[MGP-Forum Announce] Sony starts selling the Soney eBook reader: $349.00

[Martin Langeveld]

I'm over 50 and I want one.
Just to emphasize one thing: the Sony Reader (and another recent
introduction called the Iliad, by the Belgian company Irex, an offshoot of
Phillips) use an E-paper screen (see www.eink.com), which is not a standard
"backlit" computer screen, but uses reflected light and has a very sharp
resolution similar to printed paper.  7000 page views per battery charge
means you can read for weeks or months without having to plug the thing in.
This is not like trying to read a book on your PDA.
________________________________________________
Martin C. Langeveld
Publisher, Brattleboro Reformer - www.Reformer.com 
62 Black Mountain Rd., P. O. Box 802, Brattleboro, VT 05302
802-254-2311 Ext. 101; mlangeveld at reformer.com
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: post-bounces at mgp-forum.org [mailto:post-bounces at mgp-forum.org] On
Behalf Of Aldon Hynes
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2006 9:11 AM
To: post at mgp-forum.org
Subject: Re: [MGP-Forum Announce] Sony starts selling the Soney eBook
reader: $349.00

As an old guard, hardcore geek, nestled between the over-50 crowd and the
under 30's (although rapidly approaching the over-50 crowd), I've always
been interested in eBooks.

I do wonder who the target demographic really will be.  As a techie tool, it
would seem as if it would appeal more to the under 30 crowd.  Yet Jane is
right in talking about how the under 30 demographic wants more multimedia
and interaction.  Now, if you can cross an iPod, an eBook, a Gameboy and
interface it with FaceBook, you might have something.

As to the over 50 demographic, I am dubious.  My mother loves to reads, but
won't use much for new technology.  Her palsy is bad enough so that she can
still hold hardcovers, but trying to push some buttons or touch the screen
in the right place to select a book, etc, just won't happen.

On top of that, earlier this month, my wife, no where near the over-50
crowd, contracted Lyme disease.  For the past few weeks, she has not had the
energy to do much other than sit in bed and read.  She's tried to use the
computer, but it hurt her eyes.  I imagine she wouldn't have had much use
for an eBook.

Beyond that, when I've used my laptop at the beach, like I said, I'm an old
guard hardcore geek, I've often found the screen hard to read, and beach
reading is one of those special reading times, so I worry about eBooks
there.

Yeah, I might be wrong, but it seems like eBooks needs to find its niche,
and it hasn't yet.

My two cents.

Aldon

P.S.  My wife is doing a lot better now.

P.P.S. That said, we are going to run out and pickup Second Hand Smoke by
Karen E. Olson for her to read this weekend.  Check out Paul Bass' review at
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/Arts/archives/arts_entertainment/books/re
porter_wooed.html




_______________________________________________
Post mailing list
Post at mgp-forum.org
http://mgp-forum.org/mailman/listinfo/post_mgp-forum.org