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E-ink made the Kindle. Tablets are exciting, but reading a novel on a backlit screen is no fun, and if it were, we'd read on our cell phones, because they're ea

E-ink made the Kindle. Tablets are exciting, but reading a novel on a backlit screen is no fun, and if it were, we'd read on our cell phones, because they're easier to carry around. This is disappointing. The Kindle 2 (the model I had) did one thing, and one thing phenomenally well. I don't want my kindle to be a Swiss army knife.

starwed 15y ago
The article does say that: >Amazon has been working on a multi-touch screen/e-ink hybrid tablet device. Presumably it's just much, much easier to develop the backlit tablet than one using e-ink. The technology will be there eventually, but it might take a while... :(
- mikecane 15y ago
  It could mean either a Pixel Qi or Mirasol screen.
wvenable 15y ago
Amazon is more than just books or at least they want to be. E-ink is great for books. But if you want to sell music, movies, and games then you need something like this.
kyleslattery 15y ago
I would be surprised if Amazon ditches their existing Kindle. I'm sure this will just be an addition to the product lineup, rather than a replacement.
- mikecane 15y ago
  Bezos on Charlie Rose: -They want a purpose-built device where no tradeoffs have been made, where every single design decision as you’re walking down the process has been made to optimize for reading. -The number one thing that people are doing on their iPad right now if you look at the rankings is playing a game called “Angry Birds” where you throw birds at pigs and the pigs blow up. The number one thing that people are doing on their Kindle right now is reading Stieg Larsson.
moultano 15y ago
>but reading a novel on a backlit screen is no fun, and if it were, we'd read on our cell phones, because they're easier to carry around. Speak for yourself! I do this and love it. I find that the faster page flipping more than makes up for the slightly less readable text. The thing that I think most phone/tablet makers get wrong at the start is not putting it in "night mode" by default. White text on a black background on a phone screen is so much more pleasant (at least for me) that it wouldn't surprise me if bad defaults are a large part of people's aversion to it.
- roadnottaken 15y ago
  It's impossible to read a non-e-ink screen in bright sunlight. I love my iPad, but I'm considering buying a Kindle just so I can read at the beach at my next vacation.
  - scotu 15y ago
    It's also not healthy for your eyes to stare at a lamp... we already do it long hours in front of a pc. Better not to do so also for reading books...
- superuser2 15y ago
  I do most of my reading before bed. Looking at a backlit screen within a few hours of attempting sleep makes it take longer to fall asleep and probably also lowers the quality of sleep. Source: http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/05/19/backlit-readers-could-inhibit-sleep/ http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/05/19/backlit-readers-co...

starwed 15y ago

The article does say that: >Amazon has been working on a multi-touch screen/e-ink hybrid tablet device. Presumably it's just much, much easier to develop the backlit tablet than one using e-ink. The technology will be there eventually, but it might take a while... :(

mikecane 15y ago
It could mean either a Pixel Qi or Mirasol screen.

wvenable 15y ago

Amazon is more than just books or at least they want to be. E-ink is great for books. But if you want to sell music, movies, and games then you need something like this.

kyleslattery 15y ago

I would be surprised if Amazon ditches their existing Kindle. I'm sure this will just be an addition to the product lineup, rather than a replacement.

mikecane 15y ago
Bezos on Charlie Rose: -They want a purpose-built device where no tradeoffs have been made, where every single design decision as you’re walking down the process has been made to optimize for reading. -The number one thing that people are doing on their iPad right now if you look at the rankings is playing a game called “Angry Birds” where you throw birds at pigs and the pigs blow up. The number one thing that people are doing on their Kindle right now is reading Stieg Larsson.

moultano 15y ago

>but reading a novel on a backlit screen is no fun, and if it were, we'd read on our cell phones, because they're easier to carry around. Speak for yourself! I do this and love it. I find that the faster page flipping more than makes up for the slightly less readable text. The thing that I think most phone/tablet makers get wrong at the start is not putting it in "night mode" by default. White text on a black background on a phone screen is so much more pleasant (at least for me) that it wouldn't surprise me if bad defaults are a large part of people's aversion to it.

roadnottaken 15y ago
It's impossible to read a non-e-ink screen in bright sunlight. I love my iPad, but I'm considering buying a Kindle just so I can read at the beach at my next vacation.
- scotu 15y ago
  It's also not healthy for your eyes to stare at a lamp... we already do it long hours in front of a pc. Better not to do so also for reading books...
superuser2 15y ago
I do most of my reading before bed. Looking at a backlit screen within a few hours of attempting sleep makes it take longer to fall asleep and probably also lowers the quality of sleep. Source: http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/05/19/backlit-readers-could-inhibit-sleep/ http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/05/19/backlit-readers-co...