The Perfect Hardware eBook Reader
I was reading Jon Noring's take on $50 ebook readers. First, over the last few months, nobody has been talking about $50 tablet computers as Mr. Noring seems to allude to, but rather $50 dedicated ebook readers have been mentioned. There is a big difference in there in functions, form and price. For instance, a tablet computer needs a hard drive, an ebook reader does not, nor does it need as big of a battery, OS etc. A dedicated ebook reader does not even need PDA functions. So all of that can bring the costs down. At some point you need economies of scale to kick in, which I think will happen if the Chinese government proceeds with it's plan to put an ebook reader in the hands of all school children in China and eliminate paper textbooks.
So what do I consider the perfect form factor for an ebook reader?
I do not think you can have just one. I think ebook readers need to come in several sizes and several screen types (given the current technology). So it would be a bit like car models. The main thing is that it would be simple to use and download ebooks to it - as easy as an iPod.
Size: I see three basic sizes of ebook readers being available: 1.) pocket sized, like a PDA (this might be the $50 device) the desired function here is portability; 2.) mid sized, about the same size as a trade paperback book with a screen the size of a mass market book page - much like the size and weight of a eBookwise 1150. This would be a very handy size for pleasure reading around the home; 3.) Large - with a screen about the size of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, this is a nice size for eMagazines and newspapers, double column formats and technical papers.
Ergonomics: For the mid-sized reader the ergonomics of the ebookWise 1150 seem really good. Slightly different arrangements might be needed for the other sizes.
Screens: It might be that you need a couple of different readers with different screens. This would probably amount to a choice of something like e-paper type screens which are high res grey scale but not backlit (good for reading outdoors and in well lighted rooms) and high res color screens backlit for reading in darker rooms and indoors.
Easy: The eBookwise 1150 is about the easiest to use reader yet available. But judging from the questions on the Fictionwise mailing list it is still confusing some people, although a lot of that confusion seems to be revolving around third party ebook library software for the PC and converting existing ebook collections into the Ebookwise format. The lesson here is that any dedicated reader has to be really-really easy to use. It has to be easy to both buy commercial ebooks, but also easy to import free public domain ebooks like Project Gutenberg, Blackmask and Manybooks.
Ebook Format: Open Reader is probably the best solution. I should not have to think about format or conversions. Period. I do think the large reader detailed above, should probably also be able to read PDF files. A lot of technical papers are published in PDF and it will not be going away soon.
What do you think? Leave a comment on what you think I left out. Remember we are designing for the masses here.
6 Comments:
I mostly agree with you. After all, when you carry a book the only benefit you get is the text. No email capabilities or spreadsheets or whatever. If you had a, let's say, 100 USD ebook with epaper like screen, memory card slot, usb client connection, you would get to carry a bunch of books and articles with you with no more inconvenience than you would by carrying a single paper book. Of course that more features would be nice. For instance, if it had a touchscreen and PDA-like write recognition, you could take notes on the texts and get some work done.
Well, it's always hard to settle on a very simple device, but I think I would buy one. It makes no sense to me to pay 600 or 800 euros for a PDA device with mobile communications capabilities.
ha ha!
10 years ago, jon noring was
insisting that "in 5 years,
we will have an inexpensive,
high-resolution e-book-machine."
"no way," i said. "before the
public gets anything like that,
the screen-manufacterers will
exploit the high-return arenas
-- medical technology imaging,
g.p.s. toys for rich people, etc.
we will _see_ these screens
used in _those_ applications,
and only many years after that
will they filter down to _us_.
until we see 'em _elsewhere_,
it'll be a long time before we
get them in an affordable way."
so i just laughed at jon noring.
but 5 years ago, jon noring was
still insisting that "in 5 years,
we will have an inexpensive,
high-resolution e-book-machine."
i laughed really hard, because
we were already supposed to
have one by then! and further,
i _still_ wasn't seeing them
_anywhere_, at _any_ price,
let alone an inexpensive one.
so i just laughed at jon noring.
now, according to what noring
said 5 years ago, we _should_
have 'em by now. we still don't.
so now jon noring is telling us
we should not expect one soon.
except now, we _do_ have some
real signs that we _will_ have
our high-res small-form-factor
screen within the next 5 years.
look around our world today, and
you see full-color touch-screen
monitors everywhere you turn.
they are used as cash-registers
in bars, and remote order-takers
in restaurants. in the drug-stores,
kodak picture-machines have 'em,
as do all other kinds of kiosks.
(i saw one the other day in a store
that was taking job applications!)
and have you seen a new mac g5?
all the computer guts have been
packed into the monitor itself.
"the display is the computer"
is the tagline apple is using.
it's just a matter of time before
all these screens are downsized
and we carry them in our hands.
but they _still_ won't be cheap.
face it, as i have said all along,
there's no way an e-book-machine
can ever be as cheap as a p.d.a.,
because it needs about everything
the p.d.a. needs, equipment-wise.
just look at today's high-end p.d.a.,
it's running hundreds of bucks.
and its screen _still_ is low-res.
it was sheer _stupidity_ to talk
of $50-$100 e-book-machines,
not one with a high-res screens.
all it did was give the end-users
totally unreasonable expectations.
so there's absolutely no reason
to carry a dumb e-book-machine
around with you, because it will
cost as much as a "smart" one,
namely, a full-fledged computer.
(which is what the "p.d.a." of
tomorrow will essentially be.)
and yes, it's probably gonna take
5 years for us to get to that point.
but we will get there. for sure.
so _now_ is the time that noring
could actually _make_good_ on
his "5 year" prediction, finally,
and now he is withdrawing it.
i am surprised that _anyone_
listens to jon noring any more;
his crystal ball has significant flaws.
and i'm still laughing at jon noring.
-bowerbird
p.s. brad, i see you recommend
openreader. where can i get it?
oh, right, it's vaporware!
I would like to see a highlight function, mainly for academic use, with perhaps the option to save and print the highlighted pieces (including page references).
Aussie Student
for more info on bowerbird and his vaporware, refer to http://www.gnutenberg.de/bowerbird/
hey, thanks for the info!
wee kee
www.active-domain.com
domain register
Whatever happened to the GoReader project?
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