E-Reader Feeder

E-readers have been around for about a decade but their popularity has been held back by both technology and other competing media players like PDA's and MP3 players.

With the wide release of affordable e-ink display screens which imitates real print and improved memory storage (3,500 books on a Kindle) not to mention very long battery life (2 weeks or 8,000 page turns), finally the largest bookstores and electronics manufacturers have embraced and are heavily promoting all these new 2009 models.

As the first wave of buyers were gadget enthusiasts who love the buttons, power and capabilities of the first decade of e-Readers, the marketers are now focusing on the second group of consumers, book lovers who enjoy reading on both traditional paperbacks and electronic formats.

I believe that in 2010 and beyond, students from grade school to postgraduate degrees will embrace e-Readers as a tool to help them study. Employees and business people will also begin to purchase e-Readers in greater numbers to carry around documents and share reports & memos. Even people who read only a few books a year will consider changing from paper to digital as the average price drops in all categories.

Most current information about e-Readers are to be found in electronics blogs or computer magazines but those articles are often too technically oriented and aimed at specific type of reader. We need a place for e-book readers, of all types, to get all the information about e-readers without wading through hours of search engine research or going to the manufacturers websites. "E-reader Feeder" aims to provide as much news and views about our little hobby as possible and invites your input.

This is not a movie blog but I really recommend anyone who still goes to the cinema to check out Avatar.  Avatar is a insanely expensive ten year project by "Titanic & T2" director James Cameron.  I saw it on Boxing Day & while the story was interesting & captivating, what blew me away was the realistic 3D special effects & colourful vibrant images that kept me glued to the screen for nearly three hours.  How good was was it? The packed audience actually clapped at the end & the majority stayed in their seats to watch the screen credits roll over more great visuals.

I watch many films & for the first time ever, I felt I was actually inside the movie, rather than watching it through a window. - that is how realistic the 3D was.  This is a ground breaking film and many movies in the future will be shot with this technology.
 I can't help feel that this will filter down into hand held devices at some point.  For example, what if future ebooks can display their fonts with raised images to make it look like 3D words?  What if new iPhones in 2020 can play 3D images so that it seems your favorite band or rock star is playing in the room just for you? Time will tell.

If you are like me, you might find it interesting to know which eReader is the most popular this year. As I said in other posts and articles, eReaders have finally become a mainstream product. Next to Smart-phone and computer articles, eReader stories are all over the blogs and major news organizations. There are also a lot more choices this year, far more competition than in 2008.

Based on what I am seeing on this site, in the news and on the forums, the Amazon Kindle is far and away the most popular seller in America. It is the number one seller on Amazon.com and our Kindle reviews are the most visited pages on this site. it would be nice to get some hard numbers on the actual number of Sonys, Nooks, Kindles & other eReaders sold in 2009 & hopefully we can find a report on this in early 2010.

It seems that while eBook Readers are growing in popularity in North America and Europe, Australian booksellers and even electronic retailers have yet to accept eReaders in any significant numbers. Maybe they are waiting to see how popular they are going to be and will support digital publishing and downloading in the near future. eBooks remain a niche industry over there and there are much  less fan sites over there than in the US.

So while they have missed the boat so far, I decided to provide a page for local Aussie news and buyers guide information so that my Aussie readers will have some useful news to help them make a smart purchase. As always, I will research more about their market and will add more articles as I go along.

I also added a picture gallery of many of the photos on this site on the last page so you can have a closer look at all these lovely gadgets.