On the LCD technology: Phillips has an amazing display currently in its labs. It should be ready for wide use in just over 2 years if the tech slowdown doesn't delay things. It is basically an oilbath with tiny plastic balls suspended in it; one side white, one side black. The circuitry and drivers are on silicon that is mounted directly to the plastic surfaces themselves (an MCM technology modified to work with plastic instead of ceramic.) When a potential exists, the black side swivels toward the higher voltage -- and stays there! Once the display is set you don't have to scan it anymore, a tremendous power savings for portable gear.
As for economics: 44 books for 150$? That's 3.40$ a book! I want to know where you shop! :) The last paperback I purchased was a cool 7.50$ and I wouldn't have forked it over had it been written by anyone other than Poul Anderson. Plus you overlook the value of having every book you own at your fingertips rather than filling a wall unit at your home. Such portability is preciously why people are willing to pay 2.5X the cost of a desktop computer and purchase a laptop. The same reasoning will guarantee success once the pricepoint reachs 150$, especially if a few books are thrown in as an incentive.
Interface and control continues to be a vexing matter however. Novel attempts using ambient light sensors so the person moves his hand from right to left over the unit have been attempted to mimic the turning of pages that everyone finds so familiar. My guess is that such a tech would make the unit irresistable as a cat toy. But yeah, look and feel will be different. But we got used to computers; we will get used to bookpads too.
On the LCD technology: Phillips has an amazing display currently in its labs. It should be ready for wide use in just over 2 years if the tech slowdown doesn't delay things. It is basically an oilbath with tiny plastic balls suspended in it; one side white, one side black. The circuitry and drivers are on silicon that is mounted directly to the plastic surfaces themselves (an MCM technology modified to work with plastic instead of ceramic.) When a potential exists, the black side swivels toward the higher voltage -- and stays there! Once the display is set you don't have to scan it anymore, a tremendous power savings for portable gear.
As for economics: 44 books for 150$? That's 3.40$ a book! I want to know where you shop! :) The last paperback I purchased was a cool 7.50$ and I wouldn't have forked it over had it been written by anyone other than Poul Anderson. Plus you overlook the value of having every book you own at your fingertips rather than filling a wall unit at your home. Such portability is preciously why people are willing to pay 2.5X the cost of a desktop computer and purchase a laptop. The same reasoning will guarantee success once the pricepoint reachs 150$, especially if a few books are thrown in as an incentive.
Interface and control continues to be a vexing matter however. Novel attempts using ambient light sensors so the person moves his hand from right to left over the unit have been attempted to mimic the turning of pages that everyone finds so familiar. My guess is that such a tech would make the unit irresistable as a cat toy. But yeah, look and feel will be different. But we got used to computers; we will get used to bookpads too.