As I continue to donate, Freecycle, and occasionally burn my book collection my requirements of e-readers get more complex. And for my purposes only e-ink devices will do (so no XXXL iPhone). Here is a short list of what I think is missing from the currently announced crop of e-readers.
- Security. You want me to put my engineering documents, presentations, etc. on them but you have no defined security model, encrypted storage, over-the-wire self-destruct, etc.?
- External display. Again, carry my documents but can't get them via cable or BlueTooth to a projector?
- Integration with BlackBerry Connect and similar services for email and calender use.
- Support for multiple profiles for family use along with the already established multi-device syncing capabilities. Just set two or three of these around the house for the whole family to use.
If you can manufacture a fully-capable tablet computer with e-ink display and days worth of battery for cutthroat prices then great. Until then I don't expect tablets, regardless of who backs them, to take away from the Kindles and Skiffs of the world. Third-party developers will start porting CRM, ERP, and other resource planning systems to e-reader devices too. I also expect e-reader rentals with unlimited access to news and books to be available at airports.
Of course this is all a matter of preference really so we'll see how the market shifts. -Pk
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