It really is a shame that my e-reader doesn't have an SD slot

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by meeera

I'm not sure what's so difficult about that screen? Once you know that you can dismiss any tile except the Sync tile with a long press, and that it shows the most recently used things, it's really not complicated.

I wouldn't want to have to manually go around dismissing tiles every once in a while, I prefer those things hidden in menus. And I would probably rather use davidfor's plugin to dismiss it anyway.

I've set up several relatives with Kobos now, and these are not people who are new-tech savvy; they're doing just fine. One found it far easier to learn to use than his new iPhone.

I am not particularly fussed about how long it takes for someone to figure out how to use it, so much as the unnecessaryness of the features. I prefer a clean simple UI that only has what I need. Case in point -- the Kindle's homescreen doubles as the library view.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Personally, I cannot help but think that you are going to get better mileage out of reading manga on a tablet anyway

All I'm saying is that I don't expect an SD card to be an intrinsic goal of ereader manufacturers, and additionally that the majority (non-manga readers) of the people who insist they need them, don't.

So tell me how come Amazon's tablets don't have SD card slots?

[Shades]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Is there an excellent reason why Chinese manufacturers don't count?

You know the Chinese make everything anyway, right? So it isn't as though they are incapable of making decent quality stuff, that is for sure.

How about the one I already mentioned, the Onyx Boox T68, which is assuredly made in China.

There is a huge difference in the following:
1. Designed in China is different than just built in China.

2. Unknown manufacturers from China have never had a good record. Established Chinese brands are fine, but most of whats out there isn't.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I am not particularly fussed about how long it takes for someone to figure out how to use it, so much as the unnecessaryness of the features. I prefer a clean simple UI that only has what I need.

The tiles appear on the home screen when the features are used - that's the point, it's dynamic and adapts to how the reader uses their device. If I want a collection close at hand I can put it there, if I use Pocket a tile will appear for that, etc. (And I can get rid of all of the above, if I wish.) It's exactly as clean as the user wants it to be.

It might be nice to be able to 'pin' tiles - but as long as I dismiss the ones I don't want to use any more, the tiles I do want to be always there will stay there.

Horses for courses.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by Catlady

So tell me how come Amazon's tablets don't have SD card slots?

Because Amazon doesn't want to make it easy for you to do unlimited sideloading, especially when they can't see what you're loading.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Catlady

So tell me how come Amazon's tablets don't have SD card slots?

It's very simple: the "Fire" tablets are sold first and foremost as Amazon content consumption devices, not as general-purpose tablets. Sideloaded content is not a priority, because Amazon content is stored for you in Amazon's Cloud.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

Because Amazon doesn't want to make it easy for you to do unlimited sideloading, especially when they can't see what you're loading.

What? They could easily identify anything on the SD card if they wanted. This just sounds like conspiracy theory at this point.

[Rizla]

Sealing the unit and making it a truly walled garden makes sense. When wireless charging becomes cheaper, they'll dump the USB connection to the outside world. It's a natural continuation of the vision of what a Kindle is.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Sealing the unit and making it a truly walled garden makes sense. When wireless charging becomes cheaper, they'll dump the USB connection to the outside world. It's a natural continuation of the vision of what a Kindle is.

It makes sense for the vendor, not for the consumer. At least, not for THIS consumer! I prefer not to volunteer as anyone's revenue stream.

So I'm grateful for my SD card and for sites like this one. I don't care to be planted in a walled garden. There's enough material in the public domain to keep me reading for the rest of my days. I will shut off the wi-fi to extend my battery life and to retain some degree of privacy.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

In case the concept eluded you. Your Android is the multipurpose handheld general computing device I speak of.

As opposed to a pure cellphone, for instance this:

This looks like a phone to me. Not smart, not a multipurpose handheld general computing device.

Now, let's look at the specs:

Whoops, MP3 player! (even video though why anybody would want that....)

And why not? If you can play sound that comes from the air, you can play sound that comes from an internal storage card.

The same goes for ereaders. You can put books on it that can be read aloud for you or read silently by you.

[DiapDealer]

People are not entitled to the ereading device of their dreams. If and/or when the restrictiveness of walled ereading devices begin to outweigh their conveniences, then they will cease to make financial sense to the consumers who buy them, as well as the companies who want you to consume their products with them.

I'm not going to sweat it. I've always been more interested in the words I'm reading, than I am in how those words find their way in front of my eyes. I would miss the immediacy that ebooks provide, in terms of discovering/buying/reading, but I'd make the switch back to physical books in a heartbeat if ereading began to hamper my reading experience in any way.

Anyone who thinks that the goal is to get us all hooked on ebooks and then eliminate print books altogether hasn't been paying attention to how hard publishers have fought to maintain a print-centric industry. Companies selling ebooks/readers will always have to contend with the fact that there's a practical limit to how much they can inconvenience readers before they'll scurry back to the relative safety of the physical alternative (at least for the foreseeable future).

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Anyone who thinks that the goal is to get us all hooked on ebooks and then eliminate print books altogether hasn't been paying attention to how hard publishers have fought to maintain a print-centric industry. Companies selling ebooks/readers will always have to contend with the fact that there's a practical limit to how much they can inconvenience readers before they'll scurry back to the relative safety of the physical alternative (at least for the foreseeable future).

And don't forget the collector's reason: showing off. I heard a few weeks ago that the vinyl record is making a comeback. People download or stream the music for on the go, but want to show off the vinyl record at home.

Once our lounge is finished (will take a few years more ) I'll probably buy some more paper books again, just to fill it. It's just not as sexy to put 4 ereaders on a shelf and call it a library But I doubt I'll ever really read a full book again in paper form (my hands already ache with the thought of it...)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Once our lounge is finished (will take a few years more ) I'll probably buy some more paper books again, just to fill it. It's just not as sexy to put 4 ereaders on a shelf and call it a library But I doubt I'll ever really read a full book again in paper form (my hands already ache with the thought of it...)

Easy way to fill up your lounge and make it look intellectual is to buy a few sets of encyclopaedias .

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Easy way to fill up your lounge and make it look intellectual is to buy a few sets of encyclopaedias .

Go with Funk and Wagnalls. It's always fun to say; "Go check the Funk 'n' Wagnalls."

[Tarana]

All I'm saying is that I don't expect an SD card to be an intrinsic goal of ereader manufacturers

Just a note here. I bought an SD card for my Nook ST. My new Nook Glo has the same capacity as the Nook ST+SD card. I also noted that the new Kindles have more capacity than those sold about a year ago.

Honestly though, the number of people that would require much higher storage needs is going to be a niche market. An ereader can't be the be-all and end-all to everybody, not with other tablets of various sizes available to meet those needs. Keep in mind that a LOT of people think reading from a tablet of any kind is 'just the same' as from an ereader but with many more features, so they aren't even going to bother with an ereader. They see it as limited function (which it is) and miss out on its best feature (restful to the eyes). From a marketing standpoint, focusing on that market wouldn't make sense.