$99 Moby Tablet As Textbook Alternative 191
Taco Cowboy writes "Marvell's Moby tablet will be an always-on, high performance multimedia tablet capable of full Flash support and 1080p HD playback and supporting WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS and both Android and Windows Mobile platforms for maximum flexibility. It could eliminate the need for students to buy and carry bound textbooks and an array of other tools. The tablet is expected to hold a full year's worth of books but weigh less than half of one typical textbook." The tablet is a bit vaporous at this point, but if the final device comes anywhere near these specs and price point, it could be attractive.
Or... (Score:5, Insightful)
How about just letting me load the textbooks onto the laptop I already carry around?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You may be getting your wish. [informationweek.com]
Or perhaps it's been available for a while. [amazon.com]
Re:Or... (Score:5, Insightful)
The time limit thing is what makes the prices ridiculous. $60 for an ebook that lasts 3 months? For that price I should be getting it forever. If you want to limit it to 3 months, try $10-15.
Re: (Score:2)
Of all of the electronic formats for books, the Kindle format is the most likely to be an available option for a textbook. That was implicit in my point.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
If you want to limit it to 3 months, try $10-15.
I would say if they want to limit it to 3 months, they're misunderstanding the fundamental purpose of books.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The least expensive part of a book is the PP&B (print, paper & binding - aka the physical book). On my $65 chem book, the PP&B was 3.65. The wholesale price was $47. There are ways to lower the price - if there's no secondary market (aka used), that's fewer lost sales to worry about. Skipping the bookstores is another potential savings. Replacing some of the teacher tools with online resources (aka no more transparencies) - lowers but doesn't eliminate a cost. Theoretically, time-based DRM w
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Technology x is old and busted. Technology y is new and exciting. Never mind that technology x can do everything technology y can do. Marketing can't sell technology x anymore, so we'll only support technology y.
Re:Or... (Score:5, Informative)
Wow... a slashdot geek should really read about technology y before commenting, but hey, few of us RTFA, right? Check out the Pixel Qi display [youtube.com]. Also check out the Nvidia Tegra processor [wikipedia.org]. This is the year of the tablet/slate, or whatever you want to call them. They're a new class of $100 - $200 ebook readers that blow away anything we've seen to date, assuming you like to read. They are easier on the eyes than Kindles, yet able to run real OSes, even Ubuntu UNR. With their ARM processors, and awesome integrated graphics, they use a small fraction of the power of any Intel based system, and at a fraction of the cost. The killer application will be e-book readers, in a "convergence" device that also let's us watch color youtube videos, run Firefox, write e-mails, and all of that on a nice 10" multi-touch display that blows doors on any phone or e-ink display. We'll buy them because they're cheaper and better than a Kindle for reading e-books, yet nearly as useful as a netbook for getting work done. Many of these devices will ship with detachable keyboards, making them true netbooks when used that way. Battery life in e-book mode will be in days, not hours.
So, feel free to enjoy your technology x. I'm really looking forward to y.
Re: (Score:2)
Ok, I know there was more to your statement than that, but I just couldn't get past the killer app for computing device being books. What a world. ;)
Atryn
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I intend to use both x and y. The question is why not use data format q that works on x now and can work on y later?
Re:Or... (Score:5, Interesting)
As I read through the comments I see a lot of interest and debate about hardware -- screen readability, battery life, size and weight -- and to a lessor extent e-book file formats and publishing. These are important, and they miss essential points.
1. An e-book reader treats the student as a passive consumer. This is a model we have become all too familiar with, conditioned by being raised on a diet of printed books, movies and television. It fails because so much more is possible. A computer offers the opportunity for interactive learning, starting with social media and going straight into software development. Slashdot readers should known this. A key component is an on-going relationship with teachers, with interaction taking place entirely on-line, or as an enhancement to "brick and mortar" classroom activity.
2. The information contained in textbooks does not need to be published for profit. It is time for the textbook industry to follow the telegraph industry into the halls of our museums. Better still, to be reduced to a Wikipedia page. MIT has shown the way with their OpenCourseWare. [mit.edu] Slashdot readers appreciate the value of free software. It should be obvious the same thing applies to textbooks.
3. It is not enough to fill a classroom with iMacs, or to offer an e-book reader in place of printed textbooks. What is needed is a larger infrastructure, something like a physical school and something akin to the Internet, the place where education takes place.
If you are interested in contributing to the development of such a place, come and join the Open Slate Project. [openslate.net]
Battery (Score:3, Interesting)
The main problem is that you either have to provide students with power outlets, or the batteries have to be able to perform in the real world for around 8-12 hours.
I would have loved to have had such an option when I was in Uni. You had two choices. Either carry the textbook as you were told in which case you'd better have a good hiking backpack and like being a social outcast, or don't carry them and do your homework/reading at home. Most students chose the later.
I did my Masters online and never had to c
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Uhhh...what university did you go to where this was true? Sounds like high school.
Re:Battery (Score:5, Informative)
Agreed. At uni the social outcasts have bags they drag about on rollers... :)
Re: (Score:2)
Done. I wish I could grant other wishes so easily. These new devices will have battery life measured in days, not hours, because in e-book mode we get to turn off the back-light and read the display using ambient light, just like a book. They'll also have power-saving ARM processors that only drain significant energy when you turn the page.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Or any one of the $200.00 ebook readers on the market?
Small, pocket sized (big pocket), weeks of battery life (e-ink display), multiple format compatibility.
Is there even a prototype? (Score:5, Insightful)
The CrunchPad was supposed to be a dead-simple, cheap $200 tablet [wikipedia.org]. Closer to production, it looks like it'll cost more like $500 [thejoojoo.com]. A $99 device would be nice, but I'll believe it when I see it. A decent screen + NAND memory + battery alone will add to the cost.
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Can't grep a dead tree (or use Ctrl+F)
Re: (Score:2)
True, but a paper copy doesn't run out of battery power at really inconvenient times.
Re: (Score:2)
The light being used to see it is powered, though.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Nothing close to 100% uptime on that, though.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
by batteries? Probably not.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
> Reading the same book for two or three hours in a single session is certainly not rare, and that can cause considerable eye strain on a normal screen.
And how long you have been sitting at the computer screen RIGHT NOW?
I have been here for 5 hours reading email, slashdot, doing work, etc. Staring at a computer screen the whole time.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Actually, most of my time is spent fighting crime vigilante-style on the streets of a major city in a brightly colored spandex suit. I only spend a few minutes at a time on the computer.
By "brightly colored" do you mean to say "Cheetoes-stained and mom hasn't done the laundry yet"?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
However, the joojoo thing is almost certainly a bad comparison. That hardware is a full Atom based x86, with Nvidia graphics(since ion was terminated by Pine Trail, presumably Ion2, which is a full discrete GPU, albeit a rather weak one). Since Marvell is pushing this thing, and Marvell makes ARM SoCs of various flavors, it'll almost definitely be cheaper(as well as somewhat weaker) than t
Re: (Score:2)
Flash prices shouldn't be that much of the cost. A 32 Gig SD or CF card costs in the neighborhood of $60-80. The CrunchPad was supposed to have a mere 4 GB. That's (at most) eight or ten bucks worth of flash even at full retail prices, so probably $3-4 in terms of the manufacturing cost.... The problem is that if you're an unknown vendor, you aren't buying in bulk, so you can't get those deals. Still, if it's more than $20, it probably makes more sense to ship the device without onboard flash, put a co
Is anyone else getting tired of reading about... (Score:5, Insightful)
...all this great looking (and supposedly wonderfully performing) ARM powered vaporware products that either never shows up outside China or retail for ridiculously high prices and so locked in with WinCE nobody wants it?
Either put up or shut up already! Personally I'd rather they put up than shut up, but either way enough already!
--bornagainpenguin
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
SheevaPlug is $99 with no screen or battery. A tablet at that price would be really something.
You're not the only one! (Score:5, Insightful)
Me too! I had been keeping an eye out for ARM based "smartbooks" etc. for several months. Lots of reference designs, lots of demos at CES. No one ever brought anything decent to retail stores. I heard HP was releasing something in Spain. Lenovo is supposed to be releasing something in the US later this year.
I wanted something around a $200 price with decent battery life, capable of running Linux. I wanted ARM, too, because I didn't want to buy a machine that came with Windows only to wipe it. After months of waiting, I gave up.
A few weeks ago I purchased a used Acer Aspire One, along with a high capacity battery. Total price, including shipping and taxes for all items, was less than $200. The machine had originally come with Windows, but was sold without any OS installed. I put Ubuntu Netbook Remix on it, and I'm quite happy with it.
I'm now out of the market for one of these many rumored ARM-based devices... no one has any decent offerings (and no, the Touchbook is not what I would consider a decent, consumer-oriented offering, and they're not even in stock AFAICT), so I gave up. Also, $99 for this Moby Tablet? Yeah, right. Maybe the bill of materials is $99, but I doubt even that. This thing stinks badly of being vaporware.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm with you on the $200, ARM-based, 10" touchscreen slate. However, we're very tech-minded geeks here. To quote a marketing guy at Dell, "Wouldn't you rather pay $300 for a device that can also run all the applications you love?" Of course, I happen to love Linux apps, but I get his point. We're not Dell's target customer base. Tell Joe Sixpack that it's just an e-book reader, and $300 for a black and white 7" display seems reasonable. Tell him that for $200 he can get color, better sunlight readabil
Re: (Score:2)
ARM Cortex and Chrome Browser software (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm happy to see the technical achievement, BUT... (Score:2)
I'm happy to see the technical achievement for what it is, but I am worried that the purported text books would change daily (updated by WiFi or some wireless means) to fit the revealing political views. Ministry of Truth, anyone?
Re:Is anyone else getting tired of reading about.. (Score:4, Interesting)
You make a decent point. The Nvidia Tegra processor, QualCom Snapdragon, and TI something-or-other, are all fine ARM processors for multi-touch slates, yet no respectable manufacturer (I'm not including Apple as "respectable"), has even announced a device based on this.
My brother-in-law works at Dell, and while he may take issue with how I paraphrase him, what I heard was "Dell doesn't innovate. Instead, we wait for others to prove the market first, and then crush them with our manufacturing capabilities." The big players, like Dell and HP, are waiting for the equivalent of the Asus EEE PC in the ARM based tablet/slate space. Once an off-brand has dominated the market, they'll follow like lemmings. In the meantime, early adopters will need to buy products like "Notion Ink Atom" from some random group of entrepreneurial Indians, or this Marvell thingy. Honestly, I think the big players look to Apple for innovation. MacBook Air? How about a nice Dell netbook for 1/4 the price? iPad? How about a Dell slate for $150? At least we have that great A-hole Steve Jobs to help our corporations find their way...
Marvel? (Score:5, Funny)
Good deal! (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
$99 for a Optimus Maximus!?! I'm sold!
Re: (Score:2)
I had never heard of this keyboard before... damn, it's cool! :)
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/ [artlebedev.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Optimus Maximus isn't vapourware these days, it's just unaffordableware.
Re: (Score:2)
It also isn't anything like the original design. The original had screens the full size of the keys, including the spacebar, instead of these pathetic little tiny screens with massive borders around them.
For $1500, I'd probably still be at least a little tempted to get the original design. At $400, I still wouldn't be tempted for the actual one.
Phantom Game Console Marvell Pad (Score:2)
Let me guess (Score:2, Redundant)
It's also going to be bundled with Duke Nukem Forever?
A bit vaporous? (Score:2)
Has anyone used a Pixel Qi screen to read a book? (Score:2)
I can't seem to find too much info, their site says it rivals E-Ink, which would be really cool if true.
Anyone? Anyone? If you're going to be reading that much with a screen, you pretty much need the equivalent of E-Ink.
Re:Has anyone used a Pixel Qi screen to read a boo (Score:3, Insightful)
I have a PhD and have always read far more on a CRT or backlit LCD than I have on paper, mostly code and papers versus textbooks.
If you adjust a backlit screen properly and use it in appropriate lighting conditions it's the same as a reflective screen. Reflected photons aren't magic.
Re: (Score:2)
But... But... the edges of reflected photons aren't as jagged as backlit screen photons so they won't tear holes in your eyes and all the fonts look warmer with reflected photons!
Re: (Score:2)
Only if you hook up the low oxygen video cable the right way around. Otherwise the electrons get bruised and bruised electrons can be rather rough with the photons.
I used Pixel Qi (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
this is pure vaporware, but pixel qi's screens aren't: http://www.pixelqi.com/products [pixelqi.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Check out Pixel Qi on youtube. Better sunlight readability than e-ink, cheaper, larger displays, and with the backlight on, you can watch video in color. With backlight off (e-ink mode), you battery can last days, not hours. Still, not weeks like some e-ink products, but getting there. So, I 100% agree with you. I don't want an iPad. I want something like the Notion Ink Adam [gizmodo.com].
PR releases for non-existent products != news (Score:5, Insightful)
Another kdawson special. The product does not exist. It cannot be purchased. If every claim about what somebody INTENDS to do is news...
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly. Maybe if the company had a working prototype on demo, or something. With all those claims, we'll probably see a product similar to what was announced...some time in 2015.
They are showing working prototypes (Score:3, Informative)
Re:PR releases for non-existent products != news (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not a regular commenter
Do you mean you don't have an account and always post AC? Out of luck if so, but if you log in, go to Help/Preferences, choose Authors from the menu and uncheck any editor whose articles you no longer want to see.
I'm definitely not new here, and it amuses me that so many people get worked up over the editor's handiwork. I read the articles for the comments. Many thoughtful conversations emerge from seemingly trivial subjects, so maybe just try to enjoy the stream of prose that sometimes informs, entertains, reeks, or makes you laugh? Or go on to the next item. Spring is here, maybe take a walk in the sunshine. :^)
Wrong problem (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't mind lugging them around. What I mind is paying out ridiculous amounts for a rehash of last year's now worthless book. They sell ebook versions of textbooks; I don't see how this will hamper that (besides eliminating resale markets). What we need is some serious, high quality, free, open source type textbooks. I wouldn't mind paying to have them stamped on dead tree, I like dead tree, it's the BS mark-up that's the problem. This is cool and all, but it would mean a lot more if they could get something good and free/reasonably priced to put in it.
Chicken and the Egg (Score:2)
Attractive, 'cept the tightest DRM lockdown EVAR (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, you thought the RIAA and MPAA were bad? Hoo boy, you're in for a surprise when you meet the textbook publishers. They aren't even human, they're like... Mind Flayers, or something. Pure evil, and smarter than you think.
Textbook pubs will never permit mass electronic distribution unless they have mandatory DRM backed by scary laws that the state aggressively enforces. When Congress passes laws authorizing copyright holders and their agents/officials to summarily arrest and imprison suspected copyright violators, without trial or notice, THEN the textbook publishers will decide that they feel confident moving into electronic distribution.
But one of these days, somebody will start selling cheap, easy-to-make/use automated book scanners (with page turning capabilities). Or maybe they'll put up an Instructable. That'll be the harpoon in the side, for the textbook industry.
Re: (Score:2)
Plans for ones without page-flippers already exist and are very fast. If a handful of college kids wanted to take turns scanning their books and sharing with each other, it could be done very quickly.
The fact that most decent novels get scanned and OCRd (or at least PDFd) but textbooks don't is a big sign that students don't really think that process will help them much.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Have you looked at the ebook category on the Pirate Bay recently? It's not "it could be done very quickly," it IS done.
It's tough to find THE textbook you need because there are so many. It's not hard at all to find A textbook on a given subject.
cheap, automated book scanners (Score:2)
I don't see them being sold, for the same reason its about impossible to sell a DVD backup device. Few could afford the legal costs.
I also expect them to squelch the plans for them as 'forbidden knowledge' and if you are caught with that data, well, you go to jail as a terrorist or something.
Re:Attractive, 'cept the tightest DRM lockdown EVA (Score:5, Informative)
Nice buzzword usage, but see, I actually WORK at a University Press, and we make textbooks. And we're doing pdfs for the majority of our ebooks.
The *real* reason that textbook publishers don't make more ebooks is much less sinister:
There's no universal standard for ebooks. It costs money to get something converted to a format and checked for errors, and you don't want to fragment your efforts too much, so out of the several dozen implementations of ebook formats, you pick one or two, then you pick which version of THAT you want to support, and you try and learn about them. And since it takes two years or more just to make a textbook, by the time you've got a format learned sufficiently to get it in to your workflow, you've still got a two year lag before books start showing up in that format.
But oh hey! In the meantime, the standard shifted. So you're back to trying to learn the standard and get that merged in to your workflow. You think the RIAA and MPAA handled the change in the technology of their field badly? Books have been printed basically the same for centuries, not decades. Since the printing press, there's not been many advances that effect publishing. The offset printing press, and use of computers to do layout and editing. No, seriously, that's about it. Books are long enough that few people wanted to have to sit and stare at a screen for hours on end, so they never had to worry about digital distribution until laptops became common, and even then, people still didn't want to read things hundreds of pages long on a screen. It's only been in about the last 10 years or so that it's even been mentioned, and it wasn't anything close to a viable idea until the kindle came out in 2007. And remember what I said about textbooks taking at least 2 years to get through the publishing process?
No, you'll start seeing textbooks for e-readers when the formats are more stable. Until then, you'll get most publishers playing it safe and not wasting their cash on converting.
A whole year? (Score:2)
Re:A whole year? (Score:4, Insightful)
Little more for textbooks. Figures take up space. The programming texts I have in PDF form usually weigh in close to 10 MB. A decent anatomy and physiology text is closer to 100 MB.
Multiply by eight to twelve courses a year and you're still not talking about much space by today's standards, but you're into not-a-ridiculous-estimate territory, particularly for a $99 device.
Re: (Score:2)
For a 1080p screen, I think they'd jack up the resolution, so that you could zoom in on figures for finer detail. Since I've seen hi-res printer pdfs come in at 500MB+, I'd say they'd probably go with the average being 100MB, and then around 250MB for the larger ones.
Re: (Score:2)
It almost certainly doesn't have a 1080p screen. It can (supposedly) do 1080p video playback. A 10" 1080p screen would be silly.
It could be that they'll boost the resolution, but I strongly suspect that the resolution will end up being similar to the PDF texts that already exist.
The book/magazine/newspaper publishers can't resist talking about video though, and that's going to produce some bloat. Many textbooks already come with limited time access to multimedia supplements over the web.
Re: (Score:2)
It almost certainly doesn't have a 1080p screen. It can (supposedly) do 1080p video playback. A 10" 1080p screen would be silly.
Oh blah. I feel silly, obviously didn't read that one properly. I dunno about a 1080p screen being silly, but it would be rather overkill at this time. Frankly, if they don't go with a highish-rez screen (720p would be good, I think) and pdfs, I think it'll be a waste of time. Higher rez is easier to read for longer periods of time (in my experience), and like I said, would give the ability to zoom in nicely on pictures/figures. Some engineering texts I've seen are rather brutally detailed.
If they really wa
will still need to buy (Score:5, Insightful)
Huh? "Carry" is one thing, "buy" is another. It's true that free textbooks exist (see my sig), but they are not yet all that popular in K-12 or colleges. California has a Free Digital Textbook Initiative for high schools, but it has not yet reshaped the landscape; the traditional commercial publishers are essentially sitting it out.
So I don't see why a cheap tablet would eliminate the need for students to buy textbooks. Publishers are already offering DRM'd electronic textbooks, at about the same price as print textbooks. K-12 schools that are using non-free books will still need to buy books for their kids. College students will still need to buy books.
Actually, the traditional publishers love DRM'd e-books, because it's a way for them to kill off the used book market. They can use the DRM to prevent you from selling your copy if you don't want it when you're done with the class.
The books I use in my physics courses at a community college are all free online as DRM-free PDFs. Even so, the vast majority of my students end up buying a printed copy. (I don't receive any royalty from the printed books. They're priced pretty cheap, about the same as photocopying.) Maybe some of them are not going digital because they can't afford a laptop, but I suspect that in most cases, they actually perceive a printed book as more convenient than an electronic one. Reading a book off the screen of a laptop is a pain in the ass. It's much nicer and easier to be able to see two full pages at once, in a large format, and to be able to riffle through pages.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The software is the key, and the software for reference and text books is just not there.
I have a Kindle 2 and it is nice for fiction books. Trying to get it to display multiple fonts (computer reference book), mathematical formulas (other reference books), tables of tiny little numbers (chemistry and physical science reference books) or just about anything else in the "reference" book field would be pointless - it isn't suitable for that at all.
Making the screen bigger might help, but not all the way. Th
Unlikely to be anytime soon (Score:2)
Considering Marvell already produces devices with similar specs at that price point, but no battery and no screen, it's unlikely they are going to be able to meet that price point.
Now if they said that was the bill of materials, I'd almost believe it. But still not with a Pixel Qi screen, which the article speculates but is not mentioned by Marvell at all.
Pixel Qi is being mass manufactured (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Economy of Scale (Score:2)
The $99 might cover the parts, but the R&D to design the thing is a different story.
Whoever can ramp up the economy of scale around netbooks is going to own the market.
My money is on the company that did this in the smartphone market.
You know who they are...
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft?
Re: (Score:2)
Nokia ? RIM ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Smartphone_share_2009_full.png [wikipedia.org]
Jetbook Lite for $129 already available (Score:3, Interesting)
I suppose this could used for textbooks?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16858723010&Tpk=ectaco%20jetbook%20lite [newegg.com]
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I suppose this could used for textbooks?
I think you a word.
We have been here before (Score:2)
And it will end up being yet another 500 dollar device once it ships.
It cures cancer... (Score:2)
Marvell's Moby tablet will be an always-on, high performance multimedia tablet capable of full Flash support and 1080p HD playback and supporting WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS and both Android and Windows Mobile platforms for maximum flexibility.
It cures cancer ... and it even includes a pony!
Re:epaper table (Score:5, Insightful)
I would rather use E-Paper, tables are good and all but they are hard on the eyes after a while. http://novelwhore.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/e-paper.jpg [wordpress.com]
Poor lighting causes eye strain. The reason why people don't get eye strain from e-paper as much is because is "requires" ambient light in order for you to see the screen. Don't use the blacklit display as a replacement for sufficient lighting and your eyes will be fine.
Stop buying into the hype. Do people work in offices on e-paper displays all day? No. Eye strain does not occur if you take frequent breaks and work in a well lit environment.
Re: (Score:2)
And adjust your backlight appropriately. If the backlight is too low or too high you can get eye strain. If it's set correctly the result is just the same as a reflective display. It's not like your eyes can tell the difference between a reflected and an emitted photon.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
No my eyes can't tell the difference between a reflected and emitted photon. They can however tell the difference between a static image and one that's refreshing 60 to 75 time per second.
Eyes are funny and very personal things. At 38 I don't wear glasses, I have an annual eye checkup and I don't need them but I do have some particular quirks with my vision. For instance the refresh rates of an LCD flat panel gives me headaches after sufficient time and I can't read in a car without getting motion sick. On
Re: (Score:2)
Stop buying into the hype. Do people work in offices on e-paper displays all day? No. Eye strain does not occur if you take frequent breaks and work in a well lit environment.
Hype? I think most people are referring to comments from end users, not the manufacturers. The end users are reporting their observations based on personal experiences. No hype involved.
As for people in offices going about their daily tasks, here's an observation. None of them is reading, unless it's a published newspaper, periodic
Re: (Score:2)
Hype? I think most people are referring to comments from end users, not the manufacturers. The end users are reporting their observations based on personal experiences. No hype involved.
You're generally representing the parent post as stating that manufacturers are hyping how bad their screens are?
I think he meant epaper hype, as in, that it would be any better under the same lighting conditions.
Re: (Score:2)
Hype?
I own a Kindle 2 and for several hours of reading there's no contest between it and any computer screen I've ever seen. The Kindle wins hands down.
That's not hype, that's personal experience.
Pixel Qi LCD = e-ink (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You're rather optimistic, aren't you? If you did nothing but unformatted text, you might get most human knowledge on 32GB, after a good compression algorithm was used, but without pictures and figures, it'd be nearly useless.
Re: (Score:2)
As soon as they add a cell phone module, they probably COULD price it at $99(*)
(*) In the US market only, pricing based on a 2-year commitment to a $40+/month data plan with a 2GB monthly cap, overage charges of $0.10/MB and a $425 ETF. Actual price $499 with a $400 rebate in the form of a prepaid VISA card mailed to you 14 years after initial purchase, to an address that does not exist, already expired.
3G module = $50 extra (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
?
It's not awesome at all that some electronic widget can do all those things. What's awesome must be the textbook it's replacing! When I was in school I never had a textbook that did WiFi, 1080 HD, Flash, GPS, etc, etc, etc. Mine were all just paper with non-moving print on the pages.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You should have watched more Inspector Gadget. That Penny chick had the best textbook.