eInk displays are the current main choice for dedicated ebook readers like the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, and Barnes and Noble nook.Lobster wrote:Thanks guys - interesting - we need to stay ahead of the hardware loop
One of the most expensive items on netbooks is the screen
Smartpaper webpads may well emerge - monochrome to start
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper
We have a nice monochrome theme ready . . .
On the plus side, they are extremely power efficient. Once an image is painted on the screen, no power is required to preserve it. Battery life is measured in weeks. They are also easier to read than backlit LCD screens for a number of folks.
On the minus side, they have relatively slow refresh rates (forget video), are monochrome with 16 shade greyscale and resolution about middle of the pack, require an extra layer to be touch screens, and are relatively expensive. (A teardown done by an industry research firm of the Kindle assigned about $80 of the Kindle's cost to the eInk display and controller.)
Pvi, the outfit that was the main manufacturer of eInk screens, claimed to have a 12 bit color prototype in the lab in December 2006 which would go into volume production in 2007. It never happened, so I have to assume that it was either harder than they thought to move from prototype to production, or it simply cost too much for the intended market.
Lack of color support is a deal breaker for me.
Linux already runs on several ebook readers, including the iREx Iliad and the Barnes and Noble nook. It's not clear what Puppy might bring to the party on them.
If I were looking at bringing up Linux on J. Random tablet hardware, frankly, Puppy isn't where I'd start. I'd look at something like Google Android or Nokia's Maemo implementation.
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Dennis