Slashdot Mirror
Researchers Demo Flippable-Page E-book Reader
holy_calamity writes "E-readers are getting better but still limit users to keyboard-style interaction. Researchers at Berkeley and Maryland Universities have changed that with a reader that has two 'pages.' The two displays can be moved like a real book's pages to leaf through a document, or detached to compare and share virtual pages. If they are folded back to create a tablet with displays on each side, you can turn it over to flip pages. A video shows it in action." You may be reminded of the promised second-generation OLPC device, which looks somewhat similar.
Mimicking real paper takes away focus that could be spent in developing novel ways of using the available technology.
There are so many more interesting things you can try to develop.
alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls
Seems like the logical thing to do would be to simply allow multiple readers to cooperate in document display, so when you snap together (say) 4 readers, you get a 4-page view, split them apart you get 2 2-page views of different documents. You would use proximity sensors to define which pages were "together", and simple mechanical clips to hold them together when not laying flat. You could then hand one side of the page you were looking at to a co-worker, then pull a blank sheet out of your drawer to restore your own reading area, while he walks off with the other page.
This is becoming more like an extension of the Xerox PAD and TAB.
The documents mightn't be stored on the device, rather they would be accessed via the office wifi network.
whats up with the video? seemed more like a slide show to me.
Anyhow. I like the concept - I have long been advocating this kind of thing.
But why stop with a eReader? Make a standard tile module with a touch sensitive tactile screen and the skys the limit. four make a monitor, 64 make a tv, 128 make a wall screen. two make a laptop. one makes an eReader. 40 make a beowolf cluster for number crunching.
make options like a keyboard only to lower cost. or a processing one with extra ram and more grunt and no screen. maybe a half size one for a pda.
use a common API, common interface and I guarantee that lots of smart people will think of many amazing uses for them.
is a lack of foresight making people think small, or are people listening too much to busiess concerns?
I've been interested in eBooks for quite a while now, but the problems I have with all of them are not the small controls, or the lack of natural page flip options (though the idea here is rather cool).
My biggest problems with all current eBook readers is the very limited (and usually highly proprietary) formats that they support, and when they do support other formats the lack of efficiency in way they deal with it. For example the Sony eBook reader will read PDF's, but the further you go into a PDF the slower the page flips get. The same problem is not evident, of course!, when using the Sony default (and highly DRM'ed) format. Also the eInk technology is still rather slow in the page updates... Have not used a Kindle yet, so cannot comment on how it behaves or the efficiency of their alternate format supports.
So far the best reader I have found are the Fujitsu P1510/1610/1620 series of small form factor tablets. Using a standard OS on it, I can load any eBook reader software I want, and still be able to use it as a travelling computer when I need it. Of course the weight is much heavier then the "real" eBook readers, but at least I'm not restricted to their formats.
This guy can't stop talking about how people doing "research-like" work won't be please by a e-reader. They demonstrate that by showing this guy reading a double-column mini-letter size paper.
Pretty obvious, if you ask me. E-readers are handy, but not for reading tasks that very fast require navigation. Specially of double column pdf files (that would be the equivalent of what the guy was handling). For stuff like that a large LCD monitor on vertical stand does the job much better. Or simply print the dawn thing.
Their proposed solution is to have 2(!) small screens, which are even harder to flip pages than hitting a large round button like in most e-readers (mine is a el cheapo Hanlin v3)
You wanna a glimpse to the future of (affordable) e-books just look at these images: http://www.jinke.com.cn/Compagesql/embedpro/futurepro.asp
Its called a library.
Actually the best potential feature of a two-page reader is that the alternate screen could refresh while I'm reading the current one. eBook readers do a nasty all-black flicker before refresh.
Of course the whole point of an eBook reader is to have a nice form factor, which is really defeated by doubling the size and weight for a screen you'll only pay attention to half the time. I suspect the research will simply go into e-Ink displays with better refresh times.
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
That is a myth, based on confirmation bias.
Pornographers try EVERY media. So naturally it's on all existing and successful media, but it is also on every form of failed media.
Assuming it failed after entering the market.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Amazing research! With two screens, you can display two facing pages, or two different documents, and you can even rotate pages.
What amazing innovations will they think of next?
I was more interested in the ways in which it didn't emulate a physical book. The ability to turn it into the equivalent of a double-sided sheet of paper, or to split it apart to view separate documents. That's a bit more than past two-page readers, that only used the two "pages" for cosmetic purposes, can claim.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
This is like a car that you can whip to make it go faster.
-Dave
Am I the only person who prefers to read pdfs on a screen rather than a printed sheet of paper, let alone an e-reader?
For me, it's all about the size of displayed text. The larger the better. I've got good eyesight, but it's simply easier on the eyes to have text in a large font that I can read from a distance. I also like to be able to zoom into images (think academic papers, with complex plots that are often printed way to small to save space).
Now, I can see the advantage of having a mobile device. But while I'm at my desk, I'll take the display over a printed sheet any time.