[kb7uen Gene]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/technology/e-book-price-war-has-yet-to-arrive.html

 

[kb7uen Gene]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57558710-94/rip-e-book-readers-rise-of-tablets-drives-e-reader-drop/

 

[kb7uen Gene]

http://gizmodo.com/5970460/

 

[kb7uen Gene]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20121223,0,1032270.column

 

[kb7uen Gene]

Did I miss something?, or is there something vitally important missing from this article? Do any of you see Kindleboards mentioned in it anywhere? If not, then this writer didn't do all the necessary research before submitting this story.

New Kindle? Here's How to Get Started
http://mashable.com/2012/12/25/amazon-kindle-getting-started-guide/

 

[kb7uen Gene]

The ereader doomsday people seem to be pretty busy these days. Here is yet another article regarding the shift in sales from dedicated ereaders to all purpose tablets for reading ebooks. Even if sales drop off for dedicated ereaders, I don't think they will ever completely go away until there is a shift in display technology in the consumer electronics market place which can act as both reflective display in brightly illuminated settings and can act as a standard illuminated color display in settings where backlighting is required to see it. A great example of such a display comes from a company called Pixel Qi, and these displays are currently installed and used in the One Laptop Per Child, OLPC, rugged laptops that are being distributed to school age children around the world. I don't think we'll see this display technology in the mainstream consumer electronics market place until Pixel Qi can get the color reproduction to be bright, vivid, and accurate, in reflective mode in the same way it is now reproduced and displayed with the backlight on. The consumer just isn't going to accept anything less and the product manufacturers aren't going to take the risk of losing sales if the consumer doesn't except the new display technology and holds off on making purchases of new products using it until they can get the same get the same level of performance they are used to seeing now on standard LCD backlit displays. - Gene

E-book Reading Jumps; Print Book Reading Declines | Pew Internet Libraries (mobile)

http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/12/27/e-book-reading-jumps-print-book-reading-declines/

 

[Saul Tanpepper]

I'm not a techno-geek, so I don't need the latest gizmo, so a lot of this doesn't really impact me very much. As an author, I have only reason to cheer, because the move is toward digital, regardless of the device being used for content consumption. My books contain the same words and stories regardless of they're read on a smart phone, tablet or dedicated ereader.

 

[kb7uen Gene]

I just hope front illuminated color Eink display technology shows up sooner than later.  But as I forgot to mention in my previous post, if the Eink display designers can't manage to get the refresh rate fast enough to play smooth video and bring the resolution way up beyond where it is now, then it won't matter whether it is color or not because it won't survive in the consumer electronics market place. - Gene

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I just hope front illuminated color Eink display technology shows up sooner than later. But as I forgot to mention in my previous post, if the Eink display designers can't manage to get the refresh rate fast enough to play smooth video and bring the resolution way up beyond where it is now, then it won't matter whether it is color or not because it won't survive in the consumer electronics market place. - Gene

I disagree. At least -- about eInk in general. I think there will always be a market for dedicated readers and eInk is a much more efficient technology -- which is not to say there might not eventually be some improvement to it or some new technology that works similarly -- not requiring backlighting.

There's also a minimal need for color for those that just want to read.

OTOH, tablets will continue to be popular with those who want one device that can entertain them a variety of ways.

 

[Hadou]

I just hope front illuminated color Eink display technology shows up sooner than later. But as I forgot to mention in my previous post, if the Eink display designers can't manage to get the refresh rate fast enough to play smooth video and bring the resolution way up beyond where it is now, then it won't matter whether it is color or not because it won't survive in the consumer electronics market place. - Gene

As Ann said - I think there'll always be a dedicated eInk reader market. If the eInk manufacturers/big-thinker-types can manage a great color eInk display with something like the FLEx light film...then I'd be ecstatic.

Tablets are nice and all, but I can't stand to sit and read on them for long periods of time.

 

[kb7uen Gene]

I hope the dedicated ereader doesn't go away either, it does what it does very well and really doesn't need that much improvement beyond where it is now with the exception of adding color for magazines and other publications, such as textbooks, that benefit from embedded graphics and pictures to reinforce the learning process.  I've been following the Texture Beagle, which is the $13 ereader out of Germany that hasn't been released yet.  And what I am hoping will happen when it is released, Is that it will set the stage for ereaders to do the same exact thing the four function calculator did from the 1970s to the present.  The four function calculator came to market as a very expensive item in the 1970s and ended up as a very inexpensive item you can pick up in a checkout line at any store for $1.99 today without losing any of its original functionality.  I want to see ereaders become as generic an item as the four function calculator has in our everyday lives.

 

[PhillyGuy]

The four function calculator came to market as a very expensive item in the 1970s and ended up as a very inexpensive item you can pick up in a checkout line at any store for $1.99 today without losing any of its original functionality.

I'm seeing a nice selection of simple calculators at eBay for US99 cents, including shipping.

If eInk readers do get that low, maybe it will be cheaper to make a locked down device containing a single book than to print it on paper. And if anyone wants to patent this terrible idea, go ahead. It might deter any publisher from adopting it, at least for the next 20 years.

 

[Saul Tanpepper]

I'm seeing a nice selection of simple calculators at eBay for US99 cents, including shipping.

If eInk readers do get that low, maybe it will be cheaper to make a locked down device containing a single book than to print it on paper. And if anyone wants to patent this terrible idea, go ahead. It might deter any publisher from adopting it, at least for the next 20 years.

You might want to reconsider. Just think of the library applications. As it stands, I could go and borrow an audiobook package on a dedicated player with earphones. I don't because my son lost one and it cost us over $60. Instead of loaning out dead tree books, they could loan out the books on an ereader and never have to worry about bindings coming loose, covers being torn off and dog-earing.

 

[HappyGuy]

Or maybe, book-on-a-chip. Where you are given a reader with your eLibraryCard and you just sign out a credit card sized ebook to put into the reader. Or even better, you get the reader, find your book, go to the checkout stand and get your book downloaded.

 

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

I disagree. At least -- about eInk in general. I think there will always be a market for dedicated readers and eInk is a much more efficient technology -- which is not to say there might not eventually be some improvement to it or some new technology that works similarly -- not requiring backlighting.

There's also a minimal need for color for those that just want to read.

OTOH, tablets will continue to be popular with those who want one device that can entertain them a variety of ways.

I agree. I love both, for different reasons.

Altho if they could make a full-featured tablet as light weight as an e-reader, I might think otherwise....I really do find the reading experience on my Fire HD with the sepia setting to be a high quality and 'easy on the eyes' experience.

But prices on e-readers will only come down and as they are rather fragile (like many other devices...but the low price can give them more of an advantage) and very light wt, I think they will have an appeal for many people and many purposes, including commercial/hospitality/education.