Wired have an article about the Alex eReader that is a typical irrational attack on eReaders -
Alex, the Frankenstein’s Monster of e-readers which sews the head of the Kindle onto the tiny, mismatched body of an Android mini-tablet, is available for pre-order.
We have trouble seeing any kind of market for this.
The plain e-reader will continue to succeed, a simple one-purpose device with almost complete independence of battery-life worries.
Who will buy this mongrel, the poor Alex with its lack of functionality, its short battery life (just six hours with the color screen in use) and its almost-iPad price-tag?
Wired attack the dual screen design, the fact that the LCD cuts battery life to 6 hours if on, and the price. It instead recommends a simple one-purpose device.
Now take a look at what the same author at Wired wrote about the Nook (which has an identical design) in a post titled B&N unveils Kindle-Killing Dual-Screen ‘Nook’ eReader -
If you just ordered a Kindle, stop reading now or you’re in for a giant dose of buyer’s remorse. Barnes and Noble unveiled a new e-book reader called ‘Nook’, and it is hot, both inside and out
Nook looks a lot like Amazon’s white plastic e-book reader, only instead of the chiclet-keyboard there is a color multi-touch screen, to be used as a keyboard or to browse books, cover-flow style.
So let’s get this straight - the Alex and the Nook have the exact same design. With the Nook Wired call it a ‘kindle killing design’ and applaud the multi-touch screen. With Alex they call the design Frankenstein’s monster.
Wired are making fools of someone
It’s either us or them.
When the Nook first came out Wired thought its multi-touch screen (which couldn’t be used for browsing the Internet) meant it would kill the Kindle. When the Alex comes out with its more functional LCD screen (that allows Internet browsing) Wired call it a monster.
Alex’s price might be much higher at $400 and that’s a weakness – However, Wired are attacking the design and claiming that people want a device that is single purpose. That’s the exact opposite of what they wrote when the Nook came out.
Android and LCD screen - Good on Nook, Terrible on Alex
It gets better. The Alex gets blasted on its Android credibility -
It is even an outsider in the Android world, the lack of a cellphone spec excluding it from the Android Marketplace, although I’m sure it’ll get hacked soon enough.
However, Nook had the exact same Android capability (actually less as there was no browser) and it got applauded. In fact, another wired reporter wrote an article on Top 5 Nook capabilities and listed Nook’s support for Android at 2. -
2. Android OS: The Nook is the first e-book reader to run Android,
The double standards extend to the LCD displays. At 3. on the list of Top 5 Nook capabilities was the dual screen feature -
3. Color touchscreen: In the world of e-readers, Nook’s dual display feature is unique. Nook has the usual black-and-white E Ink screen for reading books, but it also has a color capacitive touchscreen
… Though the idea strikes us a bit of a gimmick, it is still interesting, because it is a step out of the rut that current e-readers seem stuck in: a single black-and-white display in an 8-inch frame
The exact same idea (a second LCD screen) is no longer stepping out of a rut - When the Alex has it its monstrous.
Closing Thought – Could eReader critics at least be consistent?
It’s completely OK if you hate eReaders or the Kindle or both. Please – at least use the same arguments.
While the unintentional comedy is a nice bonus for people who actually own eReaders there are people who’re going to decide whether or not to buy an eReader based on what you write.
Perhaps most importantly Alex have, if the videos are to be trusted, done the dual screen design right. The second screen can be used for surfing the Internet and then an article can be switched over to the eInk screen for reading. The execution of the idea is to be applauded. The Nook got credit for badly executing the dual screen design and for the ‘promise’ of Android. Alex are getting roasted for executing the same idea the right way – How is that fair?
Filed under: eBook Reader Devices Tagged: | alex reader, bias
Maybe this is the result of the nook’s failures. Each of the items that were initially touted by Wired as “great features” seem to have flopped in the nook. Now that the Alex is coming along with the same features, Wired expects them to fail again?
The LCD screen is a waste of real estate. I’d much rather have a larger e-ink screen than the LCD one which is not used that often. When I tried out a nook, I was distracted by the light and the size, and the placement of the LCD screen. Focus on the main point of an e-reader: the screen you use to read the books!
I too am amazed at the “beta reviews” of the alex eReader have turned from glowing to incendiary in the last months. None of the reviewers seems to have held the unit for more than a few moments, but this apparently is sufficient to trash the whole thing.
I’m willing to reserve judgment until my pre-ordered alex arrives sometime in April.
- “I too am amazed at the “beta reviews” of the alex eReader have turned from glowing to incendiary in the last months.”
Yeah, what happened in these few months?
Maybe something else that’s supposed to be the eReader killer was finally presented?
…
Such as the ipad? No thanks! In any case, I never saw point of
“killing” e-readers. Do we really want to go back to a world where IE is is the only browser? Or where you can have a car in any color you want, so long as it is black? I did hope that the introduction of other models would encourage amazon to allow the Kindle to check out digital ebooks, but I am tired of waiting.
A careful review of the Alex can be found at http://www.laptopmag.com/review/mp3/alex-ereader.aspx
i think the problem with the alex is – it’s not a total ereader, it’s not a total android device. What is it? It’s a little of both. I want to read books. I’m not going to get the alex as an ereader because it is physically longer (the extra LCD space gets in the way), and it is harder to turn pages (the page turn buttons are in an inconvenient location for long term reading), and it is more expensive. I’m not going to get it as an android device when I have my droid or iPhone (or even iPad for some). So why get it? The touch screen is fantastic for ereaders. I love it on the nook. Why not the alex? it’s too big for an ereader. I’m not saying nook or kindle don’t have any improvements to make – they do. But the alex doesn’t have the best of either world.
I think the idea is for people like me. I don’t want to pay for a smartphone. I work at a school where I have WiFi, and and I have WiFi at home. Everywhere I go seems to have WiFi. I don’t travel much, and when I do I’m happy to read books. But, I’m really excited about reading books while listening to Pandora or Last.fm. I’m also really excited to read my books, and check my email at the same time while on a device not operated by apple.
I’m really excited about this product – and I think there are a lot of people like me out there who will shell out a little more money initially to not have to pay monthly 3G fees.