Comments on: Weekend Laugh Dept. Hearst developing its own e-reader, for periodicals.

By: DJ

DJ — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:37:24 +0000

26,

Uh, well… between work, personal email, half a dozen newspapers a day and blogs like this, I spend about 12 hours a day reading my laptop with no apparent problems, unless that’s what made my hair fall out! If I get a Kindle will my hair grow back???

By: smartalix

smartalix — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:04:33 +0000

24,

You have obviously never seen or used an e-ink display. There is a significant eyestrain difference between a backlit image and a reflective image.

By: RBG

RBG — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:40:57 +0000

23. hhopper

Now let me take you into the far, far distant future. Where movies and television and periodicals and digital pix and illustrations and webzines and newspapers and magazines and books are in… color.

RBG

By: DJ

DJ — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:58:31 +0000

Hey John. Can you explain to me why anyone who owns a laptop would buy a so-called eReader? I think the whole idea is a joke and I’m genuinely surprised by the apparent acceptance from your readers that I see expressed in the above comments. What am I missing??

By: echeola

echeola — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:43:26 +0000

This makes sense for Hearst to get it’s publications on e-readers. I heard recently that distribution would be cheaper for the NYT to give away Kindles with each two year subscription. Why not a model like this. Maybe that is what Hearst is thinking.

By: hhopper

hhopper — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:21:26 +0000

RBG,

Give me a break! I know you were tongue in cheek, but all the devices you mentioned were ridiculous novelty items. E-readers are here to stay… and they will evolve into exactly what you’re talking about. However, tell me how many times you tossed a novel away because it wasn’t in color. Har! Electronic ink is easy on the eyes. My eyes get burned out reading a computer screen. Electronic ink is like reading a printed page. Who needs color for 90% of what you read?

By: smartalix

smartalix — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:16:23 +0000

You guys do know that for years Hearst Interactive Media has been a major financial supporter of the company e-Ink?

By: RBG

RBG — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:22:58 +0000

9 hhopper
Electronic readers so obviously need to be small, thin, color, border-less, touch screen devices that I won’t be buying one until that industry can get its act together.

I take it you also own these other products that sold like hot-cakes: The Clapper, Pet Rock, The Pocket Fisherman, Chia Pet, Billy the Big Mouth Bass, The Flowbee, Can opener in a can.

RBG

By: Paddy-O

Paddy-O — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:25:31 +0000

Lots of early car companies failed in the early years. It’s the nature of business. Someone will get it right.

By: Glenn E.

Glenn E. — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 08:10:57 +0000

All you’re likely to get with this form of ereader is, serial access of each issue. IOWs. First to last page, no searches. Can’t skip the ads. Maybe restricted sectional access. But I’m sure they won’t let you look for only those articles that you’re interested in. And you’ll still have to find the 2nd half of each article, that starts on each section’s first page, among the sections back pages. Bordered by lot of ads. The only thing these ereaders will eliminate is the paper medium. Not the outdated layouts.

By: BubbaRay

BubbaRay — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:35:41 +0000

I wonder when the first Blackberry will arrive with e-reader capability. That would be OK.

By: Nimby

Nimby — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:48:14 +0000

Personally, I’m pleased to see them at least trying a new idea. I expect they will fail but that’s how progress is made. I just hope somebody comes up with something affordable, convenient with a larger viewing surface (for newspapers and periodicals) and that someone realizes it shouldn’t cost as much for an e-book as it does for a paper book. And god save us if Amazon becomes the iTunes of e-books. They’ve shown a propensity to overcharge for the books AND the reader. Amazon, like Apple, will mine the public’s wallet until the ore runs dry and competition forces them to ease up on prices and DRM.

Did you see this?
http://consumerist.com/5161348/outcry-prompts-amazon-to-stop-overcharging-for-digital-edition

By: Nimby

Nimby — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:47:01 +0000

[Duplicate comment deleted. Please don't double post! - ed.]

By: GetSmart

GetSmart — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:24:55 +0000

Richard Stallman is looking more and more like a
prophet every day that goes by.

By: DJ

DJ — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:38:11 +0000

I already own 2 eReaders, My Dell laptop and my AT&T Tilt. Why would I buy another? [Electronic ink is SO much easier on the eyes than either CRTs or LCDs. - ed.]