The Dream eComics Reader?

The Dream eComics Reader?

Mar 11

In my idle moments–all three of them–I spend time contemplating what it would take to provide me with the ultimate eComics reader.

I’m not thinking of webcomics, per se–I’m speaking of this huge stack of material I’ve "obtained" from the "internet." Also, the many PDF electronic comics now available from publishers like IDW, Slave Labor, and others.

Right now, I use my laptop and I tilt it on its side like a book, and I turn the screen orientation sideways, and it’s such an intriguing deception that I have actually FOUND MYSELF REACHING UP TO MY MONITOR SCREEN AS THOUGH TO TURN A PAGE THAT DOES NOT EXIST IN REALITY. Scary, I know!

This, though…were this to happen…damn. This would be, as they say, "teh schizz."

(Mock-up from Gizmodo via CNET)

"Apple Touch Screen Netbook Rumors Heat Up"

This could easily be another game changer. I was incredibly enthusiastic about Apple’s video iPod 3.5 years ago, because I felt as though it could seriously impact the decaying old media distribution model. It seems to have done exactly that-it hasn’t dismantled the model, but I think you can draw a direct line between the video iPod and the iTunes store and the multitude of video content now available from the networks for free online. (Still ad-driven revenue, but baby steps. Baby steps.)

If Apple manages to put together a netbook like the above-something about the size of an actual loose-leaf notebook, with a large color touchscreen, that can pull off video and music, as well as internet applications via WiFi-well, goodbye, Kindle. The only missing piece (and I’d bet dollars to donuts Apple is already thinking this through) would be an iTunes bookstore to supply files optimized for their netbook.

Why would you pay $350 for a black and white device that only displays material when you could have for $500 (okay, a guy can dream about prices, can’t he?) a more robust device that does the same thing the Kindle does, but in color? Sure, there’s form factor, and that could be a consideration-the Kindle feels more like a book than this does.

But it still fits in a carry-on bag. It still looks like it could be relatively lightweight. And when you’re not reading a Grisham thriller at the airport, you can be checking your e-mail, watching a movie, or cranking some tunes-all in the same device. No need for an extra laptop (or cell phone, for that matter, except for the phone functionality, but SHIT, get Skype on this monster and you are set).

I have a tendency to overimagine when it comes to electronics, and thus, I am usually disappointed. Even bearing this in mind, if this device comes to pass, and uses this form factor…I drool in anticipation.