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Comment by donio | Hacker News Reader

The post is predicting something with a "hybrid e-ink capable of color multimedia" and "melding multi-touch+Pixel Qi Screen". We didn't get that in 2010. We got a large iPhone.

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We're still waiting for a good colour e-ink device.

Are we?

I mean, sure, it would be a cool bit of tech but where does it fit? I go through phases with my kindle, but somehow even after obtaining one, I've ended up with even more hardcover books in my house than I had before and it's getting ridiculous (Seriously, there are stacks of books everywhere I can see at the moment, I have maybe 800+ hardbacks around the house...).

I don't really use my Oasis.. A colour one wouldn't add to my reading experience really (I like old, heavy, 'foosty' books..) and no matter how I try, even reading entertainment fiction on a e-reader just isn't the same.. I am a fan of these devices though, don't get me wrong...

Would it replace my iPad? No.

Would it replace my kindle oasis? No.

What's it for then?

I’d love my Remarkable or Oasis to be in color. I’ve used my Remarkable almost daily since I’ve received it and Oasis several times a week for years. Color on either or both would be great.

Even in color, eink devices have largely never been portrayed as an ipad replacement given their largely different use cases. It’s sounding to me like you don’t like your devices in favor of either an ipad or paper book, and while that’s okay, it doesn’t mean there’s no market for a color device.

I'm not saying there isn't; just that I don't see what it is though? What would you use it for?

At least for me, the main reason for the remarkable to exist is reading scientific papers -- not having to print them out (and keep track of them) is a great benefit, but sometimes color is an important part of them. As a device for _writing_, I don't miss color at all, but for reading / annotating, it would make a big difference.

Reading PDFs on an e-reader is an awful experience though. Without reflowable text, either the device is physically larger than a page and cumbersome, or it's too small and zoomed out to read comfortably.

The Boox people are working on it; though it seems the colour e-ink tech itself isn't quite as up-to-snuff yet.

https://onyxboox.com/boox_nova3color

I adore my Boox Note 2 -- I've been remarkably surprised by its firmware support too, they've added features and increased performance massively over time.

They're expensive though. More so than an iPad, and it technically does less despite being Android underneath, just due to the limitations of the tech itself.

Comics, graphic novels, manhwa. Colour illustrations in books. The presence of colour can enhance the reading experience. While still retaining the qualities that make eink/epaper better for reading.

I'm sure there are more uses for it, but our inability to come up with those uses does not invalidate its potential

Plots in research papers (although I guess they should be understandable in grayscale if for no other reason than accessibility, unfortunately that is sometimes skipped...).

I'm the opposite, I have a kindle Oasis and caught myself getting the ebook of paperbacks or hardbacks that I own. I just find it more comfortable to read.

That said, I really dislike the interface of the kindle, I like the kobo's interface slightly better (I love the pocket integration).

I could see myself use a colour e-reader for comics, for colour illustrations in books.

That was based on the assumption that a capable multi-purpose tablet could only have a few hours of battery life. The iPad’s ～10 hour endurance was a huge game changer.

Comparably-sized e-ink devices offer days to weeks of battery life.

Most especially when used as an e-book reader (e.g., occaisionally invoking a full-screen refresh, without illumination, radios, or other processing), but even when used as a full-on tablet easily exceed a day of typical use.

Of course, but 10 hours is enough to be very competitive with readers for most use cases. It's enough that if you go away for a weekend and forget your charge cable, and your main use is reading ebooks, most people would be just fine. It makes it much more competitive than anyone could assume before it came out.

10 hours is a great amount of time. (A full weekend of reading without having to think about charging would be ideal.)

My experience is that battery life tends to degrade over time. 10 hours is the best the device will ever have.

e-ink offers days to weeks (with judicious use). Even with degredation, 1-2 days' usage without charging will be an option. What I've found is that charging is quite rapid, so even if short top-offs are all that are possible, those restore a large portion of total battery life.

And the device is readable in bright light / direct sunlight, again, a major benefit.

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