eBook Reader Design Proposal
Written on June 13, 2007 by Josh Pigford and 24 people have commented
&D.K. just sent me an email with a video he posted showing a design proposal for an eBook reader.
The idea is that the hardware (which would look/feel like a book) makes use of the iPod and iTunes store for getting content.
I personally like the idea and there isn’t really anything out there (that I’m aware of) that really offers a solution like this.
What are your thoughts? Would you use something like this? What are some things that could be improvied?
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#1 Todd Baur says:I think that Apple would come out with a laptop that didn’t have a keyboard and replaced it with a multitouch screen. Most readers don’t want to read books off a screen, this is something that won’t be mainstream for another 10 years at least.
#2 Jason says:I’d rather see a eBook reader, or even just a barebones PDF support, implemented into the iPhone. Leopard’s upcoming interface for paging through multi-page PDF documents within the icon of a PDF document in Cover Flow view is a perfect interface for PDFs on the iPhone. Check out the Apple’s ‘Finder’ video to see the interface I’m talking about at http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/features/finder.html.
#3 Manuele De Lisio says:I guess it wouldn’t work. It’s not a bad idea, but it’s too dependent on the current iPod design (I mean, the full-size ipod), and the fact that the eBook Reader needs an hi-res display (this design has two) gives me doubts because you would need some kind of gpu + memory to manage the image data (think about zooming in and out). Another doubt comes from the fact that the ipod is facing down and the iPod connector is not strong enuff to sustain itself while reading, I guess it would drop down on the floor…
Maybe an iPod nano would work better as a storage + sync “cartridge” for this reader, it’s thinner, lighter. Anyway in any case the eReader would need an independent battery + gpu/cpu + memory buffer, so at the end of the story, I guess an indipendet eBook reader with a cheap SDcard slot would cost even less, don’t forget that Apple gets a premium from every accessory that has the “made for ipod” label…
#4 joe says:i like the idea a lot. The iPod is great for carrying around lots of data and listening to music, but not good for reading or using the screen for anything other than normal operation. I think a thin, book-sized tablet that the iPod plugs into is a great accessory to make better use of visual data stored on the ipod.
@ToddBaur - i think you’re missing the point of this particular suggestion. Yes, apple could make a whole new laptop or tablet with multitouch or whatever, but as the video suggested, that would be expensive to develop and buy. Why not use what is already available - an iPod as the “heart” of the book, and electronic ink (note, NOT “a screen”) as a display. Electronic ink/paper is much easier on the eyes and feels much more natural than a regular screen. Imagine creating this book with a nice leather cover and 2 flexible epaper pages inside. You could hold it basiclly like a book, and it wouldn’t be much heavier than an iPod.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper
great idea - i would like to see this implemented
#5 Luke Seeley says:Love the (possibly unintentional) Aliens II reference:
“But these readers are tablets, mostly…”
#6 Thorn says:Very interesting idea, though I doubt I’d ever use an ebook reader of any sort, personally - no matter how good it is. I just like printed books too much.
#7 Studio717 says:This reminds me of the first cars that were built to resemble carriages. Gotta snag ‘em with the familiar I guess.
I love reading on my Sony Reader. The type is crisp and I can carry an entire library with me. Is it the ultimate? Of course not, it’s only first gen (maybe second if you count the Librie), but it’s a great start, imo. And with the recent lower price, it’s definitely in affordable territory.
It always puzzles me when folks say how they can’t give up books. Except for a few art books I own, it’s the CONTENT that’s important to me - whether novels or non-fiction. I have no emotional connection to acidic tree pulp (or even the acid-free kind). I do have an emotional connection to the stories and ideas inside.
I do like the idea of using an iPod. More room, easier to customize, and more power under the hood, so to speak.
#8 Margaret says:I listen to audiobooks on my iPod and read books on my Palm PDAs. This would be an improvement over the Palm screen, and I’d buy one. I like the looks of this gadget but it needs to be kept small enough to slide into my purse.
#9 Bunyip says:I reckon it’s a very smart implementation of the idea. And the use use of multi-touch on travel guides, so you can zoom in on maps, opens up a whole world of possibilities.
I’m also impressed with his use of Google Sketch Up to present his idea.
And Luke, that is quite a stretch with the Aliens II reference [it took me a moment to get it], but, you never know.
#10 EV says:For books, I personally love the feel of pages with words, but I’m intrigued by the magazine subscription aspect of this, especially the possibility of carrying hundreds of magazines during long journeys. The travel guide element is also key. I would focus more on those than on books, since there’s so much resistance to pageless books (I think) (at least from me!). I’d also look into the possibility of writing on the tablet, so it can be a notebook too, one in which the user can circle text in magazines to create “clippings” for storage elsewhere (e.g., DevonThink).
#11 adin says:I am absolutely in *love* with my Sony E-ink EReader, though I hate having to fire up parallels every time I want to txfer files to it (or see what’s new on the Sony EBook story). An iTunes type app that included the libraries for the Sony & iliad txfer would be a great addition!
#12 jules says:I agree with EV. This sort of solution seems like it would benefit magazines etc most. I don’t think there are that many people who would need to carry around more than one novel at a time (unless on a long vacation).
I also love EV’s idea of being able to annotate and take clippings.
#13 alan says:@manuele
Good comments, but here are some possible counter-arguments:
1) the iPod is facing up, not down - but you’re right, attaching the iPod through a dock connection alone is not sufficient. Maybe some sort of seatbelt (like a sliding cover or something) for the iPod would keep it in place once docked.
2) yes, the reader would need its own battery, cpu and memory, but this architecture would be much simpler than any other reader - it would need to be sufficient only to communicate with the iPod. 256 mb would be plenty of memory, for example - a buffer to temporarily store images fed by the iPod for zooming, bookmarking, highlighting, etc.
3) cradle adapters could be included for the iPod nano - ones that snap-in, shrinking the sides of the dock.
4) making it “dependent” on the iPod is sort of the point - keeps costs down, expands an already widely used product family - it could even allow Apple to sell the reader at a loss, establish the market, then recover costs through book sales, accessories, and future models.
5) there’s nothing stopping other portable media players from using this “cartridge” concept (the Zune, Creative, etc). But apple might be in the best (maybe only) position to pull it off.
#14 alan says:@jules and EV
you’re right - subscriptions would probably be the most widely-read e-text. But there’s a place for storing novels. Though I may be reading only one or two novels at a time, I would love to have instant and central access to all the books in my collection - for example to retrieve favorite passages or quotes in the course of a conversation. A search feature - and a stored folder of favorite excerpts - would greatly simplify my habit of frequently but inaccurately referencing writers who mean something to me.
#15 Galley says:Well, at least the music was entertaining! E-books don’t require that much space, so all it would need was some flash memory. The dual-screen idea is good, though.
#16 Jay says:I would prefer to see really make the jump to actual e-paper. Invest in something rollable and something that would have the look and feel of paper. One sheet is all you would need e-paper (the last I saw it) was very clean to read and would easily have the feel of glossy paper.
If could make the iPod/iPhone connection or even some form of bluetooth connectors to e-Paper that would really blow open ebooks. Utilizing touchscreen and turning a page on touch screen would create a beautiful system that anyone could use. Add to that the ability to enlarge type and your talking about a killer product.
#17 Rudi says:I love this. I use my macbook to read comics this way (rotating the image), and I´d sure love to have an image on both sides.
I guess books are like vinyl, and it will take a long time for people to let go of them. But I´m ready now. Also think of all the trees we will not have to cut down. There are a lot of enviromental reasons for putting more and more things on the internet. Think about it - books have to be printed and produced, then shipped on airplanes and trucks to reach the stores. Same with cd´s and dvd´s. No good. Downloading is very eco-friendly.
Besides, I´m turning more and more into a digital minimalist. Getting rid of everything I can put on my computer. I´ve even been scanning old loveletters…
I love this concept.
#18 Paul says:The main cost in an ebook reader is the screen so you are not saving much using the iPod. The dual display would actually make it more expensive.
#19 Josh of Pixelton says:Check out the amazing document reader YEP. It is AMAZING!
http://www.yepthat.com/
#20 Thomas NYC says:Great concept + continual move to a paperless society; pdf a must. A hurdle I see is pricing. This is, after all, an ipod accessory. The $ should be in the ipod itself. Cost value could be based on how much you pay for actual books vs. ebook downloads. Though, that may be a stretch…
#21 Oleg Shastitko says:Zune eBook Creator (RTextAsImage)
This tool allows you to “convert” text such way, that you receive suite graphic files like suite of scanned pages of book or magazine. It is often necessary when you want to read favorite book on MobilePC, which does not have ability to show text files, but only graphical i.e. Zune. This tool has many opportunities for settings output files: type of graphical file, size of file (”resolution”), pagination, margins, font, color of text, line spacing etc. Also you have ability to save favorite settings and load saved earlier.
Product url - http://www.roversoft.dp.ua/Default.aspx?ProductID=5
download url - http://arenda.dp.ua/TextAsImage/publish.htm
#22 Aquaegrannus says:I want a reader for SHEET MUSIC, something that will fit in my guitar case so I don’t have to lug my laptop everywhere I want to play. I want to grab a reader and go to the park/camping/beach whatever and have access to music. I’ve been all over the web and have never seen this application mentioned or exploited…it would be a must-have for any musician. That’s a pretty decent market. How about a fold out that fits on a sheet music stand?
#23 Aquaegrannus says:Here’s one that will do just that:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/08/irivers-e-book-reader/
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