# E-readers Obsolete.... Tablets Rising CNN



## jackz4000 (May 15, 2011)

Though I am sure many will prefer their e-reader.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/tech/gaming-gadgets/tablets-replacing-e-readers/index.html?hpt=hp_t2


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## D.L. Shutter (Jul 9, 2011)

Along with "worst town to live in" and "best degree to get" Yahoo news periodically runs blurbs on which tech devices on going extinct. Haven't seen one recently but the last one I recall targeted stand alone devices, MP3 players, GPS, PDA, digital voice recorder, etc, because of how smartphones have advanced. 

If a new "endangered" list came out tomorrow I'd expect e-readers to make an appearence. For obvious reasons, Zon and Apple don't want you JUST reading. All that said, I know most avid readers prefer e-ink and I personally need my reader to be a standalone. I don't want to be bothered by any one of a thousand pop-ups or alerts and I damn sure don't want to have to fight anyone in the house to get time on it, unlike our ipad and laptop.


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## VioletRipley (Jan 16, 2013)

I don't know, this sort of sounds like "the sky is falling" journalism to me. e-readers sell at a great pace. I think one factor is cost - e-readers are cheaper than tablets. And the other factor is preference - I prefer a standalone e-reader to a tablet for reading. I'm sure the hardware market will continue to evolve, but I'm not overly worried.


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

From my cold, dead fingers!

Stuff like that makes me want to run out and buy another copy of my trusty Sony reader, which looks and feels a lot like a paperback, in case the old one breaks and I can't replace it!
Yeah, old school


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## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

The PaperWhite sold out how many hours after it was announced?

Yes, tablets are doing well, but so are e-readers and e-books in general. The article is making some pretty big assumptions based on Nook selling poorly. That's the Nook, not the market.

Having said that, I have always thought e-ink readers were a limited market. The person who buys one or two blockbusters is never going to get one. They'll buy paper or read it on a smartphone. The person who reads six or seven books a year is likely to read them on a tablet. E-ink is really the hardcore reader model. I think that will continue until the e-ink/tablet LCD technologies become indistinguishable.


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## Fantasma (Aug 25, 2012)

I really, really, want a Paperwhite because it will be lighter than my iPad, which is what I read on now.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

D.L. Shutter said:


> All that said, I know most avid readers prefer e-ink and I personally need my reader to be a standalone. I don't want to be bothered by any one of a thousand pop-ups or alerts and I d*mn sure don't want to have to fight anyone in the house to get time on it, unlike our ipad and laptop.


This. The fact that it ONLY can be used for books is actually a plus in my mind.


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## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

I hate reading on the ipad. I usually read laying on my back and it's way too heavy. I'm a fan of mass market paper rather than hardcover for the same reason. I can tolerate it on a 7" tablet (I have a Galaxy Tab2/7), but the light still makes my eyes tired.

The PaperWhite is as close to perfect as I could imagine.


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## Kent Kelly (Feb 12, 2011)

I disagree with the article.  It's two different price points, two different application sets, two different markets.  It's like saying eyeglass sales are down and telescope sales are up, so obviously people are looking to Saturn instead of the road.  

Also they're equating Barnes' loss of market with Amazon suffering too ... LOL.  Yeah.  Barnes is not suffering because they make e-readers instead of tablets, they're suffering because they're stupid, and they're Barnes.

I think in the future tablet sales will rise and e-reader sales will decline.  (Assuming a mid-decade industrial war doesn't cause micro-electronics prices to skyrocket, but that's another story.)  But a lot of people buy e-readers because they're easy to use, and they provide electronic books.  They don't provide ringtones, texts, pop-ups, viruses, Angry Birds or calendar notifications.  Some people think those are features, others see them as intrusions to the reader experience.

A more useful article would discuss how many tablet readers are reading e-books, or using their tablets primarily for reading.


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## Fantasma (Aug 25, 2012)

Katie Elle said:


> I hate reading on the ipad. I usually read laying on my back and it's way too heavy. I'm a fan of mass market paper rather than hardcover for the same reason. I can tolerate it on a 7" tablet (I have a Galaxy Tab2/7), but the light still makes my eyes tired.
> 
> The PaperWhite is as close to perfect as I could imagine.


Katie, stop! I have a tab open in my browser & I'm _very_ close to buying it. Strictly speaking, it would be better to wait for next month.


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## EC Sheedy (Feb 24, 2011)

Fantasma said:


> I really, really, want a Paperwhite because it will be lighter than my iPad, which is what I read on now.


I got a Paperwhite about a month ago (replaced my old eInk kindle). I also have an iPad and Samsung Note, both of which I can read on while another million options sleep uneasily under the prose. But I _*love*_ reading on the Paperwhite. I just get sick of bright screens and love to settle in with a well-lit, easy-to-read-on device that specializes in *BOOKS.*


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

The eInk vs. Tablet (LCD) argument is entirely beside the point. The point is: how many people are _reading_?

Mike


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## NightReader (Apr 25, 2010)

The last couple of books I've read, I read on the iPad Mini.  It makes a decent reader.  

I gave my PaperWhite away to a relative with no e-reader or tablet.  She loves it.

So, I guess I can chalk one up in both columns:  1 convert to tablet reading and 1 new convert to e-reading.


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## B. Justin Shier (Apr 1, 2011)

Can't wait for people to start reading novels on Google Glass. 
We won't be able to tell if they're riveted or having an absence seizure.

B.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

Ereaders are not sold to make money, they are made in order to sell lots of ebooks. (that's where Amazon and B&N make their money). As long as avid readers like myself (I read 180 books last year) and most of the folks on this site, buy lots of ebooks, there will be ereaders.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Katie Elle said:


> Having said that, I have always thought e-ink readers were a limited market. The person who buys one or two blockbusters is never going to get one. They'll buy paper or read it on a smartphone. The person who reads six or seven books a year is likely to read them on a tablet. E-ink is really the hardcore reader model. I think that will continue until the e-ink/tablet LCD technologies become indistinguishable.


Exactly what I say every time these threads come up. Dedicated e-readers will survive to satisfy the large niche market of avid readers who love e-books at least up until screen tech is out that can switch seemlessly between an e-ink like mode and an LCD like mode is out and cheap. When that happens several years down the road, then dedicated e-readers may become a rare breed.

Even then they may still stick around in a reduced role--like barebones MP3 players are still out there (though much more under the radar now) even though everyone has smart phones or iPod touches etc. that due a bunch more than play music. They just are hardly advertised--even Apple's Nano and Shuffle are hardly advertised when you can't go a day without seeing iPhone/iPad ads.


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

Tablets are wonderful for people who love to play games. They're nice for folks who want to watch movies, or even television on a really small screen with tiny earbuds. They're nice for people who need to be wired to the internet as they stand dumbfounded and blocking pedestrians on the sidewalk. They are fantastic for people who obsess over finding new useless apps. And, don't ever forget how useful they are for concealing your, uh, lap as you view porn.

For readng books, they suck.


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

patrickt said:


> For readng books, they suck.


I like the e-ink readers far better than other models for just plain reading. I use mine every single day. For those of us who live in the country where wireless hotspots are few and far between (i.e. don't exist) the tablets make almost no sense at all because about the only time you can use one is if you are sitting at home. It may be a wireless world in cities, but not here. And I refuse to pay the phone company even more money to add a tablet to my wireless bill.

Besides, if I'm at home, I'm not going to watch television on some rinky-dinky little screen where I can hardly see what is going on. I'll watch the regular TV we have. It may not be huge, but it works. 

So...I still think e-ink readers may be around for longer than you might think. Although maybe not. It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.


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## kindlematt (Mar 1, 2013)

What these journalists do not understand, is that people like me want a device just to read on, with e-ink. It is not pleasant to read on a tablet screen.


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## brainstorm (Dec 8, 2009)

> The point is: how many people are reading?


Mike, that's such a good point. Books require too much attention and time and commitment. So many people (most?) would rather watch than read.

My sense is that e-readers will always attract the true readers, not the watchers, and the readers' market, though it seems to be shrinking (how many homes have you visited where there wasn't even a book in sight?), is still significant.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

B&N is having problems, but if their problems are the result of people switching from e-readers to tablets, then why isn't Amazon having these problems? Both Barnes and Noble and Amazon sell tablets. As long as there are people who want a dedicated e-reader, someone will sell them. Tablets have a long way to go before they have all the advantages that dedicated e-readers have.


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## Hadou (Jun 1, 2011)

Of course they're obsolete.  Bigger and badder, newer and shinier are always just around the corner.  

But, regardless, eInk readers aren't going anywhere anytime soon.


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## RedGolum (Nov 2, 2011)

jmiked said:


> The eInk vs. Tablet (LCD) argument is entirely beside the point. The point is: how many people are _reading_?
> 
> Mike


And that is the major issue.

I have an e ink Kindle, which I will keep thill it doesn't work anymore. For many tech companies, that means a "lost" sale, as they want you up grading every few years.

Ereaders are a different market. I will not read on a tablet, because of the eye strain.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

In the case of Apple and Amazon they don't care as much about the gadget sales as they make more money on App store and Kindle store purchases respectively than they do in profits on hardware.

So they don't care about your "lost sale" there so much as long as you're buying a bunch of Kindle books.  Probably more true with Amazon than Apple as I'm sure Apple's profit per device is higher given where their prices are at, where as Amazon can't be making much (if any) on Kindle sales given how quickly prices dropped on e-ink gadgets.  Apple prices rarely come down, they just upgrade features every year and charge the same prices for the most part.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

The dedicated e-reader would only become obsolete if it were no longer possible to get books in a format the e-reader could display. The cassette player is obsolete, you can no longer buy prerecorded music for it (I suppose someone is selling prerecorded cassette tapes, but in any case, it's rare). You can still play old tapes, and you can still record to it if you really want to. A 80's era PC is obsolete, it may be able to do the tasks you could ask a computer of the time to do, but it can't do the tasks new computers are expected to do.

I don't think the e-book format will become obsolete, so I don't think dedicated e-readers will either.


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## ErinLindsey (Jan 18, 2009)

I have several Kindles, an original Fire, a 2nd generation Kobo, and two iPads. I read books on all of them. I noticed I manage to actually finish the books if I'm reading on an e-reader like the Kindles or the Kobo.  If I'm using the Fire or the iPads, I end up getting distracted by the internet, or movies or emailing people. 

The e-ink e-readers are the better device if you just want to read books.  If you want to try to read books AND get distracted by email, Facebook and Twitter, then try reading your books on a Kindle Fire or an iPad.


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## Holly (Mar 8, 2011)

Sadly, for me the ebook reader has become obsolete.  I have three that are gathering dust.  I prefer reading on my Nexus and look forward to the hopefully soon to be released retina mini ipad.  The battery issue is a downfall though and for me the only feature left to a dedicated ereader.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2013)

I've noticed that a lot of articles claiming 'ereaders are dead' etc. also give figures which show that eReader sales in 2012 were the HIGHEST ever.

So, a device that sold more than it ever has and is now available for $69 is going to die because $169 and $199 Tablets are here?

Update: It seems 2011 was highest ever with 23 million estimated sales. 2012 was 17 million. So there was a drop.

******

The real market for eINk and eReaders is replacing paper. And I don't see paper making any major advances recently.

Tablets are more of a danger to 'reading' than to eReaders. Because what happens is people say - i want a device for reading. On a Tablet i can do other things too. Let's get a Tablet. Then they end up doing other things instead of reading.

*****

Major advantages eInk devices have

1) Price
2) Portability and weight and handling
3) Better for the eyes
4) Readable in sunlight
5) Better battery life

*****

I suspect it's similar to what happened when Kindle 1 came out and the tech press (who, btw, don't read much at all) claimed - Lucky if it sells 40,000 units lifetime before its killed off.

Now we probably have had 20-30 million sales or more of eReaders.

I think in next 10 years we'll see 100 million+ eReader sales.

At $69 it's very very accessible to people and to people around the world.

in lots of countries $69 is a luxury and $199 is a dream.

*****
The fundamental problem is that MOST tech people (including Steve Jobs and the Google Guys) aren't really readers. So they can't really relate to what makes people who read books tick.

It's like asking a dog to be the chef at a fancy restaurant. The dog can't understand why people want anything other than bones and fire hydrants.


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## Javier Gimenez Sasieta (Feb 18, 2011)

I have a kindle and an Ipad. For causal readers, Ipad is quite enough, plus you have a multi-purpose device. I guess intensive readers will prefer a kindle-e-ink reader, but... where is the big market? 

It´s hard to determine if people will try to have both devices. Maybe if the e-ink reader drops the price dramatically (e.g: 50$?)


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I will always have the 2 devices. A book is not a TV for me for example. Different entertainment devices.
E-ink kindles are my books. Tablet/Fire is my plaything.  . They are not interchangeable for me.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

I read primarily on my tablets, be it a Fire, Xoom, iPad. everyone in my house, even my 4yr old daughter has a tablet (she has an iPad.) If I don't want popups, I keep the WIFI off. I like the ease of being able to do other things when I'm done reading.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

patrickt said:


> Tablets are wonderful for people who love to play games. They're nice for folks who want to watch movies, or even television on a really small screen with tiny earbuds. They're nice for people who need to be wired to the internet as they stand dumbfounded and blocking pedestrians on the sidewalk. They are fantastic for people who obsess over finding new useless apps. And, don't ever forget how useful they are for concealing your, uh, lap as you view porn.
> 
> For readng books, they suck.


Actually, not for everyone. I have an iPad Mini which has become my eReader of choice. That's mostly because of the Marvin reading app, but even before I discovered Marvin, I was reading mostly on my Mini. And I'm finding myself reading more (again) - kind of like when I first got my first Kindle.

I never wanted to read on my big iPad, the screen is too big. The Mini, though, is an awesome reader. For me. My husband is reading mostly on his Mini as well.

I guess "suck" is in the eye of the reader.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Meemo said:


> I guess "suck" is in the eye of the reader.


Agreed! 

I personally prefer the eInk for long reading sessions but, really, my Fire is not bad at all. If I could only carry one gadget so I had to have something fairly portable, and also needed periodic web access, I'd choose the Fire HD7. It would do everything I needed in a pinch.

But if I could sneak in my PW too, I would.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Yep. Everyone's eyes are different. 

I too prefer eink for long reading sessions, and like the smallness and lightweight. But honestly it's rare for me to read for more than an hour at a time anyway. 

I read a ton on my IPad 2--PDFs of research articles, newspapers etc and my eyes are fine.  I need the 9.7", 4:3 ratio screen for reading letter sized articles without a bunch of scrolling or zooming so I have no interest in a smaller tablet like the Mini or Fire.  So I'll probably always have a big tablet for that kind of reading and other tasks and an eink reader for curling up with a novel in bed.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

I seldom read anything other than cookbooks on mi iPad or my original Fire. I am a voracious reader, and, after having had a Kindle 2, a Kindle 3, and Kindle Touch, and my favorite, my Paperwhite, I read on my Paperwhite almost exclusively. It is as close to perfect as it can get, as far as I am concerned.

Someone said that the number of people reading is declining, yet I seem to see the opposite trend with my friends and acquaintances. Most people I know report that they read more now that they have e-readers because of the portability of their devices. I have only left home one time since late April of 2009 without a Kindle in my purse. (The only time I didn't have it with me was my daughter's wedding, primarily because my little purse wouldn't hold it.)


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I do not think e-readers are on the way out because it is almost impossible to read outside on a tablet.  I love my Kobo for reading outside.  I think it is the first generation.  Though for a funny I did not realize I hold it like a baby until my neighbor saw me outside (just my arm) and asked me who's baby I was holding.  I introduced him to Koby.
I like my 8" tablet for web stuff and I mostly read inside on my kindle fire.
Oh and I love Kindle for PC for my e-cookbooks.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Cindy416 said:


> Someone said that the number of people reading is declining, yet I seem to see the opposite trend with my friends and acquaintances. Most people I know report that they read more now that they have e-readers because of the portability of their devices. I have only left home one time since late April of 2009 without a Kindle in my purse. (The only time I didn't have it with me was my daughter's wedding, primarily because my little purse wouldn't hold it.)


Just varies by people's peer group.

Very few of my friends would ever buy an ereader as they don't read for leisure much at all. And most of my friends are fellow academics.

I can understand it though as I don't read much other than a chapter or two before sleeping as I enjoy other hobbies (running, sports, movies, video games etc.) more as I do so much reading and writing for work.


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## hamerfan (Apr 24, 2011)

I like reading.
I dislike touchscreens.
No tablet for me, thanks.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

Mooshie, that is surprising that your friends don't read more. I understand why you don't read more than you already do, but why don't your friends read more? 

I read my PW Kindle in bed at home; Marvin on my Ipad Mini, my going out device & at home; my Immersion Reading - books/audio on my Kindle Fire HD in bed; TTS on my KDX & my K3/ kindle keyboard; reading a bit on my K1, usually every Sat. during lunch, as well as reading a bit, in the den, on my KT. I also read my Kindle Blogs on my K4. I used to read on my original Fire in bed, because I did not like the light from the KT in my eyes. That was before the PW Kindle came out. If I find the glare from the sun to be too much to see on my iPad when sitting in the car, I will take my K4 with me as well. I have only just begun to adjust the letter & background colors on Marvin.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Toby said:


> Mooshie, that is surprising that your friends don't read more. I understand why you don't read more than you already do, but why don't your friends read more?


Well as I said they're fellow academics and some of them are even bigger workaholics than me so it's understandable that they don't want to read a ton after all the reading and writing they do for work. And some of them were just never into leisure reading outside newspapers and magazines to begin with.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

I have certainly seen an increase of reading on the subway systems here in NYC. Whether it's on a phone, a tablet, an ereader, it's definitely noticeable.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

mooshie78 said:


> Well as I said they're fellow academics and some of them are even bigger workaholics than me so it's understandable that they don't want to read a ton after all the reading and writing they do for work. And some of them were just never into leisure reading outside newspapers and magazines to begin with.


Yeah. . . people are different.

For example, I'm a fan of sports in general, but totally don't get the hype of the current college basketball championships. I really like baseball, and I follow football, but, even though I played basketball in high school, I never got into watching it. And I absolutely don't get the point of watching _college_ games -- football or basketball -- unless it's the school you went to.  But, apparently, it's important to a lot of people! 

So it never much surprises me that there are just people who don't care to read for fun.

I have one friend who claims to like to read -- but _I_ think she really doesn't like to that much. She'll find almost anything else to do -- rather than read. That said, she rarely sits down for any relaxation time. Me: I can sit for hours and watch good tv or movies or read. (Or do a little multitasking.) She really can't. She'll watch something for an hour or so and then have to get up and do something!


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> For example, I'm a fan of sports in general, but totally don't get the hype of the current college basketball championships. I really like baseball, and I follow football, but, even though I played basketball in high school, I never got into watching it. And I absolutely don't get the point of watching _college_ games -- football or basketball -- unless it's the school you went to.  But, apparently, it's important to a lot of people!


Part of that is where you're from. I grew up in state with no pro sports, so the major D1 college team is what people in the state are most into. So I grew up rooting for their football and basketball, and also did my undergrad there, so I'm still much more into college sports than the pros (though I follow pro sports too).

People who grew up in states with pro sports--especially if they were in or near the city where they played, tend to be more into pro sports and not care so much about college sports. That's why, for example, college football is so huge throughout the south (and the good teams are mostly down there--seven straight championships by teams from the Southeastern Conference) and not so much in the north east--really no great teams north of Penn State. Just so-so second/third tier type of programs (in terms of competitiveness) like Syracuse, UCONN, Rutgers etc.


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## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> For example, I'm a fan of sports in general, but totally don't get the hype of the current college basketball championships. I really like baseball, and I follow football, but, even though I played basketball in high school, I never got into watching it. And I absolutely don't get the point of watching _college_ games -- football or basketball -- unless it's the school you went to.  But, apparently, it's important to a lot of people!


You mean... I'm not alone? I thought I was alone!


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

metal134 said:


> You mean... I'm not alone? I thought I was alone!


No you are not alone. Though here the big fascination is High School Football. I do not understand that obsession.


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## DD Graphix (Jul 15, 2011)

I have an e-ink reader (nook). And I just got a tablet. This tablet, the ASUS TF700, has a specific setting to assist with reading in bright light. Yes, it is wired to the internet if I want it to be; so are a lot of color e-readers these days. Far from using it to play games and block traffic, I use it to help keep up with work emails (I'm a freelancer) when away from home. And I have to admit, since I bought it last month I have not picked up my e-ink device a single time. The ASUS also has a keyboard dock so it can act as a mini laptop of sorts.

One huge advantage of the tablet is that I can choose to buy and read any kindle book AND/OR any nook book AND/OR any other e-book AND/OR also load and run overdrive so I can read any library ebook. When traveling, having those options is wonderful. 

I didn't think I would like a color tablet over an e-ink device. In fact, I was pretty loud about the advantages of e-ink. But.... yeah, I like this a lot.


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## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

cinisajoy said:


> No you are not alone. Though here the big fascination is High School Football. I do not understand that obsession.


Oh, I know all about that. I live in Canton, Ohio. That means Canton McKinley Bulldogs, which are a big deal because the Canton Bulldogs were the first professional football team, so the Bulldogs, even though they are a high school team now, are an OBSESSION around here.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

metal134 said:


> Oh, I know all about that. I live in Canton, Ohio. That means Canton McKinley Bulldogs, which are a big deal because the Canton Bulldogs were the first professional football team, so the Bulldogs, even though they are a high school team now, are an OBSESSION around here.


I live in the land of "Friday Night Lights". Liked the book but do not ask me about the movie. So I understand you completely.


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## iseroma (Jan 3, 2012)

I definitely think that tablets are rising (or have risen), but I'm not sure that e-readers are obsolete. I'm hopeful that people will continue to want a dedicated reading device. Like many people, I read very sparingly on my tablet, whereas I read tons on my Kindle. My students feel the same way. I'm an high school English teacher, and my students say there's no way they'd get any reading done on their iPad or Kindle Fire!


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## Hurricane John (Jul 12, 2010)

Looking at the Big Picture, I don't think that this is something worth worrying about. I just try to enjoy my Kindle for as long as it's useable and what happens in the future, will happen whether I like it or not. 

Besides...who in the world still takes anything reported by CNN seriously??  

NEWS FLASH: CNN Obsolete......E-Readers still going strong!


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

Atunah said:


> I will always have the 2 devices. A book is not a TV for me for example. Different entertainment devices.
> E-ink kindles are my books. Tablet/Fire is my plaything. . They are not interchangeable for me.


This is me. I don't want to have to charge my 'book' every day! Love the e-ink battery life!


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

I have both or triple....2 e-readers and the Kindle Fire.

I love both for different reasons.

As a dedicated reader (myself)...for long periods of reading I much prefer my e-reader for thinness and light weight. By FAR. 

For many other things I love my Fire. And for reading, I also love the sepia reading setting and find it very easy on the eyes...so it really does just come down to weight and ease of holding (ergonomics) for me when it comes to reading.

I love my PaperWhite and wouldnt have given up my Kindle keyboard if it had had the light.


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## Shastastan (Oct 28, 2009)

As usual, the newsies are just trying to generate controversy.  I don't think it's a question of "either or" at all.  Many people have a combination of tablets, ereaders, and/or smartphones.  Demand is what will determine the final outcome, but I don't agree that the ultimate end will be one single tool that does all We have both a tablet and K2's.  We've been thinking about Paperwhites because of the lit screen for reading in low light locations.  Besides email and some minor web browsing, the only reading I do on my Nexus 10 is magazines.  I do like color for them.  I sure don't like surfing on my K2 at all, but when it's time to read a book, the K2 is the right tool for the job.


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## PhillyGuy (Dec 18, 2010)

QuantumIguana said:


> The dedicated e-reader would only become obsolete if it were no longer possible to get books in a format the e-reader could display.


For everyone who uses their eReader almost solely for books, this is correct.

Even when, twenty years from now, few books are still being purchased in the original Kindle format, it won't cost much for Amazon or successors* to continue to offer that format as an option.

About half my Kindle use is books, with the rest divided between periodicals and essays. I regard the New York Times Latest News Blog as the Kindle killer app, and also read news on the browser. My Kindle Keyboard is likely to become obsolete as a news machine decades before it becomes obsolete as a book reader.

Also, it's possible that DRM will die out. That could make repairable eInk Kindle models, such as the Kindle Keyboard, almost eternal.

_________________________
* The average life expectancy of a multinational corporation-Fortune 500 or its equivalent-is between 40 and 50 years. Amazon is 18 years old.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

PhillyGuy said:


> Also, it's possible that DRM will die out.


I'd think that's almost inevitable given that the music industry gave in and now pretty much all the MP3 stores (iTunes, Amazon etc.) are DRM free.


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