Re: Why the Kindle and other e-book readers are doomed


"Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy" <taustinca@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Xns9C2ABCA7630FEtaustingmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Paul Arthur <flowerysong00@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:slrnh3b0d1.55m.flowerysong00@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

On 2009-06-14, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
<taustinca@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

erilar <drache@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:drache-D001DD.16525714062009@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

In article <Xns9C2A7D8B412EEtaustingmail@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Gutless
Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

One of the most common complaints about the idea of ebooks is
screen size. A screen big enough for most people to read on
comfortably is too big for a cell phone. A screen small
enough for a cell phone (which need to fit in a pants pocket)
is too small for book readers. You're completely off base on
this issue.

Note in this regard: a jacket pocket will hold a paperback.
Its pages are large enough to read easily.

How many people wear jackets in the summer? Or, in many parts
of the world, in the winter? A cell phone needs to fit in a
*pants* pocket, or a *shirt* pocket. A paperback won't.

Ahem. A standard paperback will fit in my trouser pocket (front
or rear). A tablet with screen size approximating a paperback
page would fit even better, since it could be thinner.

Not very comfortably. There's a reason cell phones are smaller than
paperbacks. It's _been tried_ with larger formats, and people won't
buy them.

Yabbut, it was a different market then, portable phones or car phones,
phones carried in purses or brief cases.

But yeah, now the consumer expectation is for smaller than paperbook,
certainly THINNER than paperbacks.

It's possible that I have abnormally large pockets in all my
trousers,

Somewhat, actually, yes. Standard jeans will hold a thin paperback
(and who publishes those any more) in the back pocket, but not the
front.

People still carry stuff in their back pockets? Wow, I stopped that back in
the '80s after I lost my first wallet. Now with so many cards (library,
credit, debit, grocery, insurance, AAA, bookstore, medical, etc.), it
wouldn't fit at least not when sitting down--at least it wouldn't be
comfortable to sit down. I certainly wouldn't risk sitting on a cell phone
by putting in my back pocket.

Then again, everyone's not me, or else "butt-dialing" wouldn't be an issue.

but given that I didn't select for that trait it
doesn't seem the most likely explanation. (Woman's sizes are
likely to pose more of an issue, but they are also more likely
to carry something like that in a purse.)

Shirts I'll grant you, but I don't carry anything in my shirt
pocket anyway.

You do not define the entire market. It's _been tried_, and failed.

--
Terry Austin

Wow, I always carry stuff in my shirt pocket, cell phones, pens, tiny
notebooks--unless I'm wearing a vest. If the CTA didn't freeze the buses in
summer I'd just carry stuff in my vest (of many pockets).

-- Ken from Chicago


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