I’m a big fan of netbooks, but they are not the magic device for all one’s needs, and they should not be. PC World has jumped the shark with a bombastic title: Bye-bye Kindle, E-reader Screens Coming for Netbooks.  It’s all about start-up Pixel Qi’s new screen which can operate as traditional backlit color LCD or as a black-end-white e-paper that hardly consumes energy and most importantly reduces eye-strain.  PC World jumps to the conclusion:

E-reader makers have reason to fear such innovation because people will be able to buy devices with more functions for about the same price. 

I beg to disagree. But rather than speculate, I’m challenging  authors Dan Nystedt and Martyn Williams to do a test: hold a 3-pound netbook for several hours, in different positions, not at their desk, while trying to enjoy an e-Book.

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Tags: e-paper, e-reader, ebooks, epaper, ereader, ergonomics, kindle, netbooks, plastic logic, situational devices, xref