The E-Book That Folds Away
There’s a new e-book reader on the market … and it will wrap itself around your little finger. Literally.
The new Readius is made with a screen that folds up into a tidy package for carrying and is flexible enough to wrap around your finger.
The resolution and screen quality are comparable to the Amazon Kindle since both devices use E Ink technology. The Readius display is a little smaller than the Kindle — 5″ diagonal versus the Kindle’s 6″ — but the Kindle doesn’t fold up to the size of a cell phone. The Readius also lets you download email, which the Kindle doesn’t do.
Many e-book readers have launched and failed. Can the Readius put a dent in the growing Kindle market? While the Readius has a “cool” factor with the bendy screen, the Kindle has a big headstart and the Amazon infrastructure behind it.
The big downside of the Kindle and the new Readius is that they are essentially single-purpose devices. They read e-books. OK, they can both read newspapers too.
But where is the flexible screen that can do it all and won’t tie us down to proprietary file formats?
Years ago I read a prediction that said one day we would all carry a single, rollable screen that served as newspaper, book, web browser, e-mail reader and computer desktop. That’s the device I’d like to see.
So to the Readius, I say, “Good start.” Let’s see what you do next.
Tags: Amazon Kindle, E Ink, e-book reader, e-books, flexible screen, Readius