce a affordable mass-market larger e-ink screen.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Lots of people cannot read for long periods on LCD. They will read e-ink or paper. They simply wont read regularly for long periofs on LCD. So there will always be a market for e-ink or something better. Will the demand remain enough that manufacturers produce e-ink devices? Sure has so far. Unfortunately it hasnt been enough to produce a affordable mass-market larger e-ink screen.

Pretty much me really. I spend much of my day in front of LCD screens, so when I read at night, my Voyager is a far more comfortable reading experience free of the eye strain I tend to get.

Like most things, use the device(s) you are comfortable with.

[ebusinesstutor]

Originally Posted by varlog

I spend a lot of time in trains. I see people with smartphones, I see people with dead trees. Once in a while I see tablet or notebook.
People with dedicated e-readers are almost not present there. And I don't see much new news about development in in this area - industry is giving up?
I like to be able to read in full sun and I don't like my reading device to be brighter then environment - but apparently I'm minority. Am I?

Yes, you are in a minority. Most people find the convenience of having ebooks on a device they already carry and not having to buy and carry a second device outweighs the benefit of being able to read in full sun and longer battery life.

Not saying it is the right decision for everyone of course, but more people are making this choice all the time.

E-ink may have a future in shoes however.

[ProDigit]

E-ink is here to stay, for the mere reason of energy efficiency; which is the main problem in Africa right now.
Companies all over have spent research and development into making computers accessible and affordable, but they haven't taken into consideration, that large parts of Africa, and Asia, still don't have access to a steady form of electricity, and some have no access to it at all.

The next generation of computing devices may be truly ULTRA LOW power devices, and an E-ink screen with glo-light, would be preferably in Africa; as they only need to be recharged on a weekly base.

If you're lucky, in remote regions of Africa, you have access to electricity about once a day. Some, only have access once a week, when they take their car batteries to downtown to be charged up.

Life in Africa dies down after sunset anyway, so an E-ink device will be perfect for the day activities of children, if it wasn't so expensive to manufacture!

And there's always the fear of someday be without electricity. Perhaps go a week camping, or be traveling a lot, and battery life in such cases is a necessity.
And there are the psychos who think one day their country will be nuked, and without power for weeks... Then having an e-ink device is a godsent from heaven!

If you ask me, e-ink is a technology to stay,
However, I do see future developments of E-ink in computing devices like mini laptops, for programming, creating web-content (HTML pages), as wrist watches, and as a monitor for servers or routers, and the sort...

Concerning the theory that long reading behind an LCD screens isn't comfortable, that's been long undone.
The only reason is that people put their monitors at the same brightness as when they watch movies.
When reading black text on a white background, the screen brightness and contrast often needs to be put all the way down, to the point when you are looking beyond your monitor (the wall or scenery behind it), your monitor should not stand out in brightness, but have equal brightness. Then up it one or two clicks on the brightness.
That's the proper way of calibrating a monitor.
Some companies don't even know, as their monitors often don't even go as low in brightness than is required. In such cases, Windows users can use a program called "DimScreen", and Android users can use "Screen Dimmer".
I'm sure Apple devices have their own apps as well.

But wrongly calibrated monitors are the main cause for tired, and worn eyes from long read sessions behind an LCD.
Plasma tv's, and CRTs, are the worst to read behind. They really can burn your eyes if you're too close to them for too long.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by tompe

And a lot of people that have trouble just read with the light to high. Sometimes you have to download a special app to you phone or tablet to be able to reduce the light to good levels for the environments you are reading in.

It has appeared to me for some time that SOME folks don't even know they CAN turn the brightness down, or choose a "night theme" for comfortable reading.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by leebase

It has appeared to me for some time that SOME folks don't even know they CAN turn the brightness down, or choose a "night theme" for comfortable reading.

I met a guy once that didn't even know how to turn on a computer. That in itself would not have been so bad except the job he was given at a college was helping a very handicapped student in Access.
Can we say that the professor had fits and requested that she interview the guy's replacement before she approved the replacement.

Oh and my mom didn't know about long press on a tablet to bring up certain menus.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by leebase

It has appeared to me for some time that SOME folks don't even know they CAN turn the brightness down, or choose a "night theme" for comfortable reading.

Hardly a surprise, given the lack of decent user manuals supplied with many modern devices. I really don't know how people are expected to learn how to use them!

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Hardly a surprise, given the lack of decent user manuals supplied with many modern devices. I really don't know how people are expected to learn how to use them!

Like everybody else does: by asking the nearest child for help.