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First Folding-Screen e-Book Reader
MJArrison writes "Yahoo is carrying a Reuters story about a laptop that isn't much more than a foldable LCD screen. It's very small screen 6.7"x5" appears to be a strange black on green monochrome, so it better be cheap. It's made by Samsung and will be launched in Korea first." It's a start; I can't wait for them to integrate an IBM 701cs style camber for both screen and keyboard. T. adds: Rather than a general-purpose laptop, it looks like this is being pushed as an specialized device for reading e-texts.
for something that would appear to be quite pricey, surely you wouldn't be buying this before ebooks became even a _little_ bit more mainstream. Even then, wouldn't a software ebook reader suffice? Personally I think ebooks detract from everything that's good about reading a book. (err, novel that is)
Hmm - could this screen use Light Emiting Plastic technology? I read somewhere some time ago (memory... failing...) that light emiting plastics had been developed, but only in Green so far (which could explain the choice of colour). The advantage was that they would be much cheaper to produce than LCD displays, as you dont get a ridiculous failure rate in the manufacturing process.
<fnord>OBEY</fnord>
I like the idea, but the screen looks awful, I can't imagine it's better to read black letters on green background. :)
Maybe it's again time to check the ISO 9241 book regarding standards for ergonomic design of workstations, etc
From all these years of creating computers, we should have learned a thing or two and I can't image that black on green is it.
It is so important to the sucess of a product like that(and the whole concept) that reading a book doesn't put more of a strain on you eyes than a normal book. Because otherwise I'd stick to normal books no matter how many virtual books I can carry in my luggage.
Now let's get back to the good old yellow text on a blue background.
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I'm glad to see that digital consumer electronics are finally starting to take off again. A few years ago, the only market-safe products were game consoles, but now we have cellphones, PDA's, DVR's, and now e-book readers. Think about how nice it would be not to have to lug a shitload of textbooks around. I'm looking forward to the day when these kinds of devices are ubiquitous, and people are trading e-books as easily as mp3's. It's time for information to be free.
When they come up with Electronic Ink on Power Paper, sing me up.
I agree with the other posters that I do not see this taking off as a pure e-book - after all none of the other e-book systems have really made it into the mainstream. But if you coupled in a grafiti-style system, this kind of thing could easily replace laptops for on-the-go professionals who do not need the full power of a laptop, but do want more than a Palm offers. Attach this thing to a wireless modem and you can surf the web with considerably more screen real-estate than a Palm or PocketPC, but without the bulk of a laptop.
I have an old Norand tablet PC and say what you will about their useability for some things. For surfing the Net on the couch, they are EXCELLENT!
Point taken, though. I could see, say, going on a business trip to install some equipment, and taking 100+ manuals and such...that would definitely r0ck.
Carousel is a lie!
The only place these things exist are in the wild fantasies of book publishers, and maybe in the heads of the RIAA if they have sound that can be hijacked. They're just a vehicle to get strict content controls on published media.
The only thing I reference electronically is API references and other programming documentation, and then only if it's occassional, otherwise I'll get a paper book and/or print the damn thing. I can scribble on paper. Paper never runs out of batteries. Paper is easily replaced - hard to beat a 600dpi printer and 500 sheets of paper for $5. Paper is easily readable in crummy light. I can fold paper up into bits and take it with me.
These devices date back to the early 90's if not before then. They've never taken off, because it's damn near impossible to compete with paper. Contrary to popular belief, paper is even environmentally friendly - anyone who thinks that these gadgets are hasn't been informed about the nastiness of semiconductor manufacturing, which makes a pulp mill look pleasant. A single tree - or maybe two or three, if you use a lot - will provide a lifetime supply of paper. Burn it when you're done and plant another tree. The futility of trucking back old paper is the subject for another rant.
E-texts make sense if you distribute the PDFs and then have them printed on demand from there - A lot of the references I use are available on PDF, and I'll print just the sections I need (and scribble all over them), and I can truck the PDF's around with me on my notebook just in case I need them. That's not the model that these guys are looking for.. and pdf's aren't going to cut it for most novels, I want something I can hold in my hand and put on my bookshelf.
"The next generation will use these.. blah blah", is a load of hooey too. I'd rather my kids use plain old crayons and newsprint spools to scribble all over and break than one of these. Even in schools, I just can't see pouring over a monitor trying to learn something complicated - the interface just doesn't match my paws.
Instead of wasting money on crappy e-text screens, how about peopel work on organic LEDs or other technologies that can let me afford dual 24" or 30" wide-aspect monitors for my desktop.
..don't panic
Don't knock ebooks on the palm, with current eBook software (I like WordSmith and TealDoc) reading books is nice. I've got all the features that you mention, plus I've got an organizer, for a lower cost than your typical eBook hardware. As far as scrolling is concerned, autoscroll is very easy on the eyes. Also, in defense of color, when the device is in color, you start to get options like ClearTypeTM or FineTypeTM (sub-pixel font rendering) which makes the book much easier on the eyes.
I agree. About the only use for ebooks that I can see is not reading "books", but magazines and newspapers. Books we may keep forever, but most of us try to get rid of newpapers and magazines ASAP. Seems like an obvious application for ebooks, particularly if it was easy to save out the few articles that you care about. But for some reason (maybe no $$$ in it?) I never see this come up when people talk about ebooks.