Quote:
Originally Posted by jcoley2
I was thinking of buying a Dx now that I started a new job today in NYC and could download the newspapers and save money for the train ride. What do ou think that chance is that:
1. A color version could come out soon?
2. An Apple tablet comes out that might be a better product?
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1. The chances of a color version coming out soon are pretty low, simply because color E Ink really isn't feasible yet. There is a color e-book reader, the FLEPia, that uses an E Ink-like screen, but it's Japan-only and a thousand bucks. The most promising technology on the "color screens that are sort of like E Ink" is Qi3 from Pixel Qi but that's still a ways off.
2. Who knows what the chances of an Apple tablet are, but it sort of doesn't matter. An Apple tablet wouldn't be a better product, it'd be a totally different one; it'd almost certainly use a backlit LCD and would thus be much worse for long form reading (but better, of course, for video). If you're looking for a device for reading, the Kindle is, currently, the best option. But there's a lot changing - iRex has a reader out that's actually priced competitively, Plastic Logic's player should be out early next year, and both of those readers (and Sony's upcoming Daily Edition) support "anywhere" 3G wireless as well (though with seemingly more limits than the Kindle - don't expect to browse the web on the iRex player, for instance). Barnes & Noble is making a big push with the iRex player and apparently an even bigger push with Plastic Logic, and the non-Amazon book industry is sort of unifying around ePub, which is exciting. But it's sort of doubtful that anything will be better than the Kindle any time soon.