I really do love reading - especially on my ebook reader. It's one of the best eletronic inventions of the past few years. Ereaders aren't feature packed devices, like tablets, but that's one of the things I love about them. They use an uncompromised design for one thing, and one thing only. But time over time, techanalysts are telling us, dedicated ereaders don’t have a bright future ahead. The best years are over. If you think about it, it’s not too far fetched.
Tablets sell very (and I mean VERY) well and are even threatening regular notebook sales. Of course they have an impact on ereader sales too. You can read on tablets too, but of course not as good as on an dedicated reading device. But for most people, that's enough. Not everybody is reading a few hours in one sitdown. It's more common for people to just read an hour before going to bed. With such usage patterns, tablets are doing very well as reading devices. So why not?
But if you're like me and read every chance you get, a tablet isn't good enough. Not only is the reading experience on the LCD display completely different from ebook readers, but the battery life time is just too short. What good is a reading device if it's dying in the middle of an epic battle or romantic love scene? Not to forget the weight of a tablet is significantly higher than that of an ebook reader. And last but not least: You can't read in direct sunlight with a tablet. There is no point in taking the small handheld computer to the beach or swimming pool.
I currently own a Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2, which delivers the best reading experience EVER. Its display is pretty much perfect, as well as the integrated light. Amazon even promises that you can't really tell the e-ink display apart from a regular paper page. I tend to agree.
Kindle Paperwhite vs. Paperback
German ebook-site ALLESebook.de did an extensive
review on the Kindle Paperwhite with a couple of great photographs. One of the pictures (see above) shows just how well the Kindle screen is doing in comparison to a real book. I think this is extraordinary. Just think back how the old Kindle looked, with its grey background and now look at the picture above again.
Sure, tablet sales are high and don't seem to be slowing down any time soon, but they won’t replace a good ereader.
So what's the point of all my writing? Well, nothing really. I just wanted to get this out of my head. Many of my friends don't understand why I keep using my "old" Kindle Paperwhite and really don't bother understanding either. So while e-ink display sales might decline, I am absolutely sure that the device class "ebook reader" won't go anywhere.
I will update my diary from time to time, to see where the ebook market is going and where I'm standing in the future. I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the end of cool innovations on the digital reading market.