[SEMI-OFFTOPIC] eBook reader recommendations, anyone?

[Tom Goren]

what is this fantastic device you have invented?

14-15 by 9-10 inches display?

most ebook readers are much much smaller.

perhaps you should take a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_e-book_readers - there is a big matrix
there comparing all features of most devices on the market.

also, i think there is some mistake in your basic notion about ebook readers
given your feature wishlist - since all devices today are designed as book
replacements, not laptop replacements (two windows displaying different
content side by side does not sound like something an ebook must do in my
opinion) - and thus their size and features are appropriately set.

this is also how the kindle got so popular - it set out to do a task and
does it well (never mind the yucky proprietary formats business right now).

also a netbook is an interesting idea, however then you miss out on the
whole e-ink thing which is basically the biggest selling point of en ebook
reader in the first place.

i don't really understand the need of displaying two pages side by side,
unless you are reading a comic book, and you have reached some two page
spread. or otherwise some technical diagram that would require a humongous
amount of space to view (in which case they invented the zoom and dragging
options).
it kind of smells of sticking to old design paradigms and not realizing that
we just read one page at a time anyway.

just my way of looking at it - i think a device like you are specifying is
very nice, it just seems a bit like you want the best of both world (eating
the cake and leaving it whole).

perhaps future devices such as the crunchtablet, that looks like it is stuck
and won't be manufactured, or some other similar device on the way, would
suit you best.

tom.

2009/12/16 geoffrey mendelson <geoffreymendelson at gmail.com>

>
> On Dec 16, 2009, at 9:40 PM, Omer Zak wrote:
>
>  What does the collective wisdom of the Israeli Linux users know about the
>> current crop of eBook readers?
>> Any recommendations?
>>
>> Do the following requirements make sense?
>> 1. Ability to display PDF files.
>> 2. Full-fledged browser for displaying locally-cached HTML files.
>> 3. Ability to display text files from the Gutenberg project.
>> 4. Full Unicode (including BiDi handling) support.
>> 5. Optional lighting, battery powered, for at least 12 hours (for reading
>> at night when there is power outage).
>> 6. Display dimensions: about 36 by 23 cm (14-15 by 9-10 inches), for
>> convenient display of two book pages side by side.
>> 7. Ability to display two windows, side by side, each one displaying
>> different content.
>> 8. Capacity: at least 10GB (enough to store the entire Hebrew Wikipedia).
>> 9. WiFi connection (to download reading materials from a host PC).
>> 10. Note: no requirement to read DRM-protected eBooks.
>> Does there exist an eBook reader, which meets the above requirements?
>>
>
>
> Closest thing is the Barnes and Noble Nook, which is sold only in the US at
> the moment and out of stock until after the first of the year. Check out the
> specs, compared to the others it's worth waiting for if it fits your needs.
> I think though it only fits, 1,3,8 (with an external card),9 and not 10. The
> only other thing close would be a netbook, and with the size screen you want
> it would be a "tablet pc" or full fledged laptop.
>
> IMHO it's the Sony reader (which B&N sold before) modified to be what a
> Kindle should have been.
>
> Geoff.
>
> --
> geoffrey mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
> Jerusalem Israel geoffreymendelson at gmail.com
> New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge or
> understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the situation.
> i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found in the Wikipedia.
>
>
>
>
>
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