iRiver has shown the prototype of a gesture controlled e-reader at CES called the Book2. David doesn’t like it, and Robert fears that iRiver may not market themselves enough in the US. I don’t agree; regardless of whether the Book2 is a great device or merely sufficient, it will stoke up the fire of competition under other manufacturers, which can only be good for future devices. As for the company’s marketing efforts in the US, they seem to have had a big presence this year at CES, which to me translates as “presence” (but perhaps not enough “presence”).
But come on, two screens?!? What is that about? Surfing around the blogosphere a bit, I saw people come up with busloads of reasons:
- for that truly book-like feel (Stuart Young at Mobileread)
- [in case] their first market is Playboy (a Mobileread commenter)
- two pages on view is an important part of how normal paper book reading works (another Mobileread commenter, same thread)
- you can read one page while the other one is refreshing (same here)
- better for large PDF files assuming it can switch between landscape and portrait (another one)
- you don’t need a jacket because the screens close together thus protecting them (and…)
- doing it this way you could have your text on one side and a dictionary on the other (and…)
- a touch screen on one side to take notes associated to the other side’s text (…one Mobileread commenter opening his mind thrice)
- they can display independent data, for example your ebook on one and […] a stock ticker [on the other] (mo’ Mobilereaders)
- great for those that like to read two books at once (er, lost the source there for a sec)
- [it]’s what readers want (a Teleblog commenter)
- easier to carry around and cheaper (Bookpac blog)
- what if you want to compare two pages in a book? (an Engadget commenter)
- now that‘s what I’ve been wanting to see in an e-book reader (another Engadget commenter)
- [you don’t have to look at the disruptive reflashing of the page that is required to get rid of ghosting] (and a third)
Now I may be particularly dense, but it would seem to me that most of these features can be executed in software on a screen twice the size. So you tell me: what are the real reasons for a dual screen e-reader? To help you along, I’ll add a couple myself in the comments.
(Time stamp changed from 8:30 EST last night to keep this item at the top. – David Rothman.)
How else is that single hair of your ex wedged in the spine going to make you burst into tears?
You can stand the book upright and still be able to read it.
You get to read a book with your child; you the grown-up version, s/he the one with all the good bits cut out.
For the same carrying size (when the e-reader is folded), you get a doubled screen size (when the e-reader is opened).
Another twist: one screen using e-ink and another screen using traditional LCD. These two display technologies complement each other:
E-ink:
+ great for outdoor reading,
+ low power consumption,
– grayscale only,
– slow update
LCD:
+ color,
+ fast update,
– not good to be viewed under direct sunlight,
– high power consumption
How about doubling the price of the reader so that you can feel classy carrying it aorund. You know, like driving a Mercedes! 🙂
The pictured ereader device reminds me of nothing so much as an oversized DS Lite held on its side. I think commenter Lee’s idea is a good one, but like the DS Lite the righthand screen should be a touch screen which will allow input for full text search, dictionary lookups, hyperlinking and the like. The lefthand screen could swivel and fold over on top of the righthand screen if people wanted to be able to use it one-handed (similar to how the screen of my Sony Clie UX50 folds on top of the keyboard).
My ideal ebook has not two but two hundred e-ink screens and is indistinguishable from current books except for the discreet touchscreen control panel on the inside of the front cover allowing you to choose which book in your library you would like to read. This e-book prototype has only two screens, but at least it’s a start.
Why BIND them together? Manufacture them separately, sell them as separate units. But for those people who need two screens, they can purchase a second unit, and with software, (and clever physical design) join them together and program them as desired. Simple. You need one, buy one. You need two, buy two….come to think of it, three or four, etc…
Mobileread links to a short film of the Book2 (doesn’t seem to play in Firefox, does work in IE 6/Win). From the clip we can conclude that both screens are touch screens. Also, it would appear that swiping a single screen turns both pages at once, with the expected E Ink slowness.