What will e-readers be like 10 years from now?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Jeff2

I could go on, but this is the point: the future of e-readers (at least in my fantasies) lies not in merging them into tablets, but in making them look, feel, and behave like books.

I don't see the point. I don't think even people like my daughter, who won't use an eReader, would use it. Clicking a button or tapping a screen is second nature for me now. And going back to the front of a book that I've only read 1/3 of the way through to "start over" ... that would seem really weird. It would be like walking up a down escalator where I couldn't quite muster the energy to get all way to the top the first time, and so I'd let it take me to the bottom again for another attempt ... and another ...

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by jcsalomon

The folks buying $1000 iProducts are subsidizing the R&D for phone-related tech, ...

Except ... most of the technology in an iProduct comes from Samsung. And smartphones are turning into commodities rather than status symbols.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

As just one example, when people claim that LCD shines light into their eyes they are displaying a limitation of knowledge.

I don't care about the "why" of it. I just know that (for me) eReader's screens are more comfortable on my eyes for reading. That's all I really need to know.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't care about the "why" of it. I just know that (for me) eReader's screens are more comfortable on my eyes for reading. That's all I really need to know.

Ditto.

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

As just one example, when people claim that LCD shines light into their eyes they are displaying a limitation of knowledge. Light reflected from displays such as E Ink is diffused, all LCD tablet displays also have diffused displays so both emit diffused light, neither "shines" light. Such people also seem to be unaware of, or incapable of setting up a tablet's display for reading despite the better reading applications providing effectively infinite control of background and text color, often background textures as well, superior greyscale, brightness (usually by a simple swipe gesture) and provide contrast orders of magnitude superior to E Ink...

This seems more than a bit condescending. Of course I know how to customize my displays, brightness, various reading apps etc etc., and undoubtedly so do most of the people who read on dedicated e-readers. No matter which way I set something up, though, my tablet and my phone never deliver as good a reading experience as my Kindles. I don't doubt that it isn't so for you, but it is for me. People are different and their preferences are different.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Ditto.

This seems more than a bit condescending. Of course I know how to customize my displays, brightness, various reading apps etc etc., and undoubtedly so do most of the people who read on dedicated e-readers. No matter which way I set something up, though, my tablet and my phone never deliver as good a reading experience as my Kindles. I don't doubt that it isn't so for you, but it is for me. People are different and their preferences are different.

I also prefer reading on an ereader.
Fiction and non-fiction.

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Hey Barry, I know you are several years older than me so I want to ask when you were a kid did you ever think we would have instant knowledge like can you drive a car barefoot or be able to communicate instantly across the world in real time without paying 3 arms and 4 legs in long distance fees?

In the mid 1950s a trans Pacific call was in the price range of $20 for 3 minutes, the minimum charge, and the reception usually sucked. With inflation that is more like $200 for 3 minutes in today's inflated dollars. We were in the Philippines at the time. Received a call when my Grandmother died in California. The changes in international communications for individuals are astonishing since then. Back then telegrams were still a viable means of business and even personal relatively fast communication.

[Dr. Drib]

Criswell predicts:


I feel it will have a protective cover, so that the owner doesn't accidentally drop it, thus breaking the delicate substrate.

They'll be a host of fonts.

The ereader will be front-lit, so that one can read in the dark, something that books do not yet have. (True, an attachment can be snapped onto a book.)

It can be held with one hand or two hands. The choices are endless!

Some readers will have buttons and some will not, depending upon one's ACTUAL CHOICE!

You can wind it up in the morning and will last a whole month, like a Grandfather Clock.

It will attach, through minute holes in one's skull using electrical wires, so that it can actually read the book WITHOUT YOU OPENING YOUR MOUTH!

The cover will change color depending upon one's mood.

It will sort 500,001 titles in 2 seconds, for those with anal tendencies *

It can be folded up and stuck in what I call a "minuscule nose case" to be anchored inside one's left or right nostril.

There will be ONE type of universal file: the AZW3Pub.

When reading PDF files, the ebook reader's steroids will automatically GROW THE READER! And, when finished, the ebook reader will automatically SHRINK, similar to touching ice to a specific body part!

--------

The future is a wonderful place to be. Frankly, I wouldn't care to be anywhere else.






* Not that there's anything wrong with having those tendencies.

[lkmiller]

About the only thing I'd like to see in a dedicated ereader is a color screen. While I read mostly text-only books, it would still be nice to have color cover art. I definitely don't want something more like a paper book -- I don't even like book-style covers for that very reason! Give me a sleeve that I can get completely out of my way.

Multipurpose tablets have already started to disappear. You go from large phone to convertible laptop. And most of those are no longer detachable -- their keyboards fold back.

[Deskisamess]

I don't want an e-reader that "looks, feels, and behaves like books." Books take two hands to hold open. I don't need to see both pages at the same time, as I can only read one at a time. The ease of holding a lightweight Kindle, Kobo, etc. improves the reading experience for me.

As far as the science of backlighting...I am totally capable of set the lighting on my iPhone 7+ or Mini many different ways, as well as the text and background colors. I've tried different apps that offer more color choices and other options as well. But nothing makes them as pleasant to read on in a totally dark bedroom as my Oasis or Kobo.

White text on a black background with the light turned all the way down is still blindingly bright to my eyes. It's like little shards of light coming at me, and I have about a 10 minute tolerance, regardless of settings.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

About the only thing I'd like to see in a dedicated ereader is a color screen. While I read mostly text-only books, it would still be nice to have color cover art. I definitely don't want something more like a paper book -- I don't even like book-style covers for that very reason! Give me a sleeve that I can get completely out of my way.

Multipurpose tablets have already started to disappear. You go from large phone to convertible laptop. And most of those are no longer detachable -- their keyboards fold back.

I think the existing color E Ink was ahead of its time. The existing E Ink did not have enough dpi's to do a good job but I think the next generation of E Ink beyond 300 dpi will be enough to revisit the idea of color. Front lights may also help with the color intensity.

Dale

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

About the only thing I'd like to see in a dedicated ereader is a color screen. While I read mostly text-only books, it would still be nice to have color cover art. I definitely don't want something more like a paper book -- I don't even like book-style covers for that very reason! Give me a sleeve that I can get completely out of my way.

Multipurpose tablets have already started to disappear. You go from large phone to convertible laptop. And most of those are no longer detachable -- their keyboards fold back.

Hmmm, where did you see this? Tablets are in no danger of disappearing.
The Chromebooks and Surface Pros are hybrids. I haven't seen an Apple or a Samsung with the keyboard attached. All the big box stores still sell tablets.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Hmmm, where did you see this? Tablets are in no danger of disappearing.
The Chromebooks and Surface Pros are hybrids. I haven't seen an Apple or a Samsung with the keyboard attached. All the big box stores still sell tablets.

They're still around, but they're well in decline and it certainly looks as though the long-term prognosis isn't great. The past few years have seen a marked decline in tablet sales:

Overall Tablet Market Declined By As Much As 10 Percent In 2015

Total tablet sales for the year 2016 were down 15.6 percent

The tablet market just keeps on falling: the global tablet market shipped 36.2 million units in the first quarter of 2017, a decline of 8.5% year-over-year


Most industry observers expect the decline to continue as more capable smartphones eat into the smaller-device market and laptop/hybrid devices eat into the larger tablet market:

The Tablet Is Dead: Usage Declines As Teenagers Stick With Smartphones

Tablet market 'spiraling decline' continues, Apple remains No. 1, Amazon moves up

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

About the only thing I'd like to see in a dedicated ereader is a color screen. While I read mostly text-only books, it would still be nice to have color cover art. I definitely don't want something more like a paper book -- I don't even like book-style covers for that very reason! Give me a sleeve that I can get completely out of my way.

Multipurpose tablets have already started to disappear. You go from large phone to convertible laptop. And most of those are no longer detachable -- their keyboards fold back.

Tablets are in great abundance here in Peru! In fact, they're all over the place. But then, so are cell phones. (My brother-in-law has about 6 cell phones, each one for a specific business. It's quite normal for many Peruvians to have more than one; in fact, my wife has two: one for home use and one for business.)

Concerning tablets, it may be different in my country (USA) - about tablets disappearing, that is - but I haven't been home since Christmas of 2016.

I think I read somewhere that purchases of larger-sized cell phones have declined. I may be wrong, however.

[Abtacha]

Of course tablet sales are declining, everyone has one already .

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Abtacha

Of course tablet sales are declining, everyone has one already .

One?! What kind of Luddite has just one tablet?