News Hi-tech tome takes on paperbacks

From the Beeb:

A new gadget could spell an end to books as we know them.
Researchers at Hewlett Packard have developed a prototype electronic book which can hold a whole library on a device no bigger than a paperback.

The brushed metal device is about one centimetre thick and looks like an oversized handheld computer.

The technological tome is dominated by a screen and a series of touch sensitive strips that allow the reader to navigate through the book.

E-books are loaded on to the device using a standard USB port on a computer.

Full story here

Interesting interface - I like the way you "turn pages". However, is this going to be any more successful than the other e-books so far? I doubt it. Paper books will be around for decades to come.

 

Turning of pages looks pretty cool

Wonder what the price of these things will be though?

And there (like with CDs / DVDs I suppose) is a nice feeling about actually having the book/cd/dvd rather than...

 

Personally, I don't think it will fly. They have been trying to get people to go over to ebook readers for the past couple years, but it's just one more gadget for most people to carry around with them. I was looking at getting an ebook reader, but ended up getting an ipaq for reading my books because I was able to expand out to 5gb HD which I can store many books as well as music (which with sennheiser headphones sounds great), as well as some games and many other functions.

 

I woudl totally go for a tablet if I had the cash to burn. Something with desktop-ish usability and I could read ebooks on... but alas I don't have the cash... they need to become obsolete already so I can get one

 

Personally I would rather look at a book than at another monitor in my spare reading time. A book is much easier on the eyes.

 

For some reason, reading print on a page puts me to sleep... but I can read text on a screen for hours (as I usually do) with no prob...