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How many e-book readers do you think are out there right now for you to choose from? If you did a
little digging, I bet you’d find 50 or so. Maybe 10 really worth checking out. But right
now is a bit of a weird period in e-reader history. The Kindle cemented e-readers in the
consumer headspace, catapulting them from weirdo alternative technology to mainstream gadget.
That’s what the iPad threatens to do with
tablets — we’ll see about that. But the Kindle and the iPad are two important forces
in the current e-reader wars; the question, upon the answer of which depends the success of many
a device, is whether “bonus” features like second screens and weird form factors in
e-readers will be enough to differentiate them from the high-profile devices pressing them on
both flanks?
Take a second to imagine it as a battle between three armies. On one side of the field is the
steadfast Kindle Corps, seasoned and numerous. On the other is the glorious Apple Brigade,
untried in e-reader combat but veteran of other battles. In between them is a menagerie of Sony,
Asus, and miscellaneous independent mercenaries, bristling with foreign and barbaric weapons,
gathering together only because they don’t stand a chance by themselves. In real life, they
are not gathered at all, but that doesn’t work with the metaphor. Maybe they have a
non-aggression pact or something, I don’t know. Regardless, the battle is about to begin.
See, the vast majority of e-readers were designed as a response to the Kindle, not to tablet
computers, which may or may not obsolete e-readers altogether. It’s a bad situation:
the whole time you’re improving your competitor’s product, someone else is skipping
your entire device class on the grounds that it will be made ridiculous by their awesome
gadget. Some of the special features developed to combat the Kindle will stay, and some
won’t live to see their own first birthday.
Personally, I think e-readers will stick around next to tablet computers, since it’s just
as much of a problem for a device to do too much as it is for it to do too
little. You may not want your e-mail and browsing device to be the same as your reading
device. And of course the Kindle isn’t the end of all readers: the generation currently
being released has among its members a few interesting features… and a few duds.
Let’s take a look.
The nook
is what people think of when this type of e-reader is brought up, and for good reason. It’s
a sexy little bugger. Now, compare it to its rivals: the upcoming
Spring Design Alex and the Entourage
Edge. What do you see? A larger secondary screen. Better, right? Unfortunately, the secondary
screen does two things that pretty much sabotage the idea.
First, it takes away from the readable area (the main screen); 90% of the time you are using an
e-reader, you are reading. That is the device’s stated purpose. When you put in a
secondary screen, you are subtracting from the functional part of your device. I think it’s
an unstated but obvious goal of design that your device should primarily do what it
does.
Second, it implies uselessness on the part of the e-ink screen for UI stuff, and suggests to the
consumer “If you want to do stuff other than read e-books, you’re better off with a
device that’s all secondary screen.” It’s like admitting a strike
against your product before the consumer even sees it. Bad idea.
Not to mention having a color LCD screen raises the cost of the device considerably. It is for
these reasons that I think the secondary screen is a one-generation fluke, not likely to be seen
again after 2010.
There actually aren’t many that fall under this category, but they are on their way, and I
believe this is something that will stick around. Depending on the technology used (Mirasol,
pigment
pores), there may be no downside to having a color screen other than cost. That is to say
that reflectivity, weight, responsiveness, contrast, and resolution will remain the same, except
now you have color (however washed out in these first devices).
As I said, there are practically none of these devices on the market right now. Asus
has an OLED-based one it wants to push, but at six inches it’s not very tempting, and
of course it’ll be expensive. And it’s more of a tablet anyway, so it gets ignored.
But you can bet that Amazon, Sony, and every other company is pushing display R&D like none
other trying to get color e-ink to work for a decent price. We’ll probably have a few
announcements this year, but no products until next CES.
On the other hand, we already have Pixel
Qi, which may beg the question of color e-ink before the latter is even viable. On that
front, we have the popular Notion Ink Adam, demoed
here, which is one of the few devices which genuinely falls under both the e-reader and
tablet categories. Personally I’m bullish about it, though I’m afraid it may crumple
under the combined pressure of Amazon and Apple, both of which will be gunning for it.
At any rate, color is here to stay. Whether it’s an unexploited e-ink technology or a
hybrid like Pixel Qi, you better believe that color will huge in the next year. Not only does it
open up capability for running some applications, but it also lets the device and creator tap
into the huge academic book market, which needs color. Believe me, I wouldn’t have
passed my Neuroanatomy classes with a black and white textbook.
Are you kidding me? Almost every interactive device in the world is going to be touchable by the
end of 2010. Any e-readers that don’t have this feature by the holidays are going to be
laughed at long and hard. Touchscreens you can write on are going to be key as well; if your
e-reader can replace the “back of the napkin” sketches, diagrams, and calculations
you do already, then hell, why not?
The Entourage
Edge needs another mention here, since it has that book-like format, but as I noted before,
that actually ends up being a weakness. You’re splitting your functionality and essentially
the user can only use half the device at any given time, and is all the while thinking
“Man, I wish the other half of this thing didn’t exist right now.” The
Courier, which obviously is not e-reader but tablet, solves this by having both sides active
at all times. Not possible for the Edge.
Here’s a tough one: the
Samsung E6. Its slider form factor reminds one of their slider phones —
this thing in particular. But there are plenty of objections here. You see it and immediately
think, “an e-reader with moving parts? No thanks.” I mean really, simplicity is key
with a device that’s meant to replace a paperback. And anyone will be able to tell
you’re doing something wrong when you need a whole huge sliding mechanism just to reveal a
D-pad and a couple buttons that could easily have been put where the Samsung logo is. And the
speakers are on it too! What the hell, guys? Well, we can all agree that the E6 is going to sell
about three units. I think sliders are out.
But what about a sliding QWERTY keyboard? I haven’t seen one of those yet, but I’m
afraid it might have the same issues as the E6. Besides, better displays means better on-screen
keyboards. These things aren’t meant for typing anyway. Leave it to tablet computers to
figure this out.
What about ultra-slim? Hey, why not? My favorite e-book
reader out there is the Plastic Logic
Que, for no other reason than that it’s slim and handsome, just like me. Seriously
though, a touchscreen (however primitive) and a thin, refined design will sell against the most
robust competitors, and the Que is refined as all hell (though sadly,
delayed). If someone really and truly just wants to read books and magazines on an e-ink
screen, they don’t want or need anything else, but they do care whether it looks
like they’re reading a gigantic BlackBerry or not. Slim, buttonless designs will stay. You
can be sure the next Kindle will have one (though will likely keep its signature side buttons).
Flexibility? The Skiff is
working at this, and it’s something e-ink and (kind of) OLEDs are uniquely capable of at
the moment, but I get the feeling it’s going to end up on the low-end devices. See, as long
as a consumer is paying $400 or so for a device like this, I think that for the time being, they
are going to want build quality that suggests that. They want glass, metal, rigidity, sturdiness,
all that. Until you can actually roll or fold up your e-reader, I don’t see this
being a big selling point. But don’t count it out completely; this feature isn’t
dead, it’s just sleeping.
Another tough one. I don’t have a problem with Android on e-readers — it adds a
little credibility somehow, and I’m sure there are going to be a few apps (if there
aren’t already) that are meant to run only on e-readers, for customizing this or that, or
finding free books. If Android is to be the de facto OS of e-readers, so be it. I feel
that Chrome OS will be too much for an e-reader, so it doesn’t pose a threat, nor any of
the other mobile or free OSes. They could just as easily run a different Linux-based OS, but
Android has name recognition and probably some handy 3G and mobile wi-fi stacks.
There is the issue, however, that in some devices Android does more to show what the device is
not capable of that what it is. Look at
this little thing from Gigabyte. The OS looks completely out of place there, and is a mess to
navigate.
As for Apps in general, well, I think we’ll see a basic stable of apps develop —
things that are applicable to e-ink screens, probably features that the creators should have
included. Most e-readers don’t have the kind of displays or usage patterns as other Android
devices, so lots of the Marketplace will be pointless. And as for other apps, I guarantee
anything worth getting will be integrated into the second generation of the reader as a native
function. Color screens and better responsiveness might change this (as would a Pixel Qi rout)
but for now I’m saying Apps aren’t going to win any battles. Besides, Apple’s
got them licked there.
It should be noted that there are plenty of perfectly nice-looking e-book readers out there that
are not “special” in any way.
Look at this Asus one. Doesn’t it look nice? Yes. But the competition will bury it
unless it’s stupid cheap. The Kindle clones will disappear because the vanilla
Kindle form factor and feature set will start to show its age to casual consumers this year,
especially as alternative and open book stores begin to proliferate (options!) and alternative
e-readers penetrate the collective attention bubble. And of course you can expect a totally new
device from Amazon this year as well, though they got
a bit of a late start.
And what will be the effect of the iPad on all this? I don’t want to say much on this,
because there’s still a lot to be learned about that device. I said earlier that e-readers
will exist alongside tablets for some time, and I stand by that. If people really like to read
books on a device of this form factor, I doubt the iPad (or similar devices) will be their only
device.
Personally, I’m sticking with books, and looking forward to tablets as a way to
read newspapers and magazines, which obviously require color and a net connection, neither of
which is a guarantee with the current or impending generation of e-readers. I’ll be
interested to see how my predictions fare against reality, but I think I’m on solid ground
with most of them.
It's not that I don't like other people – indeed I would go so far as to lay
claim to a rich and varied social life. It's just that, as I have grown older, I have found that
I increasingly like spending holidays in a place where I can guarantee that I won't have to talk
to anyone. Not splendid isolation exactly, no far-flung mountain huts or Buddhist retreats,
rather something we might class as "minimal interaction": no small-talk by the pool, late-night
karaoke or group safari outings, thank you very much.
For this, I blame the holidays of my childhood: invariably two weeks in a remote cottage in
Anglesey. There were long walks, damsons to pick, fields of cows and sheep to admire and
occasional trips to the beach but, crucially, also plenty of time to read, eat, sleep and row
about in the creek at the bottom of the garden. I would holiday there still, were it not for the
flat grey skies and the viciously cold Irish Sea. For the past few years I have been trying to
find somewhere that, while warmer than north Wales in August, is still just as quiet and still
and lovely.
And so it may puzzle you to learn that I recently took a holiday to Thailand. Some 14 million
people flock here each year, drawn by the natural beauty and myriad delights: elephant rides and
jungle adventures, temples, beaches, romantic idylls and, of course, phenomenal food. As I stood
on the streets of Bangkok, breathing in the canteen smells and the diesel smoke, listening to the
calls of the market vendors selling everything from Viagra to coconut water, and wind-up toy dogs
to neatly-threaded garlands of flowers, I began to fear that visiting Thailand to escape the
world might have been a giant mistake.
But Bangkok was not my ultimate destination. Two hundred miles east of this giddying street, near
the Cambodian border, lies the small island of Koh Kood, home to rainforest, coconut and rubber
plantations, sleepy fishing villages, and fewer than 2,000 people.
Koh Kood's great advantage is its relative remoteness. Getting there requires an internal flight
or train journey from Bangkok, followed by an hour's boat ride from the mainland. This sounds
more of an expedition than it actually is. It's about an hour from Bangkok to the small airport
at Trat, with its manicured lawns and string of topiary elephants along the runway. The car ride
to the ferry port took me through lush green countryside, past villages and temples and fruit
stalls. And there are, I thought to myself as I watched the land disappear and the surf ride up
behind our speedboat, surely worse ways to spend an hour than sailing the clear blue waters of
the Gulf of Thailand, especially if you care to use the time for a bit of dolphin-spotting.
Accommodation on Koh Kood is varied. There are homestays and budget hotels, as well as a handful
of luxury resorts, but even these promote a barefoot, relaxed approach. There are no landlines,
little internet access, and few cars. Electricity is minimal – homes and
hotels rely on generators or solar power. All is slow, warm tranquillity.
I disembarked at the jetty of Away, a quietly luxurious resort with a cluster of bungalows
overlooking a bay. There's plenty of warm and graceful hospitality here, as well as a spa and one
of Koh Kood's best diving centres, but no one jostles you into a hike or a snorkelling excursion.
Mostly this makes for a fine place to do nothing; slow and calm and unruffled, you can feel Koh
Kood subtly working its way into your bones. On an average day here I did little beyond loll
about in the hammocks and deckchairs along the boardwalk, beneath the palm trees, and
strategically positioned on the jetty to take in the sunset. I took a kayak across the clear blue
sea to a small golden curve of beach; I took a quiet boat ride over to it the next bay. I swam, I
slept, I read some Per Petterson, and amid the cool rooms and quiet corners, I felt my mind
gently unwinding.
Most evenings, when the sun was low but the air was still heavy and damp, I strolled into the
nearby village, for dinner or a beer. The road is a dusty strip, tan-coloured and warm underfoot,
and at night the jungle grows inky black, full of twitching, chirruping, wild sounds
– the calls of birds and frogs and monkeys. The restaurants here are simple
but fantastic, and after even a short walk through the thick evening air you are pleased to find
a cold bottle of Chang beer and a bowl of yellow curry.
A short jeep drive from Away, Shantaa is an undeniable step up in luxury. The 10 private villas
sit on a hillside, amid lush gardens, with a simple stylish bedroom, a balcony and an open-air
bathroom, home to exotic flowers, passing geckos and, to my great excitement, even the occasional
iguana. There is a village nearby where you could venture for dinner, but it would be hard to
leave the resort's restaurant. Family-owned and staffed by students, it is one of the island's
best. The menu offers traditional Thai dishes plus some twists, such as raw sea bass salad with
peanut sauce, and mango parfait with coconut ice cream.
I can think of few places I have enjoyed staying more. Flinging open the doors of my villa to lie
in bed and watch the sun rise over the palms each morning, I would cross over the wooden pier to
walk along the long stretch of soft, pale sand. Afternoons would be spent swimming in the warm
turquoise sea, sipping limeade at the beachside cafe, and taking an open-air Thai massage, all
feet and breath and tiger balm, to the sound of birdsong and the steady hush of the waves.
For a treat I spent my last night at Soneva Kiri, which was a bit of a trip from the sublime to
the ridiculous. Imagine an uber-swanky Center Parcs, an enclosed resort amid acres of forest and
organic vegetable gardens, where guests fly in by private plane, and spend their days in a kind
of ludicrous Hollywood luxury; where you have your own personal valet, and everyone hums about on
golf buggies and retro bicycles, shuttling between the spa and the library and the giant
inflatable cinema screen (available for private hire, should the mood strike you).
I can think of few places less like the remote Welsh cottage of my childhood holidays, and even
if you can't afford to stay there, the resort's Benz's restaurant is worth seeking out, for an
exquisite, Thai feast, from leaf-wrapped mieng kam to sweet tapioca in coconut milk and
perfectly ripe mango and dragonfruit, served as you watch the sun dip below the water and the
fireflies begin to blink.
Later, as I took a midnight swim beneath a clear sky and a full moon, I thought how finally,
after all this time, I had found an island every bit as quiet and still and lovely as a rainy
Anglesey in August.
You hear that,
developers? You should be shakin' in yer boots -- motion-based gaming is going to force
you to throw away everything you've ever learned about game design and start anew. At least that's
what Lionhead's Peter Molyneux (not so
exaggeratedly) had to say when quizzed on the subject of the "arms race" between the big three for
waggle supremacy. "All of this stuff is making all the designers sweat -- I've met lots of
designers at GDC, and we're all very bleary-eyed at the moment because every rule we've got, we're
having to throw away," Molyneux told Eurogamer.
And understandably so. Between WIi's established console dominance (not to mention last year's
MotionPlus add-on), this week's unveiling of
PlayStation Move, and Microsoft's
Project Natal this holiday, there's a lot to
work with. It's this problem, though, that Molyneux believes will forge new types of game
experiences in the years to come. "I don't think the first wave of these motion-control titles will
be what you expect .... just as with every hardware chain, it's the second wave where they usually
come up with stuff that's interesting ... so the second wave could be really cool."
And as far as Natal in
Fable 3 goes, the eccentric developer kept mum on the specifics, only offering, "You
can expect us to use Natal to make you laugh and to surprise you and to give you this feeling of
power -- there are some very obvious things we could do, like controlling the GUI in Natal, and it
doesn't really excite me." Tom
Cruise will be so disappointed.
You hear that,
developers? You should be shakin' in yer boots -- motion-based gaming is going to force
you to throw away everything you've ever learned about game design and start anew. At least that's
what Lionhead's Peter Molyneux (not so
exaggeratedly) had to say when quizzed on the subject of the "arms race" between the big three for
waggle supremacy. "All of this stuff is making all the designers sweat -- I've met lots of
designers at GDC, and we're all very bleary-eyed at the moment because every rule we've got, we're
having to throw away," Molyneux told Eurogamer.
And understandably so. Between WIi's established console dominance (not to mention last year's
MotionPlus add-on), this week's unveiling of
PlayStation Move, and Microsoft's
Project Natal this holiday, there's a lot to
work with. It's this problem, though, that Molyneux believes will forge new types of game
experiences in the years to come. "I don't think the first wave of these motion-control titles will
be what you expect .... just as with every hardware chain, it's the second wave where they usually
come up with stuff that's interesting ... so the second wave could be really cool."
And as far as Natal in
Fable 3 goes, the eccentric developer kept mum on the specifics, only offering, "You
can expect us to use Natal to make you laugh and to surprise you and to give you this feeling of
power -- there are some very obvious things we could do, like controlling the GUI in Natal, and it
doesn't really excite me." Tom
Cruise will be so disappointed.
There’s a big geeky holiday coming this weekend — and no, I don’t mean SXSW.
It’s Pi Day on Sunday, aka March 14, aka 3/14. But in the leadup to this year’s day
most resembling the constant ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, many
self-proclaimed nerds are ramping up for the longest extended Pi Day of our time, on 3/14/15. As
a rapidly growing Facebook event, “The Only Pi Day of Our
Lives,” explains,
Yes, the time is upon us. Everyone knows pi day is March 14th, but any true nerd realizes pi is
not 3.14, but rather an irrational constant which continues infinitely in decimal expansion.
Starting at 9:26:53 (.589… sec) AM, the longest extended Pi Day of our lives will come into
action. The date, at the AM and PM hours, will be ” 3/14/15 at 9:26:53.589. Days like this
only come once in a lifetime!
Sure, it might be a bit of an exaggeration to say “the time is upon us” for an event
five years out, but honestly, what’s more charmingly nerdy than prepping for Pi Day? The
Facebook event, which has 131,871 registered participants and encourages attendees to invite all
the nerds they know, does note that 1592 was a better year for Pi Day, and that there are many
way to interpret pi’s existence in all sorts of dates. Pi Day, by the way, is totally
legit; it was officially recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives last year.
Image from piday.org. Video of a 6-year-old reciting 380
digits of pi in Japanese from YouTube.
No need to travel nearly an hour to Disneyland when you’ve got 350 attractions on your
doorstep…
Photos: JasonW
Like the ambience of an traditional-style funfair, with ferris wheels, candy floss and giant
stuffed toys? Then the Foire du Trône is for you! On a large stretch of land at the edge of
the Bois de Vincennes (on the east of the city), you have two months to sample the atmosphere,
show off your shooting and punching skills and perhaps go home with a teddy bear! (or flatscreen
TV, depending on your luck).
It’s open every day of the week from midday to midnight (and 1am on Saturdays and the night
before public holidays) with stall and attractions for all ages.
And popular it certainly is: 1.2 million visitors every year!
Our advice is to use public transport to get there (the metro drops you off two minutes away). In
a car, you’ll spend more time looking for a space than screaming on the rides
The Foire du Trône is on the Pelouse de Reuilly (here) from 3rd April – 31st May 2010. Open every day from midday to
midnight (1am Saturdays and the night before public holidays).
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