What is this, Cowanmodo? It seems every story is speculation about what Cowan may or may not be working on for the future. I know you have a lot of Cowan fan-boys to appease, and I'm sure that Lam is on Cowan's payroll with free access to any unreleased Cowan products in exchange for plugging any leaks before they happen, but this is ridiculous. Just once I want to go to my favorite gadget site and read some real tech news. What is Kevin Rose wearing? Where does Walt Mossberg eat lunch? What is Coleco up to? These are questions I want answered. #tablets
Has a very nice "Stargate" feel to it. BTW, if there is anyone who watches/watched that series, did the Atlantis crew have laptops/tablets that velcroed to their uniforms?
@GitEmSteveDave_Right: Yes they did, Rodney always had his laptop velcroed to his vest whenever he went out on mission, and even in the last episode when he figured out how to create a wormhole drive for atlantis to reach earth instantly he velcroed that sucker back on to his vest and ran to the main room to activate it.
BTW, Stargate Universe looks good so far you should give that a try as well. #delllatitudext2xfr
GitEmSteveDave_Right: 1 Wrong: ∞ promoted this comment
Nuke Dukem: The following is guaranteed BS: was starred
Nuke Dukem: The following is guaranteed BS: was unstarred
@Nuke Dukem: The following is guaranteed BS:: I download the episodes each week to catch up as I'm usually busy on Friday. I still have to watch the last episode of Atlantis. #delllatitudext2xfr
iPod Touch, so a universal tablet. I'd love to play with an e-ink device, but from a practical standpoint, they lose so badly to a general-purpose device with an adequate battery.
All things being equal, a device that does more things is generally better, but things are never equal; this is the myth of convergence. A dedicated device will generally do things better than something that tries to be everything to everyone, which is why I choose to have an ebook reader for reading books and periodicals (which I do about 2-3 hours every day), a computer for working, and TV for watching shows and movies. Sure, one of these unicorn tablets may be able to do all three of those functions, but it's not going to be replacing any of those devices for me.
Even a mythical tablet PC doesn't rival a real-life dedicated ebook reader for the combination of weight, size, price, battery life, screen quality, and ease of use. Eventually dedicated readers will have better color screens and the ability to do more things, and we may very well see the fusion of these devices, but for right now and for at least the next 5 years, I don't see the technology of tablets trumping that of dedicated ebook reading devices as they continue to evolve and progress as well.
@Purple Dave: Ewww... man, I didn't see that one coming (seriously) but I think you've just assassinated the debate.
"I can pay $500 for this tablet so I can read this Danielle Steele ....book.... or I can buy the.... Danielle Steele book for $4.95... my tiny brain hurt.... must eat chocolate"
@saltypepper:
Portable readers or some reasonable equivalent have the advantage for regular travelers who want to have a huge selection available at any time, but I buy enough paperbacks that I almost always have at least one or two unread books around the house, and if I don't there are plenty of books that I enjoy rereading. I don't travel long distances much, so mostly I just read at home, where my entire library is available to me.
Anyways, the other issue is pricing. Legally, unless a work has passed into the public domain, only the author can release it to the digital market. All it takes, however, is for one unscrupulous fan to post it, and suddenly people think it's a legit free copy (for books, such things _do_ happen, so it's actually an understandable mistake, as compared to video games and movies). What this means, however, is that in most cases, each "book" that you download should have a price associated with it, even if it's less than you'd pay for a paperback.
Until tablets get a lot better, I'll still have a reader for reading books. I don't see them getting good enough in the near future for me to ditch my reader. I might get one for web surfing and such but there isn't compelling tech out of the prototype phase yet for me to settle on a single device to do it all.
We haven't seen even a physical prototype of either of those so this poll seems a little disingenuous.
E-ink reader for pure book replication.
-Portable -Basic -Durable -Simple
The more people say they want to read on tablet computers, the further and further we get from a genuine electronic reader. Something small and flexible like that screen shot. No wifi. No browsing. Just plug into your computer and download. 60 bucks for an endlessly reusable sheet of paper. Maybe someone can create an 80 dollar colour version. Maybe it's expandable. If you do a lot of reference work and you need a keyboard, or a stylus and touchpad, then you buy a 20 dollar peripheral that plugs in to the screen. But get the price low and ebooks will find a market. The Kindle and the Sony readers are actually TOO polished, and TOO complicated. There is too much happening with them to be widely popular. If you're trying to replace paperback books, make something that can really replace paperback books - don't fuck around with high end gadgetry. Paperbacks aren't high end to begin with.
@Pope John Peeps II: I totally agree. I think they're fundamentally two different market segments that just happened to be lumped together for now because of the price point. Over time, e-ink will find it's market if they can get below the magical $99 price point. While tablet serve a higher price point and market.
I don't quite understand the E-Ink craze. This is probably due to my lack of experience with E-Ink, but I find a regular LED or OLED screen adequately comfortable, even during long hours of extensive usage.
@myfriendtheZebra: that "extensive usage" is the reason for the interest on E-Ink tech. Extensive on a LED or OLED is a few hours. Extensive on E-Ink is a few dozen hours.
@myfriendtheZebra: Well thats the other point, you aren't looking at a screen, you're looking at a page.
The basic idea and tech behind e-ink is completely different than a "screen". Its ink on a page that changes when a charge is passed through it. You're not staring a screen you're staring at a page where the type changes. The eye strain you get from staring at a backlit LCD isn't there since its not lit, again, its just ink on a page.
Current applications aren't that great, but the tech is amazing.
@Nathan Obbards: I think its more akin to asking someone in 1893 if they wanted a car or a really nice horse. Of course you're going to pick the horse, the car is a pipe dream.
This device is what evolutionary biologists call a "transitional form", i.e. it is on it's way to becoming something else, something more evolved. It's a good start though. Paper books are evil, and they smell.
11/01/09
11/01/09
10/27/09
And yes, I ask because I am envious of McKay.
10/27/09
10/27/09
BTW, Stargate Universe looks good so far you should give that a try as well. #delllatitudext2xfr
10/27/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
If I want to surf the net or do more computery type things then the tablet would make sense.
However if I want to read a book I don't want any of those distractions. I just want to read a book and get into the story.
I have a Kindle 2. I only turn on the wireless to synch new books and I don't use any other function than just paging through a book.
It's the only way to get any kind of comparative feel to dead trees for me.
10/13/09
10/13/09
Even a mythical tablet PC doesn't rival a real-life dedicated ebook reader for the combination of weight, size, price, battery life, screen quality, and ease of use. Eventually dedicated readers will have better color screens and the ability to do more things, and we may very well see the fusion of these devices, but for right now and for at least the next 5 years, I don't see the technology of tablets trumping that of dedicated ebook reading devices as they continue to evolve and progress as well.
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
"I can pay $500 for this tablet so I can read this Danielle Steele ....book.... or I can buy the.... Danielle Steele book for $4.95... my tiny brain hurt.... must eat chocolate"
10/13/09
Portable readers or some reasonable equivalent have the advantage for regular travelers who want to have a huge selection available at any time, but I buy enough paperbacks that I almost always have at least one or two unread books around the house, and if I don't there are plenty of books that I enjoy rereading. I don't travel long distances much, so mostly I just read at home, where my entire library is available to me.
Anyways, the other issue is pricing. Legally, unless a work has passed into the public domain, only the author can release it to the digital market. All it takes, however, is for one unscrupulous fan to post it, and suddenly people think it's a legit free copy (for books, such things _do_ happen, so it's actually an understandable mistake, as compared to video games and movies). What this means, however, is that in most cases, each "book" that you download should have a price associated with it, even if it's less than you'd pay for a paperback.
10/13/09
We haven't seen even a physical prototype of either of those so this poll seems a little disingenuous.
10/12/09
-Portable -Basic -Durable -Simple
The more people say they want to read on tablet computers, the further and further we get from a genuine electronic reader. Something small and flexible like that screen shot. No wifi. No browsing. Just plug into your computer and download. 60 bucks for an endlessly reusable sheet of paper. Maybe someone can create an 80 dollar colour version. Maybe it's expandable. If you do a lot of reference work and you need a keyboard, or a stylus and touchpad, then you buy a 20 dollar peripheral that plugs in to the screen. But get the price low and ebooks will find a market. The Kindle and the Sony readers are actually TOO polished, and TOO complicated. There is too much happening with them to be widely popular. If you're trying to replace paperback books, make something that can really replace paperback books - don't fuck around with high end gadgetry. Paperbacks aren't high end to begin with.
10/13/09
Why trying to compare 2 very different products?
I imagine a very simple reader like you describe, with dimensions compatible with a tablet.
Want to travel light? Download from your tablet or your home computer and just bring the sheet.
Want a bit more? Bring the tablet with you, "wrapped" in the reader.
One could even imagine refreshing the content of this e-ink reader by plugging it in the cellphone.
10/13/09
10/12/09
That said, I want a tablet that does it all. ALL.
10/12/09
10/13/09
or is that your point?
10/13/09
The basic idea and tech behind e-ink is completely different than a "screen". Its ink on a page that changes when a charge is passed through it. You're not staring a screen you're staring at a page where the type changes. The eye strain you get from staring at a backlit LCD isn't there since its not lit, again, its just ink on a page.
Current applications aren't that great, but the tech is amazing.
10/13/09
@ghmlco: I don't know why you beg to differ from me, I didn't say anything about contrast or legibility. You must be disagreeing with someone else.
10/12/09
10/12/09
10/12/09
10/13/09
10/06/09