Sony is preparing a new - and expensive - device for "ePaper." The "Reader" is the name of this gizmo that got the treatment from Gizmodo. Gawker Media's Gizmodo gives this reason for loving the thing so much:
(Please note, we think the Sony Reader is exciting as all get out, but we’re mostly just excited about a decent consumer ePaper/eInk product in general. Other units are on the way soon from other manufacturers and we’re hyped about those, as well.)
Whatever. I can't imagine reading a book on a device like that. I can't imagine the whole idea of, "ePaper." I suppose it will be able to hold thousands of books and there is allure to some in carrying around a library. Me? I would take one nicely-bound printed book over a $400.00 plastic device that displays text on a screen, as a supposed substitute for books, any day, every time.
I think you misunderstand the point of ePaper since you say it "displays text on a screen". The idea is that it will be actual *paper*, and the ink can be toggled on and then back off, sort of like a photocopier that can wipe and reprint a new page on the same sheet of paper.
Bind a whole bunch of these sheets into a traditional looking book, and you can change the text on the pages, open it up and start reading... then close it, select a new novel, and when you open up the bound volume, the text of the new novel is there. Or at least that's the eventual idea; right now it's expensive enough so that most readers have a single sheet with a rigid back.
But don't mistake it for a screen -- you need a light and it is a pigmented image on a fixed medium. Think of it as a "photocopier that uses pencil". You can just print a new page over and over.
(I'll buy one when it has a nice leather cover and comes scented in the proper "book smell". But I'll likely still treasure my library to the day I die).
Posted by: Evan "JabberWokky" E. | January 06, 2006 at 11:53 PM
Hi Evan, Yes, I have heard of this kind of thing. But did you see the picture on the Gizmodo site? Take a look: http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/cessonyreader2.jpg
That doesn't look like what you're describing. Maybe it is, but to me, it looks like a big piece of plastic with wires and buttons, etc. I'm with you on the, "book smell." And really, just the idea of kicking back in bed to read a book with an electronic device is too much for me. Every new technology has its followers I suppose, but this just isn't for me - by a long shot. Thanks for the comment and have a great weekend!
Posted by: Mike - Paper Notes | January 07, 2006 at 12:11 AM
I've read hundreds of books printed on paper and maybe a half-dozen on a Palm handheld (not a laptop or PC). I've even written one on a handheld, using a folding keyboard. I have to say that the handheld reading experience is often quite satisfying. I have control over the fonts, can make "marginal notes" and bookmarks, and have great search capabilities, which are sometimes helpful in nonfiction and in complex fiction like "Cryptonomicon," when one is trying to keep track of dozens of characters and locations. McLuhan said that "the medium is the message," but I think that it is simpler than that, really--"the message is the message." If the book is really good, and really well-written, I get so caught up in it that I don't even think about whether it is on paper or on screen. I just think that it helps to have an open mind about these things and to recognize that there may be a place for both printed and digital books. Thanks for listening.
Posted by: Sam | January 08, 2006 at 12:00 AM
To me, the future of E-books is audio books. I could care less about text-based readers, especially when you consider the horrendous consumer-crushing digital rights management they impose on us, but audio books give me a clear advantage. I can read these in situations where I can't read a real book - in my car, at work, on a walk. That is what technology needs to do - get me to read in areas where I normally cant.
Why would I spend $500 on a device to mirror what I get with a $7 paperback?
Cory Doctorow, the SF author and writer for Boing Boing, has an excellent article on DRM that compares shifts in technology to the shifts we saw back with the invention of the printing press and the gutenberg bible:
http://www.craphound.com/ebooksneitherenorbooks.txt
Posted by: Mike | January 09, 2006 at 03:24 PM
Mike,
I agree with you 100%. I'm also a fan of audio books for exactly the reason you gave. It allows one to "read" when it otherwise would be impossible.
By the way, that was an excellent piece by Cory Doctorow. Thanks for passing it along!
Posted by: Mike - Paper Notes | January 10, 2006 at 01:08 PM