4 ms·

> But MOST importantly the way the user interacts with the interface would re-create the ease of use rendered by our interaction with print media. This last par

by Nition 5y ago

> But MOST importantly the way the user interacts with the interface would re-create the ease of use rendered by our interaction with print media. This last part, about the user interface, is why I believe Apple is best positioned to tackle this problem. > In one year's time we'll see. 2010 should be the year paper learns of it's destiny, the year we reach a tipping point on our way towards bits from the momentum of atoms. This is of course a prescient prediction of the iPad. But what it also reminded me of is a device that had already been shown publicly at the time: The Microsoft Courier. Microsoft was working on a dual-screen tablet that was essentially a notebook in computer form, complete with custom OS.[1] In the end it never happened. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmIgNfp-MdI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmIgNfp-MdI

jhbadger 5y ago
But I think why this hasn't happened (although there are a few color e-ink devices available from Chinese companies) is that the B&W e-ink devices like the Kindle handle reading normal books just fine. The only cases where color would really be needed would be for comic books, art books, and to some extent scientific papers with color figures.
- bluescrn 5y ago
  Small monochrome e-readers are great for reading pure text, e.g fiction. But they’re quite hopeless for textbooks with lots of images/diagrams/tables and more complex layout. Zooming and scrolling is hopeless on an e-ink screen.
  - Tagbert 5y ago
    That's why we don't use ink devices for those kinds of documents. I have a range of tools that I use for various use cases. In depth reading fiction - Kindle. Casual browsing of large documents with complex layouts and images - iPad. Working on documents - laptop/desktop. I would almost never mix linear reading with those other kinds of documents so I don't need devices that handle both kinds of documents.
    - westurner 5y ago
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_tablet https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_tablet > The Adam is set to be the first Android device marketed to contain Pixel Qi's low-power, dual-mode display Was it that there wasn't a market for Pixel Qi dual-mode displays? IDK how well you can scroll a (monochrome) PDF textbook on a PineNote development unit yet, given that the eInk display driver didn't work yet last I heard. https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/high-end-e-ink-tablet-pinenote-announced-with-powerful-internals https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/high-end-e-i... Nobody reads the whole PDF on even a large phone in landscape mode. There's a new server-side liquid PDF reflowing solution that could help solve the fixed font sizes and margin issues on mobile devices. ePub is basically just HTML, by comparison. But certain walled gardens feel like it's necessary to convert epub to mobi, rather than just integrate one of a number of existing open source e-reader apps with support for multiple document, eBook, and textbook formats.
  - girvo 5y ago
    My 10" Boox Note 2 works surprisingly well for technical documentation, as a combination of its size, it's high resolution and its ability to set the refresh of the e-ink display to what you need. Want to pan around quickly? Set full-refresh lower, and it will let you pan around and zoom quickly (somewhat messily, of course) and then full refresh when you stop. It's quite remarkable. Expensive devices though.
  - dredmorbius 5y ago
    There are large e-ink devices. I've been reading this particular thread on a 13.3" Onyx device. (I switch to an emissive device to reply, in part to try reducing my distractions on the reader.) A chief reason I'd selected that size was to read highly-formatted textbooks and scans of old, tiny-font articles. Three-column magazine and journal layouts are almost always highly readable without zoom, even where scan quality is imperfect.
donio 5y ago
The post is predicting something with a "hybrid e-ink capable of color multimedia" and "melding multi-touch+Pixel Qi Screen". We didn't get that in 2010. We got a large iPhone.
- Nition 5y ago
  We're still waiting for a good colour e-ink device.
  - cyberpunk 5y ago
    Are we? I mean, sure, it would be a cool bit of tech but where does it fit? I go through phases with my kindle, but somehow even after obtaining one, I've ended up with even more hardcover books in my house than I had before and it's getting ridiculous (Seriously, there are stacks of books everywhere I can see at the moment, I have maybe 800+ hardbacks around the house...). I don't really use my Oasis.. A colour one wouldn't add to my reading experience really (I like old, heavy, 'foosty' books..) and no matter how I try, even reading entertainment fiction on a e-reader just isn't the same.. I am a fan of these devices though, don't get me wrong... Would it replace my iPad? No. Would it replace my kindle oasis? No. What's it for then?
    - catillac 5y ago
      I’d love my Remarkable or Oasis to be in color. I’ve used my Remarkable almost daily since I’ve received it and Oasis several times a week for years. Color on either or both would be great. Even in color, eink devices have largely never been portrayed as an ipad replacement given their largely different use cases. It’s sounding to me like you don’t like your devices in favor of either an ipad or paper book, and while that’s okay, it doesn’t mean there’s no market for a color device.
      - cyberpunk 5y ago
        I'm not saying there isn't; just that I don't see what it is though? What would you use it for?

by Nition 5y ago

jhbadger 5y ago

But I think why this hasn't happened (although there are a few color e-ink devices available from Chinese companies) is that the B&W e-ink devices like the Kindle handle reading normal books just fine. The only cases where color would really be needed would be for comic books, art books, and to some extent scientific papers with color figures.

bluescrn 5y ago
Small monochrome e-readers are great for reading pure text, e.g fiction. But they’re quite hopeless for textbooks with lots of images/diagrams/tables and more complex layout. Zooming and scrolling is hopeless on an e-ink screen.
- Tagbert 5y ago
  That's why we don't use ink devices for those kinds of documents. I have a range of tools that I use for various use cases. In depth reading fiction - Kindle. Casual browsing of large documents with complex layouts and images - iPad. Working on documents - laptop/desktop. I would almost never mix linear reading with those other kinds of documents so I don't need devices that handle both kinds of documents.
  - westurner 5y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_tablet https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_tablet > The Adam is set to be the first Android device marketed to contain Pixel Qi's low-power, dual-mode display Was it that there wasn't a market for Pixel Qi dual-mode displays? IDK how well you can scroll a (monochrome) PDF textbook on a PineNote development unit yet, given that the eInk display driver didn't work yet last I heard. https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/high-end-e-ink-tablet-pinenote-announced-with-powerful-internals https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/high-end-e-i... Nobody reads the whole PDF on even a large phone in landscape mode. There's a new server-side liquid PDF reflowing solution that could help solve the fixed font sizes and margin issues on mobile devices. ePub is basically just HTML, by comparison. But certain walled gardens feel like it's necessary to convert epub to mobi, rather than just integrate one of a number of existing open source e-reader apps with support for multiple document, eBook, and textbook formats.
- girvo 5y ago
  My 10" Boox Note 2 works surprisingly well for technical documentation, as a combination of its size, it's high resolution and its ability to set the refresh of the e-ink display to what you need. Want to pan around quickly? Set full-refresh lower, and it will let you pan around and zoom quickly (somewhat messily, of course) and then full refresh when you stop. It's quite remarkable. Expensive devices though.
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  There are large e-ink devices. I've been reading this particular thread on a 13.3" Onyx device. (I switch to an emissive device to reply, in part to try reducing my distractions on the reader.) A chief reason I'd selected that size was to read highly-formatted textbooks and scans of old, tiny-font articles. Three-column magazine and journal layouts are almost always highly readable without zoom, even where scan quality is imperfect.

donio 5y ago

The post is predicting something with a "hybrid e-ink capable of color multimedia" and "melding multi-touch+Pixel Qi Screen". We didn't get that in 2010. We got a large iPhone.

Nition 5y ago
We're still waiting for a good colour e-ink device.
- cyberpunk 5y ago
  Are we? I mean, sure, it would be a cool bit of tech but where does it fit? I go through phases with my kindle, but somehow even after obtaining one, I've ended up with even more hardcover books in my house than I had before and it's getting ridiculous (Seriously, there are stacks of books everywhere I can see at the moment, I have maybe 800+ hardbacks around the house...). I don't really use my Oasis.. A colour one wouldn't add to my reading experience really (I like old, heavy, 'foosty' books..) and no matter how I try, even reading entertainment fiction on a e-reader just isn't the same.. I am a fan of these devices though, don't get me wrong... Would it replace my iPad? No. Would it replace my kindle oasis? No. What's it for then?
  - catillac 5y ago
    I’d love my Remarkable or Oasis to be in color. I’ve used my Remarkable almost daily since I’ve received it and Oasis several times a week for years. Color on either or both would be great. Even in color, eink devices have largely never been portrayed as an ipad replacement given their largely different use cases. It’s sounding to me like you don’t like your devices in favor of either an ipad or paper book, and while that’s okay, it doesn’t mean there’s no market for a color device.
    - cyberpunk 5y ago
      I'm not saying there isn't; just that I don't see what it is though? What would you use it for?