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Handhelds Displays Hardware

Sony Launches First Commercial Electronic Paper Display Reader 410

Posted by CowboyNeal from the online-news-in-newsprint dept.
prostoalex writes "The e-paper is coming to reality in the form of a 6" screen with higher than usual 170 dpi and $381 price tag. It runs a customized version of Linux, and being Sony-branded, supports MemoryStick. The British journalists claim that three AAA batteries keep it up for 10,000 pages, but it's not too clear whether they've actually verified it, or just read the press-release. The manufacturers are hoping to sell 5,000 of these a month as their best-case scenario."
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Sony Launches First Commercial Electronic Paper Display Reader More

Sony Launches First Commercial Electronic Paper Display Reader

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  • Uh.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Voltiare ( 750594 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:45AM (#8947447)
    Hey, I have a bunch of those. I call them "books".

  • One question (Score:5, Interesting)

    by notamac ( 750472 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:45AM (#8947450) Homepage
    Anyone have any idea on what the refresh rate on these things is? I've always imagined the whole e-paper thing must be fairly slow at scrolling/turning the page - but I hope I'm wrong!

    • Re:One question (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Bugmaster ( 227959 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:51AM (#8947475) Homepage
      It doesn't really need to be fast -- in a real book, you don't flip the pages all that often. Plus, this device uses power when changing the state of the pixels; my guess is that actual animation would drain its batteries fairly quickly.

      • Re:One question (Score:5, Interesting)

        by femto ( 459605 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:26AM (#8947577) Homepage
        But one of the advantages of a book is being able to 'flick' through it at high speed, which would require a high refresh rate. I guess having a search function may alleviate this drawback, but it still wouldn't be as intuitive or as fast (if hopping backwards and forwards). Perhaps 'hopping backwards and forwards' might be solved by having 'memory' buttons or tabs on the screen to memorise positions in the book?

        • bookmarks (Score:4, Informative)

          by interactive_civilian ( 205158 ) <mamoru@gmaiOOOl.com minus threevowels> on Friday April 23, 2004 @07:44AM (#8948171) Homepage Journal
          Most document readers on PDAs allow you to set bookmarks in the text for easy jumping back and forth. E.G. I use a program called TiBR for PalmOS on my Visor and have about 20 books stored on it right now. I just went through and set the bookmarks for each chapter, as well as memorable quotes and such and now I can zip through them quite quickly.

          I can also jump anywhere in the book based on percent, so if I can remember where things are in the book based on the percentage (not unlike remembering approximate page numbers in a dead tree book) then I can jump to that area very quickly.

          It is also nice how the book stays on the same page when you "close" it (quit the program) and them "open" it again (open the program). Say hello to the end of traditional bookmarks and/or dogeared pages. :D

          I can't imagine why this bookreader would be any different...

          Incidently, reading eBooks on a PDA is great for reading on a train (such as those you find in Japan). You can read one handed and use the scroll buttons to flip the "pages" (great when you are standing up and have to hold on to a handle)...

      • Re:One question (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Hacksaw ( 3678 )
        in a real book, you don't flip the pages all that often

        Unless, of course, you are searching back a bunch of pages quickly, like people do all the time while reading novels with tricky plots.

        The ability to flip quickly through a book is a powerful search mechanism. I remember the shape of important pages, how the text was arranged. I'd bet that people do this in other ways as well, such as remembering the first line of a page, or words along the outside edge.

        • Re:One question (Score:5, Insightful)

          by FyRE666 ( 263011 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @07:52AM (#8948197) Homepage
          in a real book, you don't flip the pages all that often

          Unless, of course, you are searching back a bunch of pages quickly, like people do all the time while reading novels with tricky plots.
          I believe that some scientists have developed "text searching" technologies that allow computing devices to "search" through the words in a file. Hopefully this device could make use of this new advance, and "search" the pages a bit faster than you could flick around the pages of a book... ;-)
    • I'm pretty sure the only "refreshing" it does is when there's an actual change - it doesn't even consume power when it's idling on a page.

      • Re:One question (Score:2, Informative)

        by loveaxelrod ( 544393 )
        it doesn't even consume power when it's idling on a page It consumes power all the time, whether refreshing the page or not.
        • it doesn't even consume power when it's idling on a page

          It consumes power all the time, whether refreshing the page or not.

          Are you talking about the display or the device as a whole? The display, which is what we're discussing, doesn't draw any power at rest. From the press release:

          "Because the display uses power only when an image is changed, "

    • Re:One question (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ashkar ( 319969 )
      As several others have already mentioned, the device only consumes power when changing the display (page) and leaves the display in a static state at all other times. In a video demonstration I saw of this or a very similar technology, the time to switch the display to a new page would probably be a little slower than desired, say 1-2 seconds, but easily fast enough to be quite usable.

  • i hate sony (Score:2, Interesting)

    by roofy ( 766301 )
    i have one problem with this: memory stick; e-paper has to be flexible in the sense that it cant only support memory stick, thats like releasing paper that can only be written on with a special brand of pens, for the e-paper thing to take off we need multi format e-stationary

    • Re:i hate sony (Score:5, Interesting)

      by eclectro ( 227083 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:06AM (#8947511)
      for the e-paper thing to take off we need multi format e-stationar

      Well it won't happen here. Sony has been pushing their proprietary "memory stick" which uses heavy drm called "magicgate" in all of their products hoping that the sheer number of devices they can put it in will give it a valid/default market base.
      • Sony has been pushing their proprietary "memory stick" which uses heavy drm called "magicgate" in all of their products hoping that the sheer number of devices they can put it in will give it a valid/default market base.

        ... must have found the source of all evil [ofallevil.com] and drunk from one of the fountains in the lobby of the building with the catchy logo over the entrance.

        It is a small wonder the owner of this url has not had his pants sued off yet. Perhaps somebody on /. is brave enough to set up 'inleague.wit
    • Worst of all, the Sony Memory Stick is a "dumb" format. Unlike Compact Flash, all of the read/write electronics are in the device itself. This probably makes the Memory Sticks cheaper to produce, although you'll notice they don't sell for less, funny how that works. Compact Flash, on the other hand, has most of the read/write electronics in the CF media itself. This means the device is potentially simplified a bit (probably not much chance of affecting the price significantly, but less to break over time),

  • I wonder.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by XaXXon ( 202882 ) <xaxxon&gmail,com> on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:48AM (#8947457) Homepage
    where's the source for their modified linux?

    Seems like every time an announcement like this is made a week later we find out they aren't making the source available..

  • Old Reliable (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Obyron ( 615547 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:49AM (#8947461)
    For me nothing will ever beat the feeling of actually having the paper in my hands. Sorry folks, it may be mean to the trees, but nothing has the same feel as an actual paper book.

    • Re:Old Reliable (Score:5, Insightful)

      by JanneM ( 7445 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:41AM (#8947641) Homepage
      I think you misunderstand the intended use of devices like this.

      I have a PDA for reading, but for me it not as an alternative to books - it's an alternative to _no_ books. It's something I can carry around that can contain several hundred texts (including reference works, fiction and so on) when I am travelling, when I am not at home, or (as now) when I live in a different country for a time. Bringing along hundreds of physical books is just not an option.

      The feature set of this device is (for me) properly compared with the PDA I currently use, rather than with a physical book. Sadly, while the screen seems very good, the use of DRM will likely cripple the device so badly it might as well not exist for me.

      I have zero interest in buying content for it - I just want to be able to easily upload any textual content in a standard format (be it html, pdf or whatever) and display and search it on the device. I suspect that this is not possible with this device.

    • Re:Old Reliable (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gilroy ( 155262 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @05:07AM (#8947719) Homepage Journal
      Blockquoth the poster:

      For me nothing will ever beat the feeling of actually having the paper in my hands.

      That's perfectly fine. But the generation has already been born that will not share your preference. It's a matter of what's available when you grow up. My teachers' teachers wrote everything by long hand, including final versions of thngs. My teachers used the typewriter for final versions but composed in longhand. I write everything in a word processor first time through but still prefer hardcopy for reading. My students will soon be comfortable composing and reading electronically.

      My question is, what's next?

      • Re:Old Reliable (Score:5, Interesting)

        by fucksl4shd0t ( 630000 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @06:57AM (#8948059) Homepage Journal

        That's perfectly fine. But the generation has already been born that will not share your preference. It's a matter of what's available when you grow up. My teachers' teachers wrote everything by long hand, including final versions of thngs. My teachers used the typewriter for final versions but composed in longhand. I write everything in a word processor first time through but still prefer hardcopy for reading. My students will soon be comfortable composing and reading electronically.

        Gee, I wonder where I fit in. I'm 30ish (well, I'll be thirty this year), and I prefer typing to writing on paper, but I actually prefer the Grafitti on my Clie to typing. Sure, it's not as fast, but it's much more portable than a keyboard. I can't even remember the last time I read something on a paper book. I fill up all available memory on my Clie with books, and as I finish each one I delete it. When it's empty of books, I fill it again. I've been reading more and at a steadier rate for the last 6 months than I *ever* have in my life, and I"ve got much less time to do so than I ever have in my life.

        And I just know that when we can write into a computer, we can search what we've written, and when the computer shows us what we wrote, it can be read by anyone in any font they prefer. Beats the hell out of rating someone's penmanship everytime you try to read their longhand.

        My question is, what's next?

        Um, penis tattoos?

    • Re:Old Reliable (Score:4, Insightful)

      by klaasb ( 523629 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @05:18AM (#8947739)
      That is probably just you.
      In a few generation all the children have to carry to school is one sheet op electronic paper.
      There backs won't be damaged by loads of books and notebooks.

      And ofcourse they will laugh at there old fasioned grandpa. Electronic paper is to paper, what paper is to clay tablets.
  • and can be seen in sunny environments? Erm, is that right?

  • The next step (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Capt'n Hector ( 650760 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:50AM (#8947467)
    Why is this only being marked for e-books? Why not slap a wifi card and set it up to scan the 'net for rss feeds? Laptop monitor? I don't know about the rest of you, but I primarily use my monitor for reading text. Wouldn't it be nice to have a secondary display in which you can do word processing, read and compose email, browse slashdot, run command lines... I don't know about you guys, but I think that would be pretty sweet.

    So the question is, would this be possible? Can the screen refresh its contents fast enough for normal computer use? Can it be used interchangably as a regular monitor? If so, this thing sounds great.

  • Can it read free content ? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mbyte ( 65875 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:51AM (#8947473) Homepage
    Does anyone know if you can upload some "free" texts (HowTo's, gutenberg, etc) to this device ? The article only mentions BBeB, which has rather tight restrictions ... (i'm not permitted to read my books after 2 months ?! )
    • I went to Sonys site for the answer, and as per usual for Sony, they arn't very clear on the details. But, what it says is that in order to get the books on your dily-bop whatever it's called, you have to download them from certain sites wich have a membership fee per month that will alow you to download 3-5 books a month for 6-10USD a month. It doesn't say what the format is, so i guess you'll have to find someone that has one and ask them :)

      I think it's pretty cool and i might wanna get one, but i just

    • Customized Version of Linux? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      We should have the sources, right?
      If we can compile them and upgrade the device, there should not be any problem: we will probably be able to display whatever we want.

      Any other clue about that?

    • "It runs a customized version of Linux, and being Sony-branded, supports MemoryStick."

      Since it runs Linux, I'm sure someone will come up with something.

      • Maybe -- but reading Memory Stick media without Sony's software is somewhere on the scale of "monumental"; they've got some serious protection in place there. So sure, you might be able to replace whatever internal flash the thing uses and boot your own OS -- but if you can't get to the hardware, what good does it do?

        See the PS/2 for an example of what I'm talking 'bout; sony has a fully GPLed release of their custom kernel source, but still nobody but them can touch the hardware.

    • Re:Can it read free content ? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by WindBourne ( 631190 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @06:32AM (#8947977) Journal
      If not, just wait. This is the first of many that are coming. You can bet on it that ones that allow gutenberg downloads will do very well.

  • Dupe... (Score:2, Informative)

    by bircho ( 559727 )

    Nothing new here:Link [slashdot.org]

    • Re:Dupe...Not. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by barc0001 ( 173002 )
      It's not a dupe. The first story said they were going to launch it, with some few details. Now they have launched it with more details and some first impressions.

    • I have an idea for some amazing new technology. It's called "search". The /. editors would use this killer app to see if a given story had already been posted on their own web site. If a submitted "new" story contained a link that was also contained in a past story, that would be noted and links to the old stories would be provided so that the editor could see if the story was a duplicate.

      Another wild new idea: moderating stories and having that affect the editors' karma. Oh wait, that isn't a new idea, it

  • Getting there (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Teclis ( 772299 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:53AM (#8947480) Homepage
    Now they need to make the power supply and electronics smaller, and the display bigger (at least 8.5x11). Add the ability to be able to roll it up or fold it and put it in your pocket and I might think about getting one.

    Minority report is approaching.....

    • Re:Getting there (Score:3, Insightful)

      by evilviper ( 135110 )

      and the display bigger (at least 8.5x11).

      What? Why in the hell would they do that?

      As it is, it's bigger than most books I read, and considering the big margins in books to accomodate for the binding and whatnot, this is probably effectively much larger.

      Besides, even if making it biger had some advantage, I wouldn't want it. 8.5x11 would make it so big it would be definately non-portable. As it is, I could carry it around pretty easy, and it's still big enough to read from comfortably.

      I think they nee

  • refresh rate is not an issue (Score:5, Insightful)

    by randomized ( 132106 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:53AM (#8947482)
    Unlike displays we are using to watch movies and play games, e-paper does not need insane refresh rates and even if it's 5 frames per second, allows for better quality reading due to very high contrast ratios.

    Remember that this is black and white (at best greyscale) technology primarly designed for reading text. It will definitely be faster to change page than for you to flip the page of the book when reading.

    I can't wait to get my hands on those. E-books are finally readable :)
    • 5 frames per second would make it last for a little more than half an hour on those 3 AAA batteries.
      • Of course, reading the parent again, I realize a 5 fps refresh rate doesn't necessarily mean it'll show 5 new pages per second. So it'll be perfectly usable as an e-book reader.

        My point is that you won't be running any games or window managers (or anything else that requires animation) with this technology.

    • Re:refresh rate is not an issue (Score:5, Insightful)

      by S3D ( 745318 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @05:28AM (#8947763)
      Unlike displays we are using to watch movies and play games
      However It could be quite good for low graphics, turn based puzzle/strategy games. Think of Minesweeper, soliter, chess, etc. Could be another opportunity for small/indie developers (think of low cost 2$ games), and it can also leverage Linux gaming...If it has WiFi or bluetooth it could be a viable multiplayer platform too.
    • How about a "refresh" rate of 0? There is nothing of that with this product. The idea is to use energy to change screen, but once changed, it remains without any extra energy.

  • 170 dpi? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Amiga Lover ( 708890 )
    What's the point of 170dpi? My Palm has perhaps 40dpi at the most and it has perfectly readable text.

    I think this is a case of a company marketing a product for a niche that doesn't need anywhere near the complexity or cost of the product they're pushing.

    • Re:170 dpi? (Score:5, Informative)

      by WegianWarrior ( 649800 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:51AM (#8947672) Journal

      What's the point of 170dpi? My Palm has perhaps 40dpi at the most and it has perfectly readable text.

      As already mentioned, higher resolution is easier on the eyes.. and recall that this is a japanse product which means it has to be able to display japanse letters (kanji and katakana I believe they are called) which needs a higher resolution then the latin alphabet to remain readable.

  • PDF Support? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by DAldredge ( 2353 )
    Does this unit have support for PDF's? Lack of PDF support is what kept me from buying the last generation of dedicated ebook readers.
  • From the press release : Sony's e-Book reader LIBRIé, the first device to utilize Philips' display solution for enhanced reading, is similar in size and design to a paperback book. LIBRIé allows users to download published content, such as books or comic strips from the Internet, and enjoy it anywhere at any time. LIBRIé can store up to 500 downloaded books

    I can't help thinking that this technology is "borrowing a page" from the MP3 players like the iPod.

  • Very close to my ideal writer's tool: a portable writing pad consisting of a high-resolution B&W screen like this, a fold-up wireless keyboard, a long battery life, and just one application: a word processor. It should run entirely from flash memory . And a $400 price tag would be sweet too.

  • i'll wait just a little bit longer... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by utexaspunk ( 527541 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:10AM (#8947522)
    this technology has a little way to go yet before it really kicks ass. for one, they don't have color yet, and secondly, the contrast ratio isn't that great- it looks more like black on grey than black on white. in another couple years, i bet they'll have this with higher resolution, higher contrast, and full color, and probably fast enough to do any computer activity on it. What will also be really cool would/will be full bleed- no more frames around your screen- image from edge to edge. This technology is what will hopefully finally make the paperless office a reality. Portable, high resolution reflective displays. Right now, we probably use more paper than ever, because technology allows us to communicate as much as we want, but we hate reading it on the screen...

    • Re:i'll wait just a little bit longer... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by evilviper ( 135110 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @06:30AM (#8947971) Journal
      for one, they don't have color yet,

      How many books have you read that were typed in color? All of mine are black text on white paper.

      The occasional picture would look a bit better in color, but B&W looks good enough. It's ready for primetime in that department.

      the contrast ratio isn't that great- it looks more like black on grey than black on white

      This is not a computer screen that you'll be playing UT2K3 on. It's solely for text display, and the contrast is better than it needs to be already.

      i bet they'll have this with higher resolution,

      It's 800x600 in a ~8" screen, with a much higher DPI than a computer monitor. How much higher res do you want? Besides, this is not for playing games on, it's for reading text.

      and probably fast enough to do any computer activity on it.

      If they're smart, they'll stick to being just fast enough to render PDFs and HTML docs. Nobody wants a device that goes through 3 AAA batteries in 5 minutes. BTW, this is a freaking eBook, not a PDA. It doesn't need to be able to run Office. Come on now.

  • Okay, so... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Thedalek ( 473015 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:16AM (#8947543)
    I thought the whole point of having ePaper in the first place was to have an inexpensive alternative to LCD which could be used in places LCD couldn't (like on product labels). At nearly $400, I don't see the ePaper providing a noticable savings over a comparable B&W LCD display, which could easily be used in a similar device. "So, 10 out of 10 for style, but minus several million for good thinking, okay?"
    • There are fundamental differences with LCD. Most importantly, this display is non-volatile; as long as the content doesn't change, it uses hardly any power which is great for reading.

      An LCD needs power to maintain state (not to mention to power a backlight, although you don't always need one).

    • Re:Okay, so... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by evilviper ( 135110 )

      (like on product labels).

      Obviously, you are thinking of another time of "ePaper".

      And it does not help that you didn't bother to read the article at all.

      I don't see the ePaper providing a noticable savings over a comparable B&W LCD display, which could easily be used in a similar device.

      I agree with you there... But I have never been able to find a device like this with a B&W LCD display. Until there is such a device, the issue is a non-starter.

  • I love the idea but I won't buy it (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bromba ( 538300 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:21AM (#8947559)

    Not because I miss the touch of a real dead tree book. Not because it doesn't bend. Not because it's expensive.

    I won't buy it simply because it's ridiculous that the content expires in two months. What's the point of being able to load up to 500 books on that device if they expire 60 days later????

    • i do agree with your point, but...

      Some [promo.net] won't expire.
      Some [nytimes.com] you don't care if it expire.
      But some people [kazaa.com] just don't care at all.

    • I won't buy it simply because it's ridiculous that the content expires in two months. What's the point of being able to load up to 500 books on that device if they expire 60 days later????

      Especially when the product dies due to lack of market interest.

      Any content you did "own" will be unusable, and if you could crack the drm to transfer to another format, you would breaking the law. So you are left with nothing.

      In other words, another useless ebook.

  • Magna Doodle (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:26AM (#8947578)
    The technology behind these things sounds very similar to the Fisher-Price MagnaDoodle, which is a kickaround portable whiteboard that I cannot live without. It uses iron filings suspended in a white opaque oil, and it has a dot pitch of about 1/6" inch. The electronic version of these sound really great - especially the nonvolatility of the display. There is little doubt that these things are ultimately going to trounce LCDs.

    This particular implementation, however, does not sound appealling due to the advertising whores that want some screenspace and the DRM that cripples its functionality. If they can sell these things for under $400 at such low volumes, then much better device that use essentially the same display technology cannot be too far off.

  • In his enthusiasm, Ukita lets slip that flexible electronic paper which can handle Harry Potter-esque moving images and colour is in the research and development labs and may be just two to three years away.

    Having not read any Harry Potter, I may well be missing something obvious, but what is so 'Harry-Potter--esque' about 'moving images and colour'? Why not just say "can handle moving images and colour"? I'm pretty certain we had them before Harry Potter came along.

    Or is it just a desperate attempt to

    • err, in harry potter there are books and newspapers that feature moving images, although due to magic, not epaper...
    • Having not read any Harry Potter, I may well be missing something obvious, but what is so 'Harry-Potter--esque' about 'moving images and colour'?

      He may be referring to the magical books, newspapers and magazines to be found in Hogwarts; these feature moving images in addition to conventional print. If it's just a reference to SFX-heavy movie versions, though, then I agree that the Potter reference is gratuitous...

  • "The e-paper is coming to reality in the form of a 6" screen" Whoa - wait - hold the phone. Paper does not have a screen and it does not require batteries. E-paper looks like a sheet of paper (but stronger) and is imbedded with tiny spheres that are rotate from the white side to the dark side by a device that looks like a printer but requires no ink. A couple of companies are working on this and they need to sue Sony's arrogant butt!
    • If you read the article, you'll see that they've been working with e-ink to bring this to market, the same people who have been the most vocal about working with the e-paper format. So I'm assuming that if there's an IP conflict between e-ink and any other e-paper companies, then e-ink has probably dealt with it.

      In addition, they are thinking that they'll have flexible (i.e. paper-like) e-ink displays in these things in a few years, but that they're not really ready for prime time yet in the format they w

  • Not perfect... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by WegianWarrior ( 649800 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:41AM (#8947642) Journal

    ..yet. Give it a generation or two to iron out the problems that bound to pop up, and practicly everyone will buy them. The first videorecorders, personal computers, walkmen, mp3-players and whatnot wasn't perfect either, but these days 'everyone' has one.


    For me, I would like to see this for at least half the prize and with the ability to display colour photographs (but then, a lot of the books I read has colour pictures in them), as well as support for wirtually any fileformat that displays text under the sun - as well as beeing able to display photographs from my digicam. Oh, and add a CF-card slot to it too, please ;)


    Seriously thought - drop the price in half and I'll prolly buy one, memorystick, monocrome text and all.

    • Re:Not perfect... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Rob Simpson ( 533360 )
      Screw the price - less than $400 is hardly unreasonable, considering the number of overpriced yet poorly designed PDAs on the market. I'm mostly interested in whether it will be completely crippled by DRM, or whether that will be restricted to the built-in viewer, and whether I would be able to install third-party (eg, iSilo) and open-source apps.

      (CF support would be nice too, but c'mon, this is Sony...)

  • Thanks for the link (Score:3, Funny)

    by null etc. ( 524767 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @04:48AM (#8947664)
    Don't [reference.com] you [reference.com] love [reference.com] posters [reference.com] who [reference.com] throw [reference.com] all [reference.com] sorts [reference.com] of [reference.com] useless [reference.com] links [reference.com] into [reference.com] their [reference.com] submissions [reference.com]?

    Don't [reference.com] you [reference.com] also [reference.com] love [reference.com] slashdot's [slashdot.org] auto [reference.com]- href [reference.com] captions [reference.com]?

  • Looks like they've been thinking - the costs for purchasing/renting content seem fairly reasonable. However, no mention is made of own content. If I can't convert my own stuff to their format with no restrictions, they wont be getting my dollars.

    The best thing about my reb is the rocketwriter.

  • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • hi-tech? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by octal666 ( 668007 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @05:17AM (#8947736)
    well, AAA batteries, 10,000 pages reades, 500 books in memory, why in Hell have they packed such a wonderful geek-toy with this poor memory and energy technology? For 350 euros more or less they should have put at least memory for enough books you cannot read in a lifetime and battery for reading them all.

  • Sony corporate hardware & content conflicts (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Bushcat ( 615449 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @06:12AM (#8947894)
    Sony's problem is that it has quite a lot of in-fighting. The hardware divisions can design interesting stuff: the Clie has pushed Palm OS further than Palm would ever have taken Palm PDAs by themselves, for example. Sony pushes the envelope with MD and so on. But, Sony also manufactures both audio and video content, manages pop groups and so on. That side of operations doesn't want any content to be "free" any time whatsoever. I think one can see the market effect of this internal conflict in Sony's paucity of true digital offerings: Sony created and defined the Walkman market, yet it's got what, 2 solid-state music players on the market worldwide? Basically, whatever Sony does, it is forced to use DRM to keep its own divisions happy. So I imagine its Librie offerings will be similarly DRM'd to the point where the products are not sensible purchases for most people.

    Philips invented the paper, they work closely with Matsushita, so I'd wait for a Panasonic competitor to hit the market. Matsushita seem to have come up with a lot of neat stuff over the past year, hopefully it's a renaissance that will continue.

  • Solar Cells, Not Batteries! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by VernonNemitz ( 581327 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @07:33AM (#8948145) Journal
    Any electronic device that uses such a trickle of current that batteries can last for months -- is an electronic device that should be powered by built-in solar cells. Indeed, this particular gadget appears to be frugal enough that if you have enough light to READ its text, then you probably have enough light to power it.

  • The joy of eBooks (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FuzzyDaddy ( 584528 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @09:57AM (#8949168) Journal
    I am a recent convert to the joy of eBooks. I just bought the low end palm (Zire 21 for $99) to help organize my life. A few days ago I downloaded the Weasel Reader [sourceforge.net] and got some Mark Twain short storied off of the Gutenberg Project. [gutenberg.org]

    What I've found is that it's no substitute for sitting down with a real book, but it's great when waiting around at the post office, eating lunch, or any time I have some time I'd like to read but may not have planned for and brought a book.

    The article and Sony seemed to be concerned with content, with the focus on this product that you can get a cheaper eBook than a real book. That, to me, is not a compelling reason to buy the thing. The collection at the Gutenberg Project would make it compelling for me, and I'm surprised that the eBook world has not embraced that in their marketing. Perhaps it's because consumer technology traditionally enables the sale of "content" (records, DVD's, etc.), and pointing to free content might be a no-no to publishers of current works. But if they wanted to sell the hardware, it would be a pretty gutsy move to advertise "thousands of free classic titles".

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