Rise and Fall of the eReader

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by cromag

I suspect there will always be a market for small (think mass market paperback sized) dedicated ereaders, especially if the price is low.

But the price won't remain low if the volume isn't there.

I am actually a little concerned that tablets will drive dedicated readers out of the market, because I don't think they are as good at it. I want the best reader not a multi-function compromise, but I don't think there are enough people who think like me to keep the price down. If a tablet is cheaper and almost as good, I'll probably be forced to go that way.

(I already have an iPad, and am considering a 3G Nexus 7, but I'd still want to have an extra tablet just for ebooks because I don't use my iPad in the same places I use my Kindle, and I don't want to have to carry it with me all the time.)

[hrosvit]

Originally Posted by cromag

I almost always prefer single-purpose devices. My cell phone is a cell phone, my camera is a camera, I play music on an MP3 player that's only an MP3 player, and I read on an ereader.

My wife has an Ipad and she does use it for reading, but most of the time it's for email and videos. She doesn't read as much as I do.

I suspect there will always be a market for small (think mass market paperback sized) dedicated ereaders, especially if the price is low.

I'm the opposite; I like to combine as many functions as possible into one device, as long as performance remains acceptable. I rarely read on my original Nook anymore, because I always have my iPad with me. I can do so many other things on it in addition to just reading. I like reading on the Nook better, but I'm not willing to carry both devices, especially when traveling.

I don't believe e-ink devices will disappear (what the hell will we read on in the sun?), but I think they will trim the extras and try to lower prices to the absolute minimum.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by hrosvit

I don't believe e-ink devices will disappear (what the hell will we read on in the sun?), but I think they will trim the extras and try to lower prices to the absolute minimum.

I think we're already seeing that with the Amazon Kindle range. Sound's been cut, memory's been halved, and prices slashed, and by all accounts Amazon are selling essentially at cost. The profit's in the content, not the reader.

[haydnfan]

I detest the lazy writing in the article. The author consistently conflates ereader and ebook. The ebook market is growing, the ereader market is declining. I wonder if the author himself understands the difference?

I think that tablets are fine for casual reading, but dedicated reading would eat away the battery pretty quickly. I think that the readers that buy and read 20-100 novels a year have either chosen by now to buy an ereader or never will. The rest of the populace have little need for a dedicated reader and a tablet would be a better fit. We're talking a niche crowd here. It was impressive how many people bought kindles, nooks and kobos but it was never going to last.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

We're talking a niche crowd here. It was impressive how many people bought kindles, nooks and kobos but it was never going to last.

I wouldn't been to sure about that. Amazon, for example, have just launched an eBook store in Brazil. That's a virtually untapped market of some 200 million people. There are enormous areas of the world where ebook readers are NOT currently commonplace.

[pdurrant]

I can see a time when there will be no distinction between ereaders and tablets: when the screen technology is very low-power, with reflective viewing and perfect frontlight, but also capable of video-rate refresh and vibrant colour.

I'd expect that to happen within the next twenty years. I don't expect power-hungry, fragile, back-lit LCDs to remain the dominant display technology.

Consider how swiftly CRT displays have disappeared, after being the dominant display technology for fifty years. LCDs will go the same way, but sooner.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I can see a time when there will be no distinction between ereaders and tablets: when the screen technology is very low-power, with reflective viewing and perfect frontlight, but also capable of video-rate refresh and vibrant colour.

I'd expect that to happen within the next twenty years. I don't expect power-hungry, fragile, back-lit LCDs to remain the dominant display technology.

Agreed, but I honestly don't expect it to take as long as 20 years. I suspect we'll see commercially-viable colour eInk with video-capable refresh rates on the market within 10 years, if not sooner.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Agreed, but I honestly don't expect it to take as long as 20 years. I suspect we'll see commercially-viable colour eInk with video-capable refresh rates on the market within 10 years, if not sooner.

I agree, but not with a colour range that will replace LCD.

[jbcohen]

Two words "Battery Life", my Fire would never make it through a typical reading day. t would probably make it through half.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Two words "Battery Life", my Fire would never make it through a typical reading day. t would probably make it through half.

I agree with this. I would hate to have a tablet and not be able to read on it because I couldn't get to an electrical source after 8 hours of use.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Two words "Battery Life", my Fire would never make it through a typical reading day. t would probably make it through half.

Get a Kobo Arc, once it hits your area. Yesterday it only got down to just under 40% during 5 or so hour reading session (switching between comics and a novel I'd borrowed through Overdrive; much prefer my Touch for reading text, however) - while I was streaming music through Sky.fm/DI.fm the entire time. I suppose I might have to charge it more if I watched video, but plugging it in when I go to bed is more than good enough. ['course, I habitually keep the screen down to like 20% brightness - and it's still very, very bright - which keeps the consumption down]

[Kralik]

I've heard a lot of good things about AMOLED screens: no backlight, black is really "off" so white text on black shouldn't cause eyestrain, etc. I'm going to try out an AMOLED tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7) and see if it works out as a viable replacement for my rooted Nook STR (=6" eink tablet). Battery life is supposed to be superb for its class, in the 12hr range.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Kralik

I've heard a lot of good things about AMOLED screens: no backlight, black is really "off" so white text on black shouldn't cause eyestrain, etc. I'm going to try out an AMOLED tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7) and see if it works out as a viable replacement for my rooted Nook STR (=6" eink tablet). Battery life is supposed to be superb for its class, in the 12hr range.

For indoor reading, it should be fine. But outdoors, it becomes a mirror.

[BeccaPrice]

Consider the lowly mp3 player. yes, we can all put our music (or audiobooks) on our smart phones, but the mp3 player has much better battery life, and so they've stuck around, although as a niche item. Even Apple still makes an iPod Nano, and you can buy not contemptible ones for $35-$50.

Similarly, I think there will always be a niche for b/w dedicated ebook readers. We may stop seeing much change in models year to year, as the technology (and expectations) mature, but I can't imagine them going away completely. I mostly read genre novels, no magazines or comics, and don't need color. You don't see regular pbooks printed in color (unless there are illustrations, and even then mostly they're b/w), even though we've had color printing for decades.

Between not needing color and the longer battery life, I think we'll see dedicated ereaders around for a goodly long time yet. (i hope)

[speakingtohe]

I have a very nice tablet which I haven't used in 4 months. I haven't used my eink ereader for perhaps 45 minutes

Perhaps the market has saturated but I doubt it as I seem to buy at least one a year and none of mine have broken. They just get a little better (and cheaper).

Still IMO the market will likely flatten out. The improvements that are likely to happen short term are viewed by many as slight embellishments, not necessities.

Smaller size, lighter, better resolution, better firmware, better battery life will prompt a person like me to buy a new one, but I was just as happy reading on my PRS-600 as I am on any of my newer ones,

Helen