Related Sections: Future Tech Portable Gadgets Video
Are two screens on an e-reader better than one?
The promise of e-readers is great — replacing all your books with one, light device — but they've been around for a while and last I checked my neighborhood Barnes & Noble was doing just fine. A team of researchers at Maryland and Berkeley Universities thinks part of what's holding e-readers back is that people use books in many subtle ways beyond simple reading page to page — quickly navigating through a book visually by flipping through it, for example. Their solution: create an e-reader with two screens, so it works and feels more like a book. In the video above, the guys show us how a dual-screen reader is more intuitive than other readers on the market today.
The dual-screen reader is a great step forward for the category, but I doubt the appeal of the time-honored book could ever be simulated — even with multiple razor-thin OLED pages. People just like having books. And then there's the smell. Still, e-readers could go a long way toward replacing textbooks and magazines someday, and this prototype is the best candidate we've seen for that. Keep it going, guys.
New Scientist, via Technovelgy
By TheAdlerian at 11:34 AM ON 06/27/08
I'm a reading freak and would love a kindle, due to its easy features. However, it still isn't hooked up with enough publishers to make it great. I want to buy the books I want to buy, not just wants offered.
That is the secret to these things and I assume that greed is holding it back. Publishing would be nearly pure profit it materials costs were eliminated, so I can only assume that something stupid is holding it back.
That's the issue.
By Traveler at 12:58 PM ON 06/27/08
Minimize the frame size and thickness and you have a absolute winner.
By yaos at 4:52 PM ON 06/27/08
Why not have one very large screen that can be segmented into smaller pages?
By adams4000 at 6:29 PM ON 06/27/08
The real problem with e-readers is they are too expensive for what they do. Not to mention that the books are also way too expensive. Why are we paying the same price as a hardback (or more) for a book with no production overhead. If they charged the same price as a paperback I would have no problem.
By dan at 10:12 PM ON 06/27/08
the idea physical flipping or button pushing has always killed it for me.
I just want a nice touch screen with a tab i can drag just like a real page.
By tsim at 8:09 PM ON 06/29/08
I would have to agree with Peter here. I don't think books are ever going to go away. I do think e-readers such as these will gain ground, but always work as a supplement or an addition to books; never a replacement. As Peter says, there's something there in the experience of actually having a book. And you can't really highlight a book. Maybe it's just because we're an older generation, but I don't think so. I look forward to these to upload a whole library to so that I could travel with my library, or more to the point right now - so I could more easily transport my books as I get ready to move to South Korea! :D
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
tsim:
I would have to agree with Peter here. I don't think books are ever going to go away. I do think e-readers such a...More »