Will this, finally, be the year when e-readers take off? I don’t think so — yet there are two interesting developments worth paying attention to.
First, I’m quite interested in the prototype e-reader about to be released by Silicon Valley start-up Plastic Logic. Not only does it have many of the features I’ve been longing for, on 6 December 2009, the U.K. Independent reported that Plastic Logic’s “Que” e-reader may help the struggling newspaper industry:
“The Que, an A4 sheet of plastic no heavier than a magazine, is powered by electronic circuitry using plastic as a base rather than traditional silicone. This makes for a much lighter, more robust product that is also easier to make than other e-readers…. The screen displays newspapers and magazines in the same format as on the [printed paper] page…. Many analysts believe the Que could benefit the struggling newspaper industry as it strives to find ways of charging for content.” [But the authoritative blog Media Bistro disagrees, saying e-readers will not save newspapers.]
This video shows a prototype of the Que, and this quick look is almost enough to make me excited. But one problem is already obvious:– Plastic Logic refuses to mention price and they’re aiming it at “business users,” which means the Que will probably be too expensive for ordinary mortals like me. However, they supposedly plan to mass-market the Que through Barnes and Noble stores, meaning that they may eventually be aiming for a more reasonable price.
Second, Sony just released its latest and best e-reader, the PRS 900 “Daily Edition.” Reviews of the PRS 900 are appearing on the Web, and it looks like the device has almost everything that I want in an e-reader: ability to read non-DRMed publications including public domain books in .epub format; a touch screen allowing handwritten annotations directly in/on the books and documents; and robust support for PDF files including annotation, functioning table of contents, page numbers for citation, and acceptable appearance of tables and graphics. The PRS 900 also allows direct subscriptions to online newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, something I would find attractive; and there is the possibility of “borrowing” epub-format books from your local library.
However, online video reviews of the PRD 900 show a grayish screen that really isn’t all that big, and a quick online search reveals an average street price of $399. Nor am I convinced that the PRS 900 has good enough graphics support for PDFs — the real test will come when professionals who read technical journals get their hands on it, and when they do I suspect they’ll find the page size/resolution will be too small for convenient reading.
I would dearly love to have an e-reader that would meet my requirements — display highly structured PDF documents or equivalent; allow hand-written notes; support multiple non-DRMed formats (.txt, .htm, .epub, .pdf, etc.). I’m sick of dealing with the physical presence of the hundreds of academic and professional books that I (think I) need to do my job. And yes, I would like to be willing to support newspapers through a paid subscription on a good e-reader. But thus far, the technology isn’t quite there yet; and the prices of e-readers I find acceptable are still a little too high.
Maybe next year. Or maybe I’ll just wait for Apple to finally come out with a tablet computer, and to hell with the e-reader.
I’m thinking hard though for this year Dan. Lindsey bought a kindle too. I’d be happy with something I could use to download old books from google books.
I use the Barnes and Nobles Desktop reader. I don’t really comprehend how permanent the books are but all were obtained for free so far. The Alcott’s are very interesting. The B&N Nook has the feature of letting you read anything in the store if you are in the store. They should be selling an awful lot of coffee that way. I read a lot of non-virtual books that way now. I hope they come up with a cost effective system soon (down under the price of a cheap laptop PC) and a way to convince me that my books will always be there.
My book shelf overfloweth, this could be a way for me to manage my book clutter if they’d make it reasonable, reliable and convenient. The bit about pulling 1984 back from Amazon has got me spooked.
Bill @ 1 — You say: “I’d be happy with something I could use to download old books from google books.”
That’s one of my primary motivations as well.
Joy @ 2 — You say: “The B&N Nook has the feature of letting you read anything in the store if you are in the store.”
That has the possibility of being addictive….
Dan, you write:
“I would dearly love to have an e-reader that would meet my requirements — display highly structured PDF documents or equivalent; allow hand-written notes; support multiple non-DRMed formats (.txt, .htm, .epub, .pdf, etc.). I’m sick of dealing with the physical presence of the hundreds of academic and professional books that I (think I) need to do my job.”
If an “e-reader” could allow me to turn paper pages, write on the pages I want with my favorite pencil, turn down corners (gasp, only occasionally), stick on post-it notes…then maybe. As for dealing with the physical presence of hundreds (ok, thousands) of academic and professional books? I like them. They are good company. And, good wall insulation. No need to see them go anywhere.
I’ll happily keep reading and acquiring books with paper pages. And then, maybe some day, I’ll get one of these: http://blog.laptop.org/2009/12/22/xo-3-roadmap/
Not an “e-reader” but I bet it could be…
..yup – I’d wait for Apple. They have this funny habit of transforming nascent industries…
Not long now for the Apple iSlate. Jan. 26? Or how about this possibility from Google? http://mashable.com/2010/01/02/google-tablet/
Jean — Hmm. I like that new XO laptop….
Jeremiah and Anna Belle — Rumors around the Apple tablet place its price up around USD1000. That’s a little more than I hope to spend — I want something that I don’t have to worry about quite so much.
But yes, I am watching Apple carefully on this one….
I still want to know (she says a bit huffily) why, beyond saving space and making it easy to tote around a bunch of “books,” these “e-readers” are so good? Aren’t you just falling prey to marketing hooha? I mean, really?
Jean @ 8 — Saving space is a big deal for me.
Having a library of public domain books from Project Gutenberg and Google Books without having to go online would also be useful: e.g., I’ve been searching for years for a complete edition of Addison and Steele’s Spectator, and Johnson’s Rambler. I cannot afford the used editions that I find online; I would love to download both these sets from Project Gutenberg, so I could read them without my laptop. (Remember, as an academic you can access to libraries that I cannot — so an e-reader probably looks far more attractive to me than to you.)