News from CES on e-ink!

[fjtorres]

The time to dethrone Windows was *before* NT was deployed.
Once NT took hold and MS migrated the DOS developers to NT the customers followed suit.

The barrier to adoption for *existing* desktop customers became disproportionate to the benefits LINUX might offer a specific customer. At that point it became a cycle: most developers need a big installed base to profit from an application and desktop users need a broad applications catalog to support their platform.

The Tyranny of the Installed Base is so strong new Windows releases spend tbe bulk of their life cycle competing with older versions and Microsoft is forced to support deprecated APIs such as 25year old Win32 and face resistance to newer software development models.

And it's not just Microsoft: Macintosh power users have been know to hang with dated hardware for 3-5 years rather than switch. And then there's things like Y2K and Y2K's 2020 echo that arise from application inertia.

The same applies to other platforms, like databases, browsers, phones, social media, home wiring...

Getting people to give up "good enough" for "better" isn't at all easy and merits in a vacuum aren't enough to move markets. Timing matters.

That is why LCD has outlasted CRT, Plasma, SED, and OLED, and will still be the dominant display tech at least another decade.

And why "better" reflective displays get nowhere.The market is small to start with and any alternative needs to be significantly better at things customers use the tech for and so far none of the challengers have cleared the bar on image quality, manufacturing cost, and power consumption combined.

[leebase]

Well said. The whole system needed to be evaluated. It didn’t matter if Linux was better if all the software you wanted to run were windows apps. People buy computers for the software they run, not the operating system.

As this topic relates to color eInk....it’s not enough for the technology to come into existence. Not now anyway. It’s everything else you need to piece together to have a working ecosystem that is as compelling if not more compelling than what already exists.

The reason iPads rule in schools over Android tablets? It’s the software and ecosystem. Google simply has failed to foster a viable software market for their TABLET platform (Android on the phone is fine).

But wait...aren’t Chromebooks kicking ipad hiney in education? Yes they are. Why? Because of the web ecosystem that already existed. All the school education systems had already been built as web apps long before Chromebooks came along. That and a laptop form factor is better suited for writing than a slate. THEN the fact that Chromebooks can be less expensive becomes a winning attribute.

The iPad runs web apps as well...but the slate form factor isn’t optimal for productivity and adding keyboard covers raises the already higher price of the iPad solution.

Color reflective technologies are just way too late to the party and they won’t offer enough compelling advantages since there really isn’t a eye health issue to worry about, and very few people actually have a problem working with a laptop, Chromebook or iPad

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

One of the nicest things about linux is all the choices provided by the different variations.

That's a big issue. It's not a benefit.

Which Calibre versions are delivered by microsoft and apple?

None. We get Calibre direct from Kovid's site. So we get a correctly working version as opposed to a botched package and/or and old version.

[ps67]

@JSWolf: Yes, calibre from distributions can be obsolete (sometimes broken) but it is not a problem also in Linux to get the last version from Kovid's site.

@leebase: If the technology exist and somebody offers it You can choose it also if the majority of people don't. And You can install Linux on almost each PC You may have. But colour Eink tablet (but even reader) until now is simply a dream, nobody sell it, it is still under development. When it will come I could use it.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ps67

@JSWolf: Yes, calibre from distributions can be obsolete (sometimes broken) but it is not a problem also in Linux to get the last version from Kovid's site.

And then you have the fun of locating the prerequisites that your distribution did not include though the calibre download page does lists them for when things break. Then we have several distributions that now package calibre with Python 3 which breaks most of the plugins.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by ps67

@JSWolf: Yes, calibre from distributions can be obsolete (sometimes broken) but it is not a problem also in Linux to get the last version from Kovid's site.

@leebase: If the technology exist and somebody offers it You can choose it also if the majority of people don't. And You can install Linux on almost each PC You may have. But colour Eink tablet (but even reader) until now is simply a dream, nobody sell it, it is still under development. When it will come I could use it.

Millions of people happily use Linux on the Desktop. It’s just that “The Year of Linux On the Desktop” never happened even though it’s “imminent arrival” was proclaimed over and over for more than a decade.

Kind of like color on an eInk type of device

[binaryhermit]

And for what it's worth, color ePaper display tech did make it to market in at least one device, the Pebble Time smartwatch had one, but it wasn't terribly impressive, honestly, and probably isn't terribly suitable for an eReader.

[ottdmk]

Originally Posted by DNSB

And then you have the fun of locating the prerequisites that your distribution did not include though the calibre download page does lists them for when things break. Then we have several distributions that now package calibre with Python 3 which breaks most of the plugins.

This is one of the things I really like about FreeBSD. Most software is updated independently of the base system as a software port. Thanks to the ports system (and the many, many volunteers which maintain it) I can build all my software from scratch. Dependency hell never happens.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

One of the nicest things about linux is all the choices provided by the different variations.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That's a big issue. It's not a benefit.

It has been a big benefit to me at work and at home for over 20 years.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

That is why LCD has outlasted CRT, Plasma, SED, and OLED, and will still be the dominant display tech at least another decade.

No. LCD outlasted those other techs because it is brighter, and doesn't suffer from IR (image retention), ABL (autobrightness limiter) or DSE (dirty screen effect). They look better in the store and people want bright and colorful, not videophile concerns about deep blacks and accurate color.