Comments on: I read the news today, ho hum

By: Squander Two

Squander Two — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:38:41 +0000

The existing ones are absolutely superb for documents, rather than books. Sony gave my father-in-law’s organisation a stack of free ones to try out, and they’re hooked. If they need to give some manager a briefing, they just stick the whole lot on an Ebook and hand it to them. Saves them lugging massive amounts of paperwork around, and obviously the cost of the reading material isn’t an issue ’cause they’re writing it themselves.

You need to check WordPress’s dictionary is OK. I’m a spanner.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:31:43 +0000

Sorry sir, blog thought you were a spammer.

I do think you’re right about ebooks, but I think they’ll probably become a niche – people who don’t buy a lot of books but love their gadgets, or people who travel a lot. I still much prefer old fashioned print.

By: Squander Two

Squander Two — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:05:50 +0000

I have to say, this dual-screen thing looks to me like a much nicer idea than a tablet.

I personally have no trouble at all reading on screens and can happily do it for hours. I know that that makes me odd, though. Especially since I’m a migraine sufferer.

I know we keep coming back to this again and again here, but… An ebook-reader needs to be waterproof, humidity-proof, shock-proof, light, and solar-powered, and have the world’s simplest interface. It also needs to be about the size of a paperback, including the thickness: it needs to be a bit chunky to hold on to nicely, not some bloody ultra-thin nonsense. Oh, and considering the up-front investment in the tech, the ebooks for it need to be very cheap, maybe a pound each. I’d love one. Can anyone even imagine such a thing ever appearing on the market?

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:16:31 +0000

I think we’re on the same page, Java Man. Why does typing that make me feel like I’m one of the characters in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure?

It’s not just the medium, either – by its very nature, reading on a connected device means you’re going to be interrupted by texts, emails, notifications of various forms. It’s a pain.

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:13:34 +0000

Without knowing any details about it whatsoever, who knows? I suspect that a 10-inch tablet would be better suited to ebook reading than a phone screen, but it’s still an LED display. E-ink is much better, but of course it doesn’t do video.

By: Java Man

Java Man — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:18:57 +0000

I agree wholeheartedly with your point about serendipity. I remember reading something a while ago about the danger of everything becoming MY computer, MY documents, MY bloody everything MY way. If we only get our information from carefully selected RSS feeds or Twatter nonsense it just narrows our reading matter to opinions we already agree with and topics we’re already interested in. Whatever happened to broadening the mind? Like you, I’m sure I read more widely in the treeware newspapers I occasionally still buy – a bit of business news, a bit of sport, a smattering of trivial showbiz or fashion gossip but I wouldn’t choose to read this stuff online. And what’s more, the adverts in the papers don’t flicker and flash and take over the page. It’s the end of society as we know it I tell you…

By: Andy Krouwel

Andy Krouwel — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:48:58 +0000

Depends if it’s a red tablet or a blue tablet…

By: Professor Batty

Professor Batty — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:46:17 +0000

Reading a paper uses a lot of peripheral vision, small screen=no periphery. Are you ready for an Apple tablet?