# Why haven't E-readers advanced like other tech? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842 "2020-01-23T13:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/21 "2020-01-23T16:04:54Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > The transflective display, which I thought held promise, never went anywhere either. They are used in some outdoor applications - I have one on my wrist right now (Garmin Fenix smartwatch). But conventional LCD displays look much better indoors. And most tablets are used mostly indoors. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/22 "2020-01-23T16:13:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > And I would bet the usage of the online E-reader apps went up proportionately, or even more so. > > I mean, I’ve had a couple of Kindles (still have one), and I find myself using my phone for 95% of my reading because I always have it around, and I don’t have to lug around a second device. > > I do agree that an e-paper/e-ink e-reader is a lot better for outdoors or bright light, but for most of the time, using an e-reader app on the phone is just fine. I have to agree with this. I will read my paperwhite in bed or on vacation as sort of a dedicated device. But since it’s synched to my phone, I tend to read on my phone a little more right now as I have had a lot of unscheduled and unanticipated time away from home. Works fine. As long as I’m not outside. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/23 "2020-01-23T16:28:44Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I don’t think you want your e-reader to be all that large do you? I have a Kindle 5, so it’s 6" like the one you have. I have massive, strong, not-too-old hands and it fits just right in one hand. It appears that these are to be, at least sometimes, single-hand devices (see the image you linked to). Bigger screens mean heavier devices. Heavier and wider means you need two hands. Someone must have done the research - there’s a point where an e-reader is too unwieldy and 7.5" seems to be it. I have an 8 inch Fire tablet. it is indeed quite tiring to hold it up for long periods of time. I got one of these hand straps. It makes it much easier to hold up the tablet with one hand. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071R5HMYP](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071R5HMYP) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/24 "2020-01-23T16:30:58Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > They are used in some outdoor applications - I have one on my wrist right now (Garmin Fenix smartwatch). But conventional LCD displays look much better indoors. And most tablets are used mostly indoors. Yeah, I have an old Garmin Recreational GPS unit that has one. I wrote up a comparison to a smartphone display at one time: [http://infracanis.com/yggdrasil/framepage.jsp?YggContentFrame=Articles%2Fgear%2Fgarmin550%2Fvsphone.html&ContentName=bob.articles&YggTitle=Garmin+vs.+Phone&NotMainContent](http://infracanis.com/yggdrasil/framepage.jsp?YggContentFrame=Articles%2Fgear%2Fgarmin550%2Fvsphone.html&ContentName=bob.articles&YggTitle=Garmin+vs.+Phone&NotMainContent) (Yeah, I know the links in the article don’t work anymore) ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/25 "2020-01-23T16:43:47Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I have an old Nook Simple Touch. Came out in 2011, $99 list price. Had mine since 2013, I think. (I right away rooted it and installed Cyanogenmod OS, use FBreader and other, old, Android 2.2 apps on it.) > > It’s a bit old in the tooth. Small display: 6". No built in light. Poor contrast. So, time to upgrade. > > What I want: bigger with built in light and “paperwhite” contrast. E ink, of course, for better battery usage. Maybe better dpi. It’s been 9 years, look at how far regular tablets have progressed in that time. > > So I look around. What? The only qualifier I see is the Amazon Kindle Oasis (8th+ generation) with an 7" screen. Only 7"?? The current model is a $250! And that’s with “special offers”. Add $20 to get rid of those. (Although I’ve always been able to do that myself on Amazon tablets.) > > Again, what? > > This makes no sense to a computer person like myself. Normally I’d expect that in 9 years the cost for a slightly bigger tablet that requires such mundane CPU and memory would have drastically fallen. $50 would be pricey. > > And look at other aspects of this. > > Take the bezel. The Nook ST overall is 7.5" diagonally. So an 7" tablet with a modern bezel like many cell phones would be only slightly over 7". Instead the Oasis is almost 8.5". Just look at the size of the [bezel](https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindle-Oasis-now-with-adjustable-warm-light/dp/B07L5GJD99/), with the oversize right edge. A tablet that size should have an 8" screen. Yet another “What?” > > And still only 300 dpi. > > So, question time. Why are E-readers some sort of tech exception? Why aren’t they more bangs per buck? Why isn’t there the amazing leaps that you see everywhere else in this field. > > The only think I can think of is the E Ink issue. Maybe patents and all that. But still doesn’t explain things like the bezel size, etc. OMG! I have been working with PCs and Mainframe computers ever since 1968 but … yet … I had to Google “what is an E reader” to understand your post. I have heard of “Kindle” and “Kindle Readers” and had some vague idea they were a device that would take a printed page and read it so that people could close their eyes and listen to a human voice speak the English text. I’m sorry. But I was never excited or attracted to the idea of getting such a device. Even if someone offered it to me for free, I would decline because I would not want to have to spend a lot of time learning how to use it. It’s almost always a pain to learn how to use some new tech. I think that is why seniors tend to avoid answering machines or other new kinds of tech (I know answering machines are not really “new tech”). But it often takes time to learn how to use them plus people often seem to feel they are made to feel foolish when young children get to use these things - seemingly with no problems - yet when adults or seniors try to learn how to use them, they experience plenty of difficulties. I try to welcome new tech - but only if I can see some useful component to it. I just can’t seem to muster up the energy to get interested in many new tech devices. For example, when telephone answering machines first came out circa 1979, I bought one for $500 and felt like a complete idiot because I soon learned there were perfectly good machines available for less than $100. The slick sales person who sold me the $500 machine gave me a real hard sale about how wonderful this machine performed. I think they repeated the phrase, “built like a real Mac Truck” several times. I never realized that I had no interest in a telephone answering machine that was built like a Mac Truck. I would have been perfectly happy with a machine that was built like a transistor radio. After that experience, I tended to avoid new tech - except for new PCs. So, to answer your question, I would just say that IMO, a large segment of the population just has little need or little interest in a machine that will read English text for them. Another primary reason may be that people feel they just have no need for a machine to read to them because they can read English text perfectly well by themselves. They just do not perceive any need for such a machine. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/26 "2020-01-23T16:54:03Z")
I think it comes down to a matter of volume. Orders of magnitude more square inches of LCD display are manufactures each year compared to e-ink displays. Enormous improvements in yield for LCD displays allow for the ginormous TVs you can buy for pretty low prices. All that manufacturing development filters down to smaller displays like tablets and smart phones. There just isn’t enough market pressure to to improve manufacturing processes for e-ink displays, and there is less volume for a particular e-ink display (vs. an LCD for a tablet) to amortize the development cost. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/27 "2020-01-23T16:54:30Z")
That’s not what a Kindle does. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/28 "2020-01-23T16:55:41Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > OMG!So, to answer your question, I would just say that IMO, a large segment of the population just has little need or little interest in a machine that will read English text for them. Another primary reason may be that people feel they just have no need for a machine to read to them because they can read English text perfectly well by themselves. They just do not perceive any need for such a machine. I think you are misunderstanding the OP. The question is about dedicated e-book reading devices with e-ink displays vs. reading the same e-book on a tablet or smart phone. Not about a text-to-speech converter. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/29 "2020-01-23T16:57:40Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I have heard of “Kindle” and “Kindle Readers” and had some vague idea they were a device that would take a printed page and read it so that people could close their eyes and listen to a human voice speak the English text. > > … > > So, to answer your question, I would just say that IMO, a large segment of the population just has little need or little interest in a machine that will read English text for them. Another primary reason may be that people feel they just have no need for a machine to read to them because they can read English text perfectly well by themselves. They just do not perceive any need for such a machine. Um, I think you still don’t understand what an e-reader is. Its primary purpose is to display text on a screen that you read with your eyes, not to have text read to you audibly. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/30 "2020-01-23T17:00:18Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I have heard of “Kindle” and “Kindle Readers” and had some vague idea they were a device that would take a printed page and read it so that people could close their eyes and listen to a human voice speak the English text. Some such devices have this capability as a “bonus feature” (not reading a literal printed page, but reading text in electronic form); but the main purpose of a Kindle is to display text on a screen so the users can read it themselves (like a book). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/31 "2020-01-23T17:05:45Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > So, to answer your question, I would just say that IMO, a large segment of the population just has little need or little interest in a machine that will read English text for them. Another primary reason may be that people feel they just have no need for a machine to read to them because they can read English text perfectly well by themselves. They just do not perceive any need for such a machine. Your research on the topic of e-book readers (checks, not The Pit) um…leaves much to be desired. E-book readers are _not_ devices for reading books aloud (though some do that) but a dedicated device for reading text-based books on. They predate the mainstream acceptance of tablet computers ([Sony Librie EBR-1000EP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader#2004_Model)–2004) and typically ([but not always](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectaco_jetBook)) use a slow to refresh but stable screen technology involving electrically-charged colored balls moving through a fluid between the front and back of the screen to display greyscales. Advantages include reflective lighting (like with paper) and days or weeks of reading time between recharges. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/32 "2020-01-23T17:09:34Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Is E-ink different than just black font on a white background? E-ink is fascinating! I highly recommend [Technology Connection’s video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRgw0HfrYU) on it. It kinda but not really like an etch a sketch. The E-ink screen is black liquid with titanium dioxide (which is white) suspended in it. The charge any specific point on the screen gets determines whether the titanium dioxide ions move forward (point gets white because the TiO[sub]2[/sub] ions are on top of the black stuff) or move back (point goes black because the ions are underneath the black stuff). ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/33 "2020-01-23T17:10:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I remember when e-ink was first developed, I read speculation on how it could be used for signage and other applications aside from e-readers. But that doesn’t seem to have happened. I remember hearing it would be paired with LCD screens for best of both worlds functionality. Turn the LCD off or down and read text on your phone outside in the sun while using very little battery. Turn the LCD up for full color, dynamic web pages that can be read at night, or for video, or whatever. That idea never got off the ground, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/34 "2020-01-23T17:16:31Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > E-ink is fascinating! I highly recommend [Technology Connection’s video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRgw0HfrYU) on it. It kinda but not really like an etch a sketch. The E-ink screen is black liquid with titanium dioxide (which is white) suspended in it. The charge any specific point on the screen gets determines whether the titanium dioxide ions move forward (point gets white because the TiO[sub]2[/sub] ions are on top of the black stuff) or move back (point goes black because the ions are underneath the black stuff). And not a video, [the wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper#Microencapsulated_electrophoretic_display). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/35 "2020-01-23T17:27:26Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I remember when e-ink was first developed, I read speculation on how it could be used for signage and other applications aside from e-readers. But that doesn’t seem to have happened. > > I remember hearing it would be paired with LCD screens for best of both worlds functionality. Turn the LCD off or down and read text on your phone outside in the sun while using very little battery. Turn the LCD up for full color, dynamic web pages that can be read at night, or for video, or whatever. That idea never got off the ground, apparently. I heard the suggestion (or perhaps someone was selling this) that a smartphone could have the conventional LCD screen on the front but a low-power e-ink screen on the back, which could display info like the time of day, number of messages waiting to be read and so forth (and the e-ink screen could be on constantly). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/36 "2020-01-23T17:47:48Z")
There [was](https://www.wired.com/2010/07/pixel-qi-hybrid-e-ink-lcd-screens-for-your-own-netbook/) [something](https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/the-rise-and-fall-of-pixel-qi-how-it-shaped-the-e-reader-revolution) sort of like an e-ink/LCD hybrid, but it was a flop. You can’t actually layer an e-ink display and an LCD because e-ink can’t be transparent and a backlit LCD needs…um…a backlight. There lies the possibility of overlaying a (self-lighting) transparent OLED panel on top of an e-ink display though. (But nobody has done it.) And yes, there was [a phone with an LCD on one side and an e-ink display on the other](https://www.google.com/search?q=Yotaphone&oq=Yotaphone&aqs=heirloom-srp..). Emphasis on “was.” ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/37 "2020-01-23T17:54:33Z")
Transflective displays, which is what a few of you may be thinking of: > **[Transflective liquid-crystal display](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transflective_liquid-crystal_display)** > > A transflective liquid-crystal display is a liquid-crystal display (LCD) with an optical layer that reflects and transmits light (transflective is a portmanteau of transmissive and reflective). Under bright illumination (e.g. when exposed to daylight) the display acts mainly as a reflective display with the contrast being constant with illuminance. However, under dim and dark ambient situations the light from a backlight is transmitted through the transflective layer to provide light for th An ap... ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/38 "2020-01-23T18:17:38Z")
The TicWatch Pro has an LCD display over an AMOLED display giving a battery life of ~30 days. [https://www.mobvoi.com/au/pages/ticwatchpro](https://www.mobvoi.com/au/pages/ticwatchpro) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/39 "2020-01-23T19:12:37Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > OMG! I have been working with PCs and Mainframe computers ever since 1968 but … yet … I had to Google “what is an E reader” to understand your post. Why would you comment on something you have no understanding of and experience with? An e-reader is basically just a form of tablet computer dedicated to displaying printed material (e.g. books/magazines/etc.) They have a little more functionality than that, but they are just essentially a screen for reading books on. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842/40 "2020-01-23T21:01:02Z")
My _Kindle Gen 1_ (originally purchased for my wife who now has a new one) just died, and I am very sad about it. I have a new tablet that is great for watching TV shows and reading comics on the train, and a phone, but I cannot read books easily on those devices. Having a paperbacked sized device loaded with old and new books sitting in my bag for months on end ready to go if I need something to read is just awesome. So I will be getting my wife a new Kindle Paperwhite sometime this year, and I’ll grab the old one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-e-readers-advanced-like-other-tech/846842.md?page=3)