From checking the blogs and news sites I acknowledge that this is currently a theme for conversation around the traps so I considered that I would throw in my thoughts. To do this it would seem to be that there are a number of dot points that we need to discuss.
People enjoy handling real paper
This true…and the concept of holding (quite firmly in the case of the iPad which would seem to be exceedingly hard to keep hold of) a boring plastic gadget with which to read is tricky for some to get their heads around. I agree that, for some ‘curling up in front of the fire with a good ereader’ would appear less romantic than the original epithet.
I have to own up here to being a bit older than most of the readers of this article, so I can recall a time when books HAD TO BE in hard cover and there was a belief that “paper-backs” actually contained changed content to the hard cover version. Times do change and maybe the “tactile brigade” will see, when they ultimately succumb and try it, that the Ereader experience is in reality quite gratifying.
From a straightforward persepective
Ereaders (well the better ones at least) employ monochrome E-ink technology–which is a type of electronic paper. E-ink screens resemble printed pages, but because they’re not backlit, you cannot see them in a darkened room.
Plastic Logic is planning to issue a colour screen for its ProReader called the QUE, sometime in 2012. Eink color is not a new notion but up till today the refresh rates have been somewhat slow. I understand that the power drain on their new system may be pretty high so apparently there are a number of problems still to overcome.
The Advertising Dollar
In a recent blog I read that advertising may become quite valuable in ebooks. I can imagine that a publisher could draw up a deal with a sponsor and you would discover ads of varying sizes appearing throughout your ebook, as you read. Now I acknowledge that we all detest TV and radio ads; but would we truly object if it meant new-release Ebooks were free?
Does it do Other Stuff?
appropriately, here is a great question for Ereader manufacturers. I am not confident that the eink vs backlit argument can be won by the Ereader people unless ereaders become more usable with regard to net access and apps. The iPad has its own book store and has far more to offer at the moment.
Certainly Ereader manufacturers need to work out how to mix Eink (colour?) technology with more capability (android?) so that they come closer to giving an option to slates and notebooks.
The NotionInk Adam seems to be working in this area but it has fallen off the radar in recent days.
From a GREEN position, I believe it’s great that Ereaders would mean less paper use…and therefore a smaller amount of trees are cut down. Of course somebody from the “I have to find an environmental objection to progress’ lobby will probably notice that old discarded ereaders give off carbon. (OK…I did say I was a bit older…and with age DOES come cynicism).
In conclusion I believe there is still a solid future for the Ereader, but the companies that manufacture them need to get moving ere the big boys like Apple take it all away.
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