wow e-ink technology is soo bad compared to ipad screen

[PhoneI]

People are not really going to willings to just go to an ereader (iPad or kindle) for anything but the plain black text on white paper which is what almost all heavy readers read any how. In that area the kindle wins.

That is one heck of an assumption to make and I completely disagree with it. It doesn't surprise me that a Kindle owner/lover would make this statement because the Kindle can only be used for one type of text. I do all my ereading on the iPad. Comics, magazines, newspapers, children's books, technical books, books with pictures, pdf's, and novels.

I have no idea why you think people wouldn't consider ereaders for these other types of reading (my kids love reading the children books from the iBookstore). Very short sighted of you.

 

[NebulaClash]

Tell that to book publishers that it's pointless to put color covers on their novels because no reader wants anything but black and white. Yet they continue to waste money with color, the idiots...

The second eInk goes color, the current Kindle models would look pointless. Color always wins the mass market. Always.

 

[Dragoro]

Tell that to book publishers that it's pointless to put color covers on their novels because no reader wants anything but black and white. Yet they continue to waste money with color, the idiots...

The second eInk goes color, the current Kindle models would look pointless. Color always wins the mass market. Always.

Yeah that s why books are always written in colored ink instead of black and white. Heck it's been that way foe hundreds of years!


Oh wait, they haven't even though theyve had the ability to for hundreds of years.

 

[NebulaClash]

Yeah that s why books are always written in colored ink instead of black and white. Heck it's been that way foe hundreds of years!


Oh wait, they haven't even though theyve had the ability to for hundreds of years.

Ignored my point, I see. OK, live in your world, but I'm right about color. It will arrive on the Kindle and people will never look back. Most people. You can stubbornly stick with the old-fashioned.

 

[Dragoro]

Ignored my point, I see. OK, live in your world, but I'm right about color. It will arrive on the Kindle and people will never look back. Most people. You can stubbornly stick with the old-fashioned.

I didn't ignore your point, I read it and discounted it. It has nothing to do with old fashioned, it has to do with reality. Reading a several hundred page novel in colored text would kill your eyes. If color is so great, how come novels on the iPad are still written in black and white?

 

[NebulaClash]

I didn't ignore your point, I read it and discounted it. It has nothing to do with old fashioned, it has to do with reality. Reading a several hundred page novel in colored text would kill your eyes. If color is so great, how come novels on the iPad are still written in black and white?

Because most people like black on white text, of course. That's a simple question.

Now why do most people like color covers, pictures, illustrations, photos, etc.? The second those things arrive on the Kindle, giving readers the experience they are already used to with paper books that utilize color, the original Kindles will be dead. That's what color does in every single industry that it takes over.

If you walked into a bookstore and saw rows of black and white, you would be shocked at how old-fashioned it looked. That's what Kindle books look like now.

 

[handsome pete]

Because most people like black on white text, of course. That's a simple question.

Now why do most people like color covers, pictures, illustrations, photos, etc.? The second those things arrive on the Kindle, giving readers the experience they are already used to with paper books that utilize color, the original Kindles will be dead. That's what color does in every single industry that it takes over.

If you walked into a bookstore and saw rows of black and white, you would be shocked at how old-fashioned it looked. That's what Kindle books look like now.

I'll agree with you on pictures and illustrations. Color is definitely beneficial for them, but that depends on the book. Most books out there display their illustrations and photos in black and white. But no one gives a **** about covers. They're dust jackets.

 

[Night Spring]

If color is so great, how come novels on the iPad are still written in black and white?

You haven't heard of Stanza reader app, have you? You can read books in almost any color combination you can imagine. My personal favorite is blue on cream, but you can go for orange on black, dark brown on light brown, fuchsia on emerald...

Several other ereading apps also offer multiple color combinations. iBooks and Kindle app offer a "sepia" option. Kindle may also have a "night mode" - can't remember if they do or not. Point is, with a color screen, it's possible to read in colors other than black and white, and to let the readers pick their own colors. Paper books are mostly printed in black and white because that is the "greatest common denominator" - it offends no one. But as I mentioned, I like dark blue text on a off white background, it seems more restful to my eyes. But publishers just cant publish books in all color combinations likely to appeal to their readers, can they? With color ebook readers, I can pick my own colors, and you can pick yours.

 

[NebulaClash]

But no one gives a **** about covers. They're dust jackets.

Quick, inform the book publishers. They're wasting millions of dollars creating color covers for a public that doesn't want them.

 

[handsome pete]

Quick, inform the book publishers. They're wasting millions of dollars creating color covers for a public that doesn't want them.

It's not a waste of money. Covers are mostly a marketing device. It's to draw interest to the consumer.

But once that book is bought, I believe most people don't give a **** about the cover. It's not like people place their books with the covers on display at home. It's all about content after the point of sale.

 

[NebulaClash]

It's not a waste of money. Covers are mostly a marketing device. It's to draw interest to the consumer.

But once that book is bought, I believe most people don't give a **** about the cover. It's not like people place their books with the covers on display at home. It's all about content after the point of sale.

Interesting. I guess I'm different in that way as well. I take delight in looking at book covers every time I grab one.

Frankly I find it amazing that I'm arguing in favor of color over black-and-white. I'm done with this particular line of discussion as I think everyone has made their viewpoints clear. We'll see which sides wins in the long run, the color side or the black-and-white side.

 

[GnillGnoll]

but in the LCD you are getting direct lighting hitting your eyes instead of indirect reflected light. Direct lighting is harder on your eyes.

Light is light. It doesn't matter how many times it bounces before hitting your retina. An emissive screen that emits just as much light as a reflective one reflects under given lighting conditions would be just as hard on the eyes, all else being equal.

Once you've set a reasonable brightness the things that matter are glare, contrast, resolution and subpixel structure. To me the iPad lacks resolution and has too much glare to be a great e-reader.

 

[thelookingglass]

Light is light. It doesn't matter how many times it bounces before hitting your retina. An emissive screen that emits just as much light as a reflective one reflects under given lighting conditions would be just as hard on the eyes, all else being equal.

Once you've set a reasonable brightness the things that matter are glare, contrast, resolution and subpixel structure. To me the iPad lacks resolution and has too much glare to be a great e-reader.

Yep, exactly. The resolution point is particularly obvious after using the iPhone. I'd much rather read on my iphone than on my iPad because of the sharper text on the former. Glare is also a huge problem for any purpose other than reading in the dark or dimly lit rooms.

 

[Cloysterpeteuk]

I would upgrade my Kindle if the next one has a colour mirasol or ink display, not anything with a power hungry backlit display.

Though I would hope when Amazon move to colour that they sort this stupid menu system out as it's a pain, it's feels stupidly slow hitting the menu key then scrolling all the way down past the other menu options and hitting enter then your on another screen then you press enter again. Same kind of deal with changing orientation, you have to go into a book then hit menu then go down past five other menu items (no you can't press up once to get to the bottom menu item) then hit enter to choose your screen rotation. Would it have killed Amazon to put it an accelerometer?. Thank god I don't move round the options much when reading because that would annoy men far more than any half a second black flash ever could.

If it had a modern interface with touch then I could select what I wanted with one tap instantly. I guess after you've used an iPad other control methods feel pathetically slow and outdated.

 

[gloss]

Count me in the e-ink crowd. I love my Kindle.

The flashing doesn't bother me, personally. After a little while your brain starts to block it out entirely, and it just becomes visual background noise.

Folks don't bitch about physical books making a noise every time you turn a page, and I don't see why a harmless flash of black is any different.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I think some of you should read this article:

..." E Ink has a very low contrast ratio. Although it can offer an excellent reading experience in bright sunlight, the screens can become uncomfortable to use in dark settings because of the lack of contrast and backlighting on the screen.
LCD screens, meanwhile, have long struggled to offer good viewing angles for reading. Apple’s latest IPS LCD screens include extremely wide viewing angles, but the reflective glass on the screen could be a hindrance in brightly lit situations.Professor Alan Hedge, director of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University, said that reducing eye fatigue is less a matter of choosing a specific display than of taking short breaks from looking at the screen.

When we read, Dr. Hedge explained, a series of ocular muscles jump around and can cause strain, regardless of whether we are looking at pixels or paper. “While you’re reading, your eyes make about 10,000 movements an hour. It’s important to take a step back every 20 minutes and let your eyes rest,” he said.

Today’s screens are definitely less tiring to look at than older displays, which refreshed the image much less frequently, causing a flicker. Carl Taussig, director of Hewlett-Packard’s Information Surfaces Lab, said the 120 Hz refresh rate typical of modern screens is much quicker than our eyes can even see.

“The new LCDs don’t affect your eyes,” Mr. Taussig said. “Today’s screens update every eight milliseconds, whereas the human eye is moving at a speed between 10 and 30 milliseconds.”

Mr. Taussig said consumers will pick the type of screen that makes sense on an individual basis. “I don’t think there is a single technology that will be optimum for all the things we want to do with our devices. For example, H.P. sells 65 million displays a year, and they are all used in a different way.”


While I am not quoting this article as gospel, it looks like it comes down to personal preference. Personally, I prefer reading from the iPad because I like a larger screen, I often don't have the optimal lighting in the room, and I like to read photography books. The Kindle is better for reading in bright sunlight. Personally, I can read off of either one with little non-lighting related complaints.