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Here is Economist's take on it (albeit more technology-oriented) : http://www.economist.com/search/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15048695 http://www.economist.com/s

Here is Economist's take on it (albeit more technology-oriented) : http://www.economist.com/search/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15048695 http://www.economist.com/search/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15...

DrJokepu 17y ago
Personally I didn't like the Economist article as I believe it focuses on the wrong issues. For example, there's absolutely no need for an e-book reader to play video. It's just not required. No one wants to watch videos on e-book readers. This is a not existing problem.
- BerislavLopac 17y ago
  Yup. Just like no one wants to take pictures, or answer email, using their mobile phone. We should stop thinking about products as being this or that -- rather, we should see them as a collection of features.
- dagw 17y ago
  I disagree. Given a choice between two e-book readers I'll choose the one that makes it easier for me to read what I want to read. Given a choice between two e-book readers that both solve the above problem, I'll definitely choose the one that also plays video. Being able to quickly switch from reading a book to watching a movie without having to change device seems like a feature at least I'd want. Also imagine books and newspapers with embedded video clips to help illustrate their point. Most news websites contain at least some video or motion graphics, why not extend that to the ebook reader?
  - DrJokepu 17y ago
    Call me unimaginative but I think this would be feature creep. First, e-book readers are very very far from solving the problem of being as much fun to read as dead tree books so I would concentrate on that first. Second, books don't have videos in them. They have mostly words and a couple of illustrations. I don't see this changing in the short term. I think videos in books would be way too distracting. Books are very different from newspapers. I can read e-mail on my computer and on my phone. I can read the news on my computer or on my phone. A device that is sold as an e-book reader but isn't as fun to read as dead tree books but it can do the same things as my phone and my notebook has no appeal for me.
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
    - dagw 17y ago
      I guess it depends a lot on what you want an ebook reader for. I want one that can handle all my dead tree reading. For me a good 50% of my day to day reading is newspapers, magazines and journal articles. If a device can't handle that and only does novels them I'm flat out not interested. That being said I agree with you that I'm never going to buy a device that isn't first and foremost really good at reading books, no matter what other features it may have. Once they have that cracked then if they can also add video (without making at worse ebook reader) then I'll be even more happy.
  - JulianMorrison 17y ago
    Every embedded device I've used that was an X (and also a Y!!) has been a really weak, nearly unusable Y... and worse, an inconvenient and buggy X.
    - dagw 17y ago
      The iPhone seems to be a usable phone,mp3 player and web browser. Perhaps not necessarily class leading in any one of those areas (although a lot of people will argue that it is), but certainly usable and convenient.
      - DrJokepu 17y ago
        They had cut quite a few corners when they first released the iPhone. It certainly wasn't suffering from feature creep. It didn't support 2G, video recording/playback, it didn't have a GPS etc. They have gradually added features after the initial release.
        dagw 17y ago
        A phone that could also play mp3s AND browse the web AND play videos AND display photos AND... many would call that feature creep when it comes to a phone. Certainly more so than a device that can display text AND play videos.
- angstrom 17y ago
  I agree on this point, but not because no one wants to. People talk about the "perfect device" and so you end up in feature hell and a device that does everything, but nothing well. It makes marketing easy. "Device X does 11 things, device Y only does 9, obviously you should buy device X." The minimal route produces the better interface, but people hate feeling like they've spent more for less. Either way, I'm interested in where the market will go. Make no guesses about it. Apple is making an eReader. A tablet that is both a notebook and an eReader would SUCK. The tech isn't there yet. What Apple wants is a device that ties back into the Apple store and captures another media segment, not a revolutionized notebook that does everything. That said, I have had a chance to use the nook and admit it is both comfortable and functional. Given some software revs it may usurp the kindle as the contender to beat.
  - berntb 17y ago
    My suggestion for a killer feature is to not have to wait 0.5 seconds to switch a page. I'm waiting for Pixel QI. >>Apple is making an eReader. A tablet that is both a notebook and an eReader would SUCK. The perfect "device" would be a larger iPod touch, with a screen from Pixel Qi. (There is already a book viewing app from Amazon, I think.) That is the wrong answer, IMHO. The ideal is Pixel Qi screens on my Mac or Linux notebook (preferably both). Perfect for browsing code, notes, books, etc. And with all my stuff on it. (Reader applications for Amazon etc should come real fast.)
    - bbot 17y ago
      You're a whole five hours behind the times. http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/18/notion-ink-smartpad-comes-with-tegra-aims-to-be-first-pixel-qi/ http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/18/notion-ink-smartpad-comes... Pixel Qi screen, Tegra CPU, Android OS. No physical keyboard, though, which is a shame.

Here is Economist's take on it (albeit more technology-oriented) : http://www.economist.com/search/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15048695 http://www.economist.com/search/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15...

DrJokepu 17y ago

Personally I didn't like the Economist article as I believe it focuses on the wrong issues. For example, there's absolutely no need for an e-book reader to play video. It's just not required. No one wants to watch videos on e-book readers. This is a not existing problem.

BerislavLopac 17y ago
Yup. Just like no one wants to take pictures, or answer email, using their mobile phone. We should stop thinking about products as being this or that -- rather, we should see them as a collection of features.
dagw 17y ago
I disagree. Given a choice between two e-book readers I'll choose the one that makes it easier for me to read what I want to read. Given a choice between two e-book readers that both solve the above problem, I'll definitely choose the one that also plays video. Being able to quickly switch from reading a book to watching a movie without having to change device seems like a feature at least I'd want. Also imagine books and newspapers with embedded video clips to help illustrate their point. Most news websites contain at least some video or motion graphics, why not extend that to the ebook reader?
- DrJokepu 17y ago
  Call me unimaginative but I think this would be feature creep. First, e-book readers are very very far from solving the problem of being as much fun to read as dead tree books so I would concentrate on that first. Second, books don't have videos in them. They have mostly words and a couple of illustrations. I don't see this changing in the short term. I think videos in books would be way too distracting. Books are very different from newspapers. I can read e-mail on my computer and on my phone. I can read the news on my computer or on my phone. A device that is sold as an e-book reader but isn't as fun to read as dead tree books but it can do the same things as my phone and my notebook has no appeal for me.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - dagw 17y ago
    I guess it depends a lot on what you want an ebook reader for. I want one that can handle all my dead tree reading. For me a good 50% of my day to day reading is newspapers, magazines and journal articles. If a device can't handle that and only does novels them I'm flat out not interested. That being said I agree with you that I'm never going to buy a device that isn't first and foremost really good at reading books, no matter what other features it may have. Once they have that cracked then if they can also add video (without making at worse ebook reader) then I'll be even more happy.
- JulianMorrison 17y ago
  Every embedded device I've used that was an X (and also a Y!!) has been a really weak, nearly unusable Y... and worse, an inconvenient and buggy X.
  - dagw 17y ago
    The iPhone seems to be a usable phone,mp3 player and web browser. Perhaps not necessarily class leading in any one of those areas (although a lot of people will argue that it is), but certainly usable and convenient.
    - DrJokepu 17y ago
      They had cut quite a few corners when they first released the iPhone. It certainly wasn't suffering from feature creep. It didn't support 2G, video recording/playback, it didn't have a GPS etc. They have gradually added features after the initial release.
      - dagw 17y ago
        A phone that could also play mp3s AND browse the web AND play videos AND display photos AND... many would call that feature creep when it comes to a phone. Certainly more so than a device that can display text AND play videos.
angstrom 17y ago
I agree on this point, but not because no one wants to. People talk about the "perfect device" and so you end up in feature hell and a device that does everything, but nothing well. It makes marketing easy. "Device X does 11 things, device Y only does 9, obviously you should buy device X." The minimal route produces the better interface, but people hate feeling like they've spent more for less. Either way, I'm interested in where the market will go. Make no guesses about it. Apple is making an eReader. A tablet that is both a notebook and an eReader would SUCK. The tech isn't there yet. What Apple wants is a device that ties back into the Apple store and captures another media segment, not a revolutionized notebook that does everything. That said, I have had a chance to use the nook and admit it is both comfortable and functional. Given some software revs it may usurp the kindle as the contender to beat.
- berntb 17y ago
  My suggestion for a killer feature is to not have to wait 0.5 seconds to switch a page. I'm waiting for Pixel QI. >>Apple is making an eReader. A tablet that is both a notebook and an eReader would SUCK. The perfect "device" would be a larger iPod touch, with a screen from Pixel Qi. (There is already a book viewing app from Amazon, I think.) That is the wrong answer, IMHO. The ideal is Pixel Qi screens on my Mac or Linux notebook (preferably both). Perfect for browsing code, notes, books, etc. And with all my stuff on it. (Reader applications for Amazon etc should come real fast.)
  - bbot 17y ago
    You're a whole five hours behind the times. http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/18/notion-ink-smartpad-comes-with-tegra-aims-to-be-first-pixel-qi/ http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/18/notion-ink-smartpad-comes... Pixel Qi screen, Tegra CPU, Android OS. No physical keyboard, though, which is a shame.