Why E Readers Are Bad – The Problem with Kindle and EReaders – Esquire

I mostly use my 4-year-old Kindle for the text-to-speech function, since the Kindle app on my university-supplied iPad duplicates all the other functions. Bring on the innovation. I can imagine buying a new e-reader, but so far have seen nothing worthwhile.

But that was the Kindle 2. I assumed that the difficulties with the machine — the awkwardness of the notes, the difficulty of navigating through text — would be rectified in future iterations. Since then the trend for e-readers has been to become much cheaper, in cost and in looks and in substance. The Kindle Paperwhite was the best leap forward in the technology and its goals were clear: slightly more contrast in the screen, a frontlight, and a longer-lasting battery. The functionality of the mechanism itself, the experience of reading, hasn’t expanded at all. —Why E Readers Are Bad – The Problem with Kindle and EReaders – Esquire.