iPad is not an e-reader

Apple's iPad will go on sale in early April, very soon. The comments about iPad is mixed. One thing I definitely think about iPad is that iPad is NOT an e-reader as Amazon's Kindle, Sony ereader, or Barnes Noble's Nook. It may be an e-reader in the future, but not right now. I would consider iPad as a mixture of TabletPC and Netbook (for iPad with wifi functionality).

The reason I think iPad is not e-reader is mainly iPad does not use e-ink or other alternative technology to make reading experience much like reading physical books.

iPad uses LCD technology. I agree that LCD is better than e-ink in that 1) it is colored, not just black and white, so we can view nice pictures, play games, etc. 2) it has multi-touch screen. I hear that in the near future e-ink could not support neither color nor touch screen.

But an e-reader should have two basic features as a reading gadget. One is to make eye more comfortable and reading experience is like that of reading a physical book. iPad uses LCD, much better than CRT. But as an avid reader, I still feel my eye is tired after reading pdf on LCD for an hour. I have no such feeling after reading a physical book for an hour.

The other is that readers can use ereader to read it outdoors, such as during a picnic in a park, or when relaxing at a sunny beach. Do you have the similar experience with your smart phone that, in the sunshine, it is very hard to find who is calling you, what is written in a friend's email, or take a look at the picture you just shot? E-reader should let you read anywhere and anytime.

How about WiFi of e-reader Nook and Kindle

I checked some information about WiFi functionality of e-reader Nook and Kindle today and found a little disappointment.

Although Kindle can use Sprint wireless network for free, it does not have WiFi functionality. You could not use WiFi even at your home.

Nook claims to have an WiFi functionality besides AT&T 3G wireless network. It is true that you can use WiFi at Barnes & Noble store for free. However, because it has flaky web browser while most WiFi hotspots such as Starbuck need login, you could not use WiFi at these places because you can not log in! Nook's software needs a big improvement. I do not understand why Nook's software is so flaky since it uses Android operating system and Android have a running browser.

Que proReader, which will debut on January 7, 2010 at CES, also have WiFi and AT&T 3G network. It is not clear about what OS Que will use (maybe developed from scratch) and the software support of WiFi.

There is no great technical challenge to support WiFi for e-reader. I predict that by the end of 2010, Nook, Kindle, and Que will all support WiFi nicely.

What is Que?

Que is an ebook reader by PlasticLogic, a Mountain View, California company. Que will debut on January 7th, 2010 in CES. I paid a lot of attention to this gadget. I have a friend working in PlasticLogic and also I want to buy an ereader in 2010.

Different from Kindle or Nook, its screen is made of plastic. So it is foldable and rollable. Also readers can make annotation on ebooks. My wife loves this feature since she usually makes a lot of notes when she read textbooks. The screen (letter paper size) will be bigger than Nook and Kindle. However, it seems that Que could not make color screen in the short-term either.

Que will be sold in Barnes & Noble store. It will be interesting to see how people pick Nook vs. Que. I am surprised to see the first Que proReader is designed for business professionals, not general consumers (then why it will be sold in Barnes & Noble?) "Designed for business professionals" make me expect that the price will be higher (maybe much higher) than that of Kindle or Nook. It may be just a strategy to differentiate Que from Nook and Kindle to avoid late-entry disadvantage in ereader market. Que may run into the same situation as Palm Pre, which came out after iphone or Android phones.

What is Nook

This past summer, I pre-ordered Amazon Kindle DX. When it arrived, I used Kindle DX a week and returned the product. The main reason I returned Kindle is it could not render many ebooks correctly, which I plan to read. Those ebooks can be rendered correctly using Acrobat reader on PC. Besides that, I am disappointed about the flaky browser and poor Sprint wireless signal. I have other wishes such as touch screen and color screen. Moreover, ebook reader price should be reduced. I know Sony ereader software is bad. So I plan to wait another year when other ereaders come out. For example, It is reported that PlasticLogic will release ereader in 2010.

But on October 20, 2009, Barnes & Noble announced that it is releasing Nook, Barnes & Noble ebook reader. Reviews of nook are mostly positive. I visited Barnes & Noble bookstore on Thanksgiving weekend. There are a shelf and a guy to show off the nook. But I did not see the real nook, instead just some booklets. Later I heard it would not catch this Christmas shopping season.

Overall, I am very happy to see Barnes & Noble to introduce nook. It will make a more competitive ereader market, which will boost the innovation and quality, and reduce the ebook price. The consumer will benefit from the competition. Amazon would also think more before it erased Orwell ebook from Kindle. Also the AT&T wireless network used by Nook have a better signal quality than Sprint, and nook has WiFi functionality while Kindle DX does not.