Foldable eBooks

from the getting-closer dept

There's just something about the flat ebook that doesn't appeal to many people. However, how would people feel if their electronic books folded down the middle like a regular book. For some reason, that seems slightly more appealing. Of course, I'm still not ready to throw out my many bookshelves filled with books, but it's good to see that people are working on ebooks that seem a little more user friendly.
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  1. identicon
    John Bartley, 23 Apr 2002 @ 5:00pm

    foldable e-book

    Well, if you start with a device with the size of a Palm and unfold the screen, you've doubled the screen real estate.

    Start with a lo-res screen on the topside of the device, suitable for calendar, celfon control and other mundane one-handed tasks. The inner screen would perhaps be rotated ninety degrees, and since the control mechanism (buttons, Grafitti area, thumb-type-keyboard, et al.) would only take up real estate on the bottom half, you have more than doubled the screen real estate. For folks with old geezer eyes (like me, bifocaled at 48) or folks with vision (macular degeneration) or cognitive problems (e.g.: A 13-y.o. nephew o mine can't grog text below 14 pt.), and you've got a winner.

    How many PDA users have bifocals? How many kids with type-size sensitive text cognition disorder are there in the States, entited to a device under special ed mandates? How many folks have macular degeneration or other similar disorders? Gee, whiz, three ready markets.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Adam Barr, 23 Apr 2002 @ 7:39pm

    sales estimate of 24,973 yearly

    Where the heck did they get that number?!?

    - adam

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Al, 24 Apr 2002 @ 11:05am

    No Subject Given

    I'm way more interested in the standardisation of an across the board format. Right now, buying an ebook doesn't mean that you can download just any book from the net. Loads of books aren't in the format, and of those that are, heaps are in conflicting formats which you would need at least three different kinds of ebook to read. That's why more people aren't buying them. It should be really popular, not to mention good for the enviroment.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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