subject: The Truth About E-reader [print this page] Three or four years ago I was listening to an interview with the literary critic John Sutherland on the BBC Asian Network radio station. He observed that over the course of his lifetime, musical formats had changed with dizzying regularity, from gramophone records to MP3s.
On the other hand, the codex book format hasnt changed in 2,000 years because it has always met the needs of readers. It is light, portable, durable, accessible and lendable. You can keep your place in it with a bookmark or folded corner of the page and you can scribble your thoughts about it in the margins.
Well, the likes of Steve Jobs would beg to differ. Since the establishment of the first digital archive in 1971, e-books have evolved via desktop prototypes, CD-Rom and PDF to become a major market force. Since the first e-book tablets came out in 1998, theres been something of a gold rush with all the global tech brands wanting a cut of the action.
I must admit that I was an early sceptic, anxious about the headaches and radiation sickness that might come from staring at a screen boning up on Blake or catching up with Coetzee.
However, the new generation of gizmos that are set to come out this year seem to have vanquished that problem forever. Their high-definition E-ink aesthetic is easy-on-the-eye and does real justice to the written page. These devices also boast faster refresh rates, smoother operating systems, larger screens and greater diversity of content, including your favourite newspapers and magazines alongside the literary classics.
Last year, sales of e-readers hit a new high with Amazons Kindle device along moving 500,000 units globally. It is no wonder then that 2010 is predicted to be The Year of E-Reader. The battle to give the public the ultimate e-reading experience escalated into a price war in March when Sony slashed the cost of its most basic tablet in anticipation of the Apple iPads release. This prompted Amazon to start talking about a cheaper yet souped-up Kindle of the future, driven by a new improved Freescale processor that offers all the functions of other processors currently in the market, only more economically.
The iPad should hopefully hit Malaysian shores soon, although the hype around it is based more on promises for tomorrow than the capabilities of today. While the iPad impresses with its vast 16Gb memory, it is the future prospect of color E-ink screens and greater compatibility with other Apps that really makes the mouth water. As the iPad stands right now, its US$500 price tag and comparatively short battery life of 10 hours means that it is not yet a killer, in the words of tech blogger Ebook Doctor. However, given that Apple already dominates digital music and are fast expanding their e-book portfolio, the iPad allows you to buy new titles online in a matter of seconds, which is certainly more convenient than heading down to the mall.
