E-Ink Technology Make E-Book Readers An Attractive Choice
2009 was an excellent year for ebook readers in general – and a very good year for the Amazon Kindle reader in particular. Even though ebook readers have been available for the last ten years – the Franklin eBookman is generally agreed to have been the first and was released in 1999 – they only really took off in a big way in 2009.
Without diminishing Sony’s contribution, it’s probably not unreasonable to say that much of the credit for this must go to Amazon. The release of Amazon’s Kindle 2.0 in February, followed by the Kindle DX in June, seemed to create quite a buzz around ebook readers. This hadn’t happened when Amazon released the original Kindle in November of 2007- so what was the difference?
Up until very recently, Amazon’s main advantage was the fact that the Kindle was the only reader available which featured wireless connectivity. However, as the original Kindle also featured this, it doesn’t explain the surge in interest for ebook readers. Certainly the Kindle books was a much more aesthetically pleasing device than the, somewhat quirky, original Kindle. There was also a greatly expanded selection of Kindle books available. At the launch of the Kindle 2.0 there were 240,000 Kindle titles to choose from. This has now risen to almost 400,000 in just a few months. Amazon is currently adding new titles at an average rate of over 500 per day.
Or it could simply be the fact that the public has become more accustomed to digital books. Whatever the reason, it looks like ebook readers are an idea whose time has come.
Ebook readers are basically portable devices that let you read ebooks – electronic or digital books. This has been possible for a long time now, simply by using a computer – or even an iPod. The difference between reading a book on an ebook reader and a notebook is the display. Computers use a backlit LCD display which will strain your eyes after a while. Ebook readers use different technology – the e-Ink display, this is not backlit and much closer to reading text on paper.
Not to get too technical, e-Ink displays consist of a clear screen with electrical conductors below it. Sandwiched between the conductors and the screen are thousands of tiny spheres, each of which contains both black and white charged particles suspended in a liquid. The black particles have a negative charge and the white particles are positively charged. By passing current through the conductors, either the black or white particles can be driven to the screen so as to form clearly legible text.
Power is only required when the page is being generated. Once the particles have been set in place they will stay there. The e-ink technology is therefore, not only kinder to your eyes than a backlit PC screen, but it also uses much less power. This means that battery life is considerably longer than would be the case for a backlit display – ideal for a battery powered mobile device.
At the moment, there is a long list of companieswith ebook readers in development. Higher levels of competition will lead to reduced prices and, while 2009 may well be remembered as the year that ebook readers took off, 2010 could see them becoming part of the mainstream consumer electronics market. They may be as commonplace as mobile phones or iPods by the end of the year.
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