Single-text e-reader review: a rising fad with long-term promise
Before Engadget was born, the late ’90s saw a rising fear of the millennium bug, not to mention the advent of the first true e-readers. As time went on, e-ink technology on these devices improved, and despite the subsequent rise of tablets, e-readers have persisted thanks to their retina-soothing displays and generally affordable prices. Now, millions sit on bedside tables and in commuters’ bags worldwide. Their popularity, however, has given rise to whole new branch of niche e-readers with tiny memories capable of holding but a single text. Join us as we delve into this fledgling fad and ask whether such low-cost hardware can persuade you to put down your Kindle, Nook or Kobo and give them a shot. Is this a new chapter in the e-reader story? Swing past the break and find out.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
Before Engadget was born, the late ’90s saw a rising fear of the millennium bug, not to mention the advent of the first true e-readers. As time went on, e-ink technology on these devices improved, and despite the subsequent rise of tablets, e-readers have persisted thanks to their retina-soothing displays and generally affordable prices. Now, millions sit on bedside tables and in commuters’ bags worldwide. Their popularity, however, has given rise to whole new branch of niche e-readers with tiny memories capable of holding but a single text. Join us as we delve into this fledgling fad and ask whether such low-cost hardware can persuade you to put down your Kindle, Nook or Kobo and give them a shot. Is this a new chapter in the e-reader story? Swing past the break and find out.
