{ taihen.org } Log – getting older.

Ebook readers model fail ( again )

Last year I was heavily considering buying an ebook reader as my private library was growing to quick ( and I'm renting, so it's mother of time as I would have to move out ) and some books that I was carry around had over 500 pages! I was lucky enough in some ways, cause I didn't have to buy blindly as my friends who have already bought Sony PRS, Amazon Kindle and Barnes&Noble Nook let me to fiddle around with all of them and I must say I'm pretty disappointed.

As you see pictures on manufactures websites, all those devices look incredibly sexy, but when I took for the first time Kindle in my hand it felt clunky and ugly. This is quite amazing in "iPhone" times, where people are looking for sleek gadgets. On the other side you getting 6-7 inch device and would you expect that for 6-7 inch device is 6-7 inch big, right ? Cause what matters it's the screen. No, no! We have everywhere a big border around screen which making those devices fell more like 9-10 inch. WTF ? So basically you buying nicely advertised a small reader and in reality you getting a A4 book format which BTW can't do A4. Ohh... and there is Kindle DX which is just.. huge.
All those devices, especially when booting up, accessing a book, can be very slow. And, I'm sorry, E-Ink it's not there - still. Flapping pages takes literally seconds. That's not a big deal if you reading new Dan Brown book but for that there is a handful of companies are rethinking the book for the digital age like Audible. I usually carry a technical books and quite often I'm looking for something or going back and forward through the pages. Thanks good at least Kindle has international whispernet ( no, I'm not based in States ), which is very cool and helps it a little bit. That I can't say about Sony and Nook ( at least for now ).
Huge deal for me is lending books that you own. I was trying to understand what it's all about. Sooo confusing, some say you can buy and lend but it's against their FAQ ( Amazon ) where others are making that extremely uncomfortable ( Sony ) with their idea of authorizing and de-authorizing to your account.

In the end all those readers are just paper and ink imitation and this what you get. You never gonna have a National Geographic subscription on them. Black and white that's the buzz word here. Sounds soo 1970. And you know what, you just fell a sleep reading Kathryn Stockett with your Kindle and here it slips from your hand and fails down crushing to the floor your 300E ( at least ).

The most exiting part is the color Android screen on bottom of Nook. Ring a bell ? Maybe the whole device should be like that ? Yeah, but You would say: E-Ink is power efficient and eye friendly. Well not totally true, Kindle owners admit that every day charging it's normal after a while and yes paper it's better for your eyes than regular lcd/oled, but hold on, are you already spending at least 8h a day looking on your laptop screen ?