Will Tablets Kill Off e-Readers? 333
Nerval's Lobster writes "Are e-readers doomed? A research note earlier this week from IHS iSuppli suggested that, after years of solid growth, the e-book reader market was 'on an alarmingly precipitous decline' thanks to the rise of tablets. The firm suggested that e-reader sales had declined from 23.2 million units in 2011 to 14.9 million this year — around 36 percent, in other words. The note blames tablets: 'Single-task devices like the ebook are being replaced without remorse in the lives of consumers by their multifunction equivalents, in this case by media tablets.' Even Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the reigning champs of the e-reader marketplace, have increasingly embraced full-color tablets as the best medium for selling their digital products. Backed by enormous cloud-based libraries that offer far more than just e-books, these devices are altogether more versatile than grayscale e-readers, provided their users want to do more than just read plain text."
Probably (Score:0, Interesting)
e-Ink (Score:5, Interesting)
The only reason I bought a Kindle is that I can't stare at a backlit tablet for hours on end.
Isn't it also reasonable to suppose that eReaders are on the decline because all the people most likely to buy them have already bought them?
LCD vs. E-Ink/E-Paper (Score:5, Interesting)
There is no question: anyone who spends more than a few minutes/day reading will agree reading books on LCD is really tiring. That is why I love my e-book reader, I can read for hours and my eyes won't get tired. Before it, I used to read on LCD, and after about 20 minutes my eyes would start bothering me.
On the other hand, I don't think most people read enough to be bothered by it, which is sad in many different levels. But hardcore readers won't give up their e-readers for LCD. Too bad we are a minority.
Amazon doesn't offer the ereader I want from them. (Score:2, Interesting)
What I want is the ten inch paper white touch screen at a reasonable price ($200 - $300 or so)
I also want the weight to be somewhat less than my ipad3.
I also want my kindle to support epub without having to do crazy side loading.
I don't use the kindle that much because it really is only useful for reading on the train and such, which I don't do that often.
E-ink covers (Score:5, Interesting)
A multimedia tablet with an eink capable covering would be the best of both worlds.
Re:In defiance of Betteridge's law of headline: ye (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a couple of both.
You're right, an e-reader of the simple sort is better than a tablet for reading in a number of ways. Epaper (are we still calling it that?) is easier to read, assuming you have a light source in or near the reader. Managing the device is obviously simple... updates are pretty rare. Battery life far exceeds a tablet. They're usually much more compact. They're simple to operate and they're less expensive.
That said, I rarely use mine anymore. It's just simpler to carry around the tablet that will do whatever I want. And they've come down in price now so much that some are pretty competitively priced, compared to an ereader.
So yeah, I think tablets will all but kill the reader market. As with most tech the readers won't go away entirely. At least not for a good, long while.
Re:In defiance of Betteridge's law of headline: ye (Score:4, Interesting)
We're hideously antiquated, old bean.
*adjusts monocle and top hat*
e-ink screen for PC (Score:4, Interesting)
I really want a large screen e-ink display for reading at work, led/lcd screens are really inferior to paper whereas e-ink screen is less so. This would be in additon to my exiting screen. The current crop of tablets really such for reading a novel or event short papers.
Re:In defiance of Betteridge's law of headline: ye (Score:3, Interesting)
My local iFan ended up using an e-ink reader. She likes it a lot better. It is smaller, better suited to reading, and has killer battery life.
She started out with an iPad.
It's a bogus question probably written from the point of view from some fanboy ninny that things that "Apple is inevitable".
Re:In defiance of Betteridge's law of headline: ye (Score:4, Interesting)
Because they can be got for $90-150 plus tax, delivered? And hold thousands of books, magazines, reference documents, play games, browse the Internet, provide video chat, play Netflix, work with Office documents and such, have an accessible library of 600,000 apps - most free? For $90?
It's not like the price is a huge barrier to entry. You can get a pretty decent Android tablet for under $150 now. Go ahead: treat yourself.
Enjoy your eye cancer (Score:2, Interesting)
In reality the two will merge. Paper-like displays capable of color and video will come to tablets such as the Mirasol display screen that has been available in Korea for a few years now.
Re:In defiance of Betteridge's law of headline: ye (Score:3, Interesting)
And my E-book reader can go two weeks (of heavy usage) on a charge (you don't even need to turn it off!
It's not a useful metric. A paper book can go even longer without a charge. What does that prove? If a tablet lasts whole day of regular use, who would lose sleep over the need to drop it into the cradle for the night? Most tablets, as designed and as used, last several days.
Re:In defiance of Betteridge's law of headline: ye (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:In defiance of Betteridge's law of headline: ye (Score:4, Interesting)
The Russians Are Coming (Score:4, Interesting)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323339704578173173413977046.html [wsj.com] Its a phone with two screens one with e-ink the other lcd. Its...interesting.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)