Kindle Forum banner

Color eReader from Amazon in Fall 2016?

2 reading
3.2K views 27 replies 13 participants last post by  quadtronix  
#1 ·
#2 ·
I think there were whisperings earlier in the year but no details at all . . . . something about a different type of screen -- not exactly eInk but with the same conservative battery usage.

I'm not particularly interested in color . . . . but I know many are . . . it will be interesting to see what happens.
 
#5 ·
John Hopper said:
This has rumoured many times before and the source is not known for its reliability in such predictions of upcoming products. It would be great, but at this moment I still don't believe it.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Yes, I wasn't familiar with this source and was a bit skeptical. Usually with alerts for new products, the same info will be posted on a number of sites at the same time. I just Googled again, and I'm still not finding any other references.
 
#6 ·
I used to think this source is reliable. Until the Oasis came out. They kept saying a Voyage 2 was releasing in November 2015.  Anyone could mix two high end devices but Then they had supposed screen shots of Amazon employees saying that they can confirm that a Voyage 2 is releasing in November 2015. Clearly that was not just untrue but I would think the screen shots would be too.

 
#7 ·
Michael Koslowski, the owner of goodereader.com, is notoriously unreliable. He's been described as a pirate and a con man for years. Last year he used Indegogo to raise money for an ereader that never happened and he never returned the money. Here's a link to an artlicle about him as a pirate:

http://the-digital-reader.com/2011/03/06/goodereader-com-still-pirates-but-now-also-liars/

If you believe the things goodereader.com has to say then I've got a nice beachfront property in Arizona I'd like to sell you, except you probably already have one. :)

Barry
 
#9 ·
I watch a lot of old TV shows on DVD and on Youtube that are in black and white; old favorites like Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel and Eastside, Westside and I love watching these things but every now and then a neighbor will drop in when I'm watching and ask me why I'm wasting my time with black and white when there are so many color shows.  I try to avoid strangling them and usually I'm successful.

Don't you realize that color is better?  Bigger is better!  More expensive is beter!  If your ereader can do color it's a better ereader.  Why not have multicolored text!  All the A's can be red and the B's can be blue and think how that will improve the reading experience!

I also have the radio versions of Gunsmoke.  I very well remember when I was a kid listening to those every week when they came on the radio, long before they were on TV.  Of course radio was in color.  The pictures in my head were very vivid.  For those who are age handicapped, the original Matt Dillon was William Conrad.  Actually in the pilot episode his name was Mark Dillon but they changed that.

There is excellent TV in black and white just as there are excellent books in black and white. Color is NOT needed.  People want color because they're accustomed to wanting color so it'll sell so we'll get color.

By the way, for those of you who don't remember the TV show Eastide, Westside, it's available on Youtube.  It was a very successful show in the early days of TV since it got a really big audience due to the quality of the stories and how well they were done by a couple of unknown actors who later turned out to be George C Scott and Cicily Tyson.  The audience was huge.  The critics loved it. But the stories were controversial and sponsors were afraid of it so it went off the air.  In lists of the best things ever on TV this is usually near the top.  And there was no color.

Barry
 
#12 ·
In a lot of cases the only difference in a comic book and a graphic novel is the length but even then, that's an important difference. Think of the difference in a short story and a novel.  A graphic novel has time to more fully develop the story.

In a lot of cases though, there's a difference in the quality of the story as well.  Comics tend to be geared more toward kids.  A lot of graphic novels are as well but a lot are much more grownup.

I'm not a fan of either although I've always had some interest in them.  I learned to read from comics.  I'd figure out as much from the pictures as I could and ask for help with the words and by the time I entered the first grade I'd already read the Tarzan novels and most of the Hardy Boys novel as well as other books.  When I was in college working as a taxi driver there was extra money to be made answring requests for Spanish speaking drivers so I did the same thing; I bought Spanish language comic books, which are really more like graphic novels with stories similar to the sort of thing you'd see on TV on Lifetime and Hallmark.  With them and a dictionary I was able to learn enough Spanish to handle those calls.

Since then I've read a few comics every year and a couple of graphic novels.  Most suffer from the same sort of imaturity but there are a few that do rise above that.  Art Spiegleman's "Maus", a graphic novel, won a Pulitzer.  And even some comics are good.  If anyone wants a really amazing literary treat take a look at Will Eisner's "The Spirit".  These are beautiful stories; silly sometimes, yes, but never without real humanity and maturity.  In fact they're the reason newspapers have comic pages.

Back to the topic, though, the Kindle is too small to read comics comfortably.  I'm sure it can be done by those with good vision but it's far more comfortable on a larger screen.  I did try reading a grapic novel on a Kindle and about 20 pages into it I moved it to a tablet.  And even then I wasn't happy till I got a full HD tablet.

After reading those Spanish comic novels I've always wished I could find something like that in English.  I can manage the Spanish if I have a dictionary but it's more work than fun.  And I haven't used my Spanish for probably 20 or 30 years so I'm not sure I could even do it now. ut that is a medium with real promise.  I'd like more of it if it's makers would take it seriously.

Barry


 
#14 ·
ShinyTop said:
So graphic novel readers want this. Okay, I am senior. But can somebody explain the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book, other than the length?
Not much different . . . . you remember 'classic comics illustrated' ? I used to love 'em as a kid -- whenever we went on summer vacation, we would dig out my dad's old issues when we stayed at his old house. Graphic novels are, as far as I can tell, much like that. But, again, I'm not one who reads them now so there could be nuance I'm missing.
 
#15 ·
I also used to like Classics Illustrated and I do still read one now and then. They're not a lot like graphic novels though.  They're more like Readers Digest Condensed illustrated books.  The stories tend to be shallow becuase they're so severly reduced.

Graphic novels are really more like full length highly detailed books, although most of them are fairly juvenile stories.  There are some that are worth taking seriously.

The sad thing about comics is that they works so well to illustrate action and they make it really easy and effective to exaggerate it so that's usually the focus.  But they really can do a lot more than that.  It's just that most don't.

Barry
 
#16 ·
I think it comes down to - there are many readers who wouldn't have use for color.
And there are many who would. Because color is useful any time there's a lot of images.

So, if you're only thinking of wanting a kindle for reading novels, you'd not want a color ereader. There's no reason for adding color. But, novels aren't the only type of books. Graphic novels are noted as one other alternative - color would be great for something like that. I have a bunch of ebooks of graphic novels I've never read because I just don't want to read them on an LCD. A variety of nonfiction would benefit - images with multiple colors rather than only black and white, would be great. Things could be shown in ways that are much more understandable when you can show additional information.


Is color better for everything? No. But color is better for some things. And black and white is better for others. It doesn't make sense to completely ignore the fact that color is ever useful just because there are times it isn't.

Would I get a color kindle? I'm not sure. But I can see many uses, because eink is so much friendlier than LCDs and fast refreshing screens aren't needed.
 
#17 ·
ShinyTop said:
So graphic novel readers want this. Okay, I am senior. But can somebody explain the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book, other than the length?
Graphic novels go for 50 to 100 percent more retail....(snark)
 
#18 ·
As far as color ereaders....there are some "book" rather than graphic novel uses where illustrations are important and color is useful or even essential. I use various nature field guides out in the woods, and in the past I'd expressed a desire for a color ereader to use for that sort of thing. But my iPhone mostly fills that need now, so I have less desire. I'm sure there are other users who would like this as well. But large-screen phones and tablets have become cheap enough that I think it isn't as great a desire as it used to be.
 
#19 ·
The Hooded Claw said:
As far as color ereaders....there are some "book" rather than graphic novel uses where illustrations are important and color is useful or even essential. I use various nature field guides out in the woods, and in the past I'd expressed a desire for a color ereader to use for that sort of thing. But my iPhone mostly fills that need now, so I have less desire. I'm sure there are other users who would like this as well. But large-screen phones and tablets have become cheap enough that I think it isn't as great a desire as it used to be.
Oh, good point! Flower or bird guides would be useless in B&W . . . . so then the question becomes: can the resolution on something like an eInk Color screen come close enough to current color screen technology to be useful. I expect Betsy will comment at some point, but I sort of feel like birders want high resolution in their photos and would be willing to give up a bit of battery life to get that.
 
#21 ·
Yes I been wanting a color ereader for a while now. Some manga have color covers for beginning of a chapter. Would like to see them in color. I also read graphic novels and comics. A color ereader would be perfect for Manga and graphic novels since they are around the same size as a Kindle. Comics however might not work as well because comics are bigger in size. Unless they come out with like a 8 inch reader.
 
#22 ·
DD said:
My thoughts exactly.
I am not a "colour fanatic" in the manner of the people described here but I would welcome a colour e-ink reader as I read a fair amount of non-fiction with colour pictures; and I would like to see colour covers as I always use cover view. If it never happens, I will not be heart broken and it will not put me off e-ink Kindles, of which I am a great fan. But for me it would be an added bonus, if the technology and price are right.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
#23 ·
The Oasis is such a good size for one handed reading and in bed that I am skeptical that a 8 inch reader would be so.  That said, I have 7" and 9" tablets I can use the few time I might need color for a book.
 
#24 ·
John Hopper said:
I am not a "colour fanatic" in the manner of the people described here but I would welcome a colour e-ink reader as I read a fair amount of non-fiction with colour pictures; and I would like to see colour covers as I always use cover view. If it never happens, I will not be heart broken and it will not put me off e-ink Kindles, of which I am a great fan. But for me it would be an added bonus, if the technology and price are right.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Yes, After reading the comments here, I can understand the need for color for certain reading materials and it would be nice to see the covers in color. I guess I was reacting to the attitude way back in 2008-2009 that criticized the new Kindle solely because it wasn't in color.
 
#25 ·
I must admit that I wouldn't mind seeing covers on my kindle in the colors they were born in . . . as they're shown here in my reading bar, for example ::) . . . but I'm not sure I'd want to pay more for the privilege. And if the technology makes the B&W less crisp/contrasty, I think I'd not be in favor.
 
#26 ·
Ann in Arlington said:
I must admit that I wouldn't mind seeing covers on my kindle in the colors they were born in . . . as they're shown here in my reading bar, for example ::) . . . but I'm not sure I'd want to pay more for the privilege. And if the technology makes the B&W less crisp/contrasty, I think I'd not be in favor.
I agree, Ann, the actual reading experience would have to be the same or better. I wouldn't want to sacrifice any of that for color.