Trendspotter: Mechanised good reads
By Michael Fitzpatrick
Published: May 16 2009 02:46 | Last updated: May 16 2009 02:46
Technophobes might have moved their music collections from plastic, even vinyl, to a computer or iPod with some degree of resistance. But now comes another wrench – mechanising a good read.
Sacred to some in their paper state, books are next on the list for digitising and shrinking until, space-wise, they disappear almost entirely. Thousands of titles can be squeezed on to the latest slim, paperback-sized e-readers that, thanks to clever “e-ink”, do a credible job of mimicking the printed page.
Books, newspapers and even magazines can be downloaded wirelessly to these reading tablets, of which the Sony Reader and Amazon’s Kindle are best known. A recent addition to the market is the larger format Kindle DX, which will handle monochrome graphics and promises also to replace paper textbooks. And Japanese company Fujitsu has truly opened up the possibilities of electronic reading with the first commercial colour e-reader, the FLEPia – although at $1,000 it is double the price of a regular greyscale model.
Such is the capacity of these little marvels that in future whole libraries could be swept into the attic. But be warned – drop an e-reader into the sea during a turn in the sun and it won’t just be your holiday fiction that is trash.
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