Ereaders – Where To From Here?
From examining the blogs and news sites I recognise that this is currently a theme for conversation around the traps so I had this idea that I would throw in my thoughts. To do this it would seem that there are a number of dot points that we need to consider.
People enjoy the way Books Feel
Quite correct…and the concept of holding (quite tightly in the case of the iPad which would appear to be very difficult to keep hold of) a boring plastic gadget with which to read is hard for some to get their heads around. I agree that, for some ‘curling up in front of the fire with a good ereader’ would appear less romantic than the original sobriquet.
I am forced to own up here to being a bit older than many of the readers of this article, so I can recall a day when books just had to be in hard cover and there was a suspicion that “paper-backs” actually contained dissimilar content to the hard cover version. Times do change and perchance the “tactile brigade” will find, when they sooner or later give in and try it, that the Ereader experience is actually quite pleasant.
From a straightforward persepective
Ereaders (well the better ones at least) utilise black and white E-ink technology–which is a sort of electronic paper. E-ink screens are similar to printed pages, but because they’re not backlit, you are not ableto see them in a darkened room.
Plastic Logic is planning to release a colour screen for its ProReader called the QUE, sometime in 2012. Eink color is not a fresh concept but up till today the refresh rates have been reasonably slow. I understand that the power drain on their new system may be pretty high so obviously there are a few concerns still to overcome.
What is plain from this is that growth is surely ongoing.
The Almighty Dollar
In a recent blog someone proposed that advertising might become quite valuable in ebooks. I can envisage that a publisher could draw up a deal with a sponsor and you might notice ads of differing sizes throughout your ebook, as you read. Now I realize that we all hate TV and radio ads; but would we truly object if it meant new-release Ebooks were free?
Is that all there is?
appropriately, this is a wonderful puzzle for Ereader manufacturers. I am not positive that the eink vs backlit argument can be won by the Ereader companies unless ereaders become more flexible with regard to net access and apps. The iPad has its own book store and has far more to offer at the moment.
With absolute certainty Ereader manufacturers need to work out how to meld Eink (colour?) technology with more capacity (android?) so that they come closer to giving an option to slates and notebooks.
The NotionInk Adam seems to be working in this area but it has slipped off the radar in recent weeks.
From a GREEN position, I believe it’s great that Ereaders would reduce paper use…and therefore a smaller amount of trees are cut down. Of course somebody from the “I have to find an environmental objection to progress’ lobby will probably uncover that old discarded ereaders give off carbon. (OK…I did say I was a bit older…and with age DOES come cynicism).
In conclusion I believe there is still a solid future for the Ereader, but the companies that create them need to get moving before the big boys like Apple take it all away.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.