tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083659018980956508.post7525795817615220407..comments2023-06-19T12:25:42.519-04:00Comments on Bookcurrents: March of the Color e-Readers: Kindle Kompetitors or Krazy Kolts?Peter Costanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168604151610144376noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083659018980956508.post-76019481327100446232010-09-10T17:16:34.663-04:002010-09-10T17:16:34.663-04:00I am still holding off on an e-reader. I have a gr...I am still holding off on an e-reader. I have a great affinity for the paper based book and anything short of a worldwide paper shortage probably won't get me to purchase one.michaelseanhttp://www.mscsocialmedia.com/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083659018980956508.post-85330846114736279912010-08-31T03:56:38.326-04:002010-08-31T03:56:38.326-04:00I'm amused by how all these companies decide t...I'm amused by how all these companies decide to go for the color LCD screen to compete with the Kindle. Like people are going to think "oh, this one is good, but this one has COLOR so it must be even better!" As if Amazon simply didn't have the technology for color screens. "Oh darn, I wish we'd have thought of that," they say.<br /><br />I hope consumers realize how great it is that eInk is not LCD.<br /><br />I remember a similar competition years ago: the Nintendo Gameboy versus the Sega Gamegear. The Gameboy was monochrome and had a smaller screen than the Gamegear. The Gamegear was back-lit and capable of displaying color. Nevertheless, the Gameboy won the handheld war. Why? The Gamegear went through batteries like toilet paper. You're 20 minutes into Sonic the Hedgehog, and bam, black screen. Your snot-nosed neighbor next door is still enjoying his Tetris, however, thanks to that tiny monochrome screen. Turns out there was a reason for that.<br /><br />People who purchase Literati and its ilk will probably feel unsatisfied when they need to go plug the damned thing in to recharge three or four times just to make it through their paperback sans paper.<br /><br />In the case of e-readers, there's also the fact that looking at a bright, back-lit LCD screen feels an awful lot like looking into a computer monitor. And that's essentially what it is--a tiny computer monitor. Read a book on your computer for four hours and tell me you wouldn't rather have been reading the same thing on paper with a lamp next to you. If your eyes don't burn a little bit, you have some kind of mutant superpower. Congratulations.<br /><br />eInk is clear, crisp, and a lot more pleasant to look at for long periods of time. Plus you can actually look at it for long periods of time before the battery runs out. So, to summarize: it's a feature, not a flaw. I predict the Kindle-like products will be purchased more by readers and the others will be purchased by gadget geeks. I'm interested to see how accurate this prediction winds up being.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17380062841122634012noreply@blogger.com