Have you seen the Sony Reader yet? I just saw one on display at a Border's Books and I was impressed.
First off, I want to go on record saying that I hate reading things on a computer monitor. Computer screens give me a lot of eye-strain and thus I always prefer a physical book or paper.
The reason for this is that computer monitors are grossly inferior to the printed word. When comparing media, one mainly looks at the resolution (dots per inch) and the clarity of the fonts themselves.
It turns out that computer screens are extremely low dpi (think 75 vs 1200 for a home laser printer). LCD monitors are better than the old CRT displays but both are still sorely lacking. On top of that, the fonts included in the Windows operating system are lousy. I have complained before about the differences between Macs and Windows and the font technology built into Macs is far superior which makes reading the same webpages on a Mac easier on the eyes. Even so, the fonts only get you so far.
The printed word still has orders of magnitude more information (dpi again) and that makes it easier for our eyes to read. It also means you can fit a lot more information on a page so it is easier to read and you get to read more.
Which is to say that an electronic book as easy to read as a physical book has been an engineering dream for many years. Scientists have struggled to find a display technology that could come close to the printed word.
I have been following this issue for many years and wasnt expecting much when I heard about this Reader. But I was surprised when I actually saw it. The screen is pretty darn good. Sony's "electronic ink" is definitely a big improvement over previous devices. If I travelled a lot and worried about weight, the Reader could be a valuable solution.
The one big flaw I see in the product is the price of eBooks, which is basically the same $8 as a regular paperback. Since you arent actually receiving a physical book, I would expect the price to be much lower than that of a paperback. I have a mental association that if I am only getting the content in a digital form, something I could easily lose or forget about and which I cannot share, I want a discount.
A business traveller might be willing to pay a premium for convenience of the format but I think the price will hurt Sony in the mass market. For $8, most people are going to opt for the physical book which they may even be able to resell.
Even so, the Reader is worth a look. Maybe the next version will indeed be a keeper.
The New Sony Reader For Books Performs Like a Good First Draft
October 12, 2006
Wall Street Journal
The electronic book reader, a hand-held gadget that would store a whole collection of digital books and other material, has always seemed like a good idea. But nobody has been able to pull it off. The last serious contenders, launched in 1998, failed due to lousy battery life, poor screens, high prices and a weak selection of titles.
But this month, Sony is taking a new whack at the problem with a sleek, attractive $350 device called the Sony Reader. The Reader tries to take advantage of two developments since 1998: cutting-edge technology for improving screens and battery life, and the example of Apple Computer's iPod and iTunes, which showed how a great gadget with strong software and abundant titles can create an end-to-end digital content solution that consumers will embrace.
The key feature of the Reader is its high-contrast, but low-power, six-inch screen, which is quite different from the screens on laptops. Unlike those power-hungry displays, the Reader uses a new technology called Electronic Paper from a Massachusetts company called E Ink. This screen needs no backlighting and consumes no power until you change what's being displayed by electronically "turning a page."
