(Not the real thing)
Asus spoke to the Sunday Times, and said that their contribution to the e-book reader dogpile will be full-color, touchable, and equipped with speakers, a mic, and a webcam. Okay, sounds ridiculous already, but according to the Sunday Times (though they credit no one), Asus is said to be aiming at a price point of around £100. That’s less than $200, people.
Think it’s impossible? So do I. But until last year I didn’t think people would buy $300 laptops. At any rate, Asus will be showing this thing at CES, so maybe we’ll get world’s-first-hands-on with it like I did with the Eee keyboard.
[via Wired]
Impossible? No. Pointless? Yes.
The ebook reader, as so very well executed by Sony and Amazon, needs not two screens, webcam, IM client and 3D graphics chip. All that just detracts from the purpose of an ebook reader, which has but one task; to read books. Everything else is gilding the lily, and any company that doesn’t understand that will never be successful in that market, though they may very well create the most complex, pointless netbook ever created in the process.
Actually…..I always thought e-book readers were just a stepping stone to more condensed and versitile “Portable Office and Library” type technology.
And that the kindle looked like something my aunt would be using about 10 years ago. Something although sharp and functional, is ultimately outdated the moment you take it out of the box. (And no, the siren song of e-ink doesn’t sway me.)
And the fact it is going to be feature laden AND cheaper than a dedicated reader means I’d easily be more inclined to purchase it.
As they sometimes sorta say… “I’d buy that for a dollar!” (or 200).
The Sony readers always put me off due to their price. Same (but lessened somewhat) thing for the Kindle. This will be interesting…
FU Kindle with your B&W, poorly designed (aesthetically), over priced BS. I want this.
Waiting for a color ebook reader for comics and magazine subscriptions
This is the idea that would make it a perfect product, to be able to carry all my reading at once. Color would be essential for my Astronomy magazine, for example. But the real problem is: how is the magazine going to get to the reader?
Seems like they are not using e-ink… So what’s the main advantage comparing with a smart-/netbook? Altough it has a dual screen and other smart-/netbook functions… I rather have an ebook reader with e-ink…
they could be using color e-ink. it’s out there, just more expensive than this. maybe they got a bargain somewhere.
In the meantime ASUS get good market for his product and I think book reader also get success in the market.
Just a thought. Why not the reader on one side and a browser (Wi-Fi, 3G ) connectivity on the other side ? For example, reading Grapes of Wrath (for school obviously) and being able to research online the symbolism, notes, analysis, whatever on the other page. May seem lame for the layman but the education sector would benefit tremendously. Another thought would be an electronic notepad on page 2 to scribble your notes as you read for research for that final report ?!!!
hella good ideas. call em up.
Displays black/white only! So it dies for me. Too bad, ASUS!
A webcam? Why? This seems pretty useless, it also looks heavy like a laptop which isn’t why people switched to ebooks in the first place, I’ll stick with my kindle 2 that I got here: http://www.computersncs.com/rd_p?p=191614&t=9544&a=27619-skindle&gift=27619
I’m Spannish and i’ve read the notice! I think is a great kick-in-the-ass to other companies that are making their own business with those gadgets. What if it were true?
Could it be a danger for the editors? How could the books’ world change?
On the other side, i just think it’ a good way to get the culture to the masses. Double touchable screen? Full coloured? Are they serious?
Excuse me, plz! I forgot a question: what ’bout the batteries?Are they rechargable?2.5v. ? :-P :-D
wish it were true! Hoping to get one inmediately!
A 200$ price point does not seem out of line. Color LCD screens of this size are cheap. WEB cams with 1 Mp are not costly. If they use a Linux OS or variant it could be sold for 200$. The current e-book readers are just silly. How the hell can one read a graphic novel, color graphics in a non-fiction book and other graphic items in a black and white screen?
E-book readers are by nature not the answer. I can purchase a baby laptop for 400$ and have a color screen, tons of memory and a real portable tool. Who will “carry” an e-book reader normally? Men will not take this large “palm pilot” to work. Women might take one in their purse but its function is of course limited.
Amazon and Barnes and Nobel have and interest in this product as they will make easy money with files as opposed to a paper book. Also, many people will not read a book on their computer. My wife is one of those people. I truly believe that E-books have their place and will in time be will put an end to a book. In the current form, e-book readers are just lame, too small, over prices for what they offer and look cheap!
Project Gutenberg has virtually every public domain book on their servers and in many languages. I download a few myself. If am going to read the electronic file I will do so on my 17″ laptop and not a 3 or 4″ wide screen in black and white. Unless mankind can figure out how to shrink our body parts than there is a limitation to a form factor. Yes, they can make things smaller yet but how small? I predict that the way e-readers will work is with some LCD goggles on an Ipod. We can turn the pages with a voice command or other method. Maybe we can just get a book and force our hands to turn a page. I’m out of breath now….221 pages ot go.