Missing Link of Paperless Home

[from Pushing Paper Out the Door]

Will this vision of paperless home or office ever get realised?

We all know that computers do not reduce paper use. In fact, they increase the amount of paper used. The printing has just shifted from large printing shops to our desktop inkjet printers.

The reason is simple. Reading on a computer screen is not a rewarding experience. Computers are great from finding reading material, but not great for reading. They just cannot compete with paper - until a properly designed e-ink based ebook reader appears.

I have been looking for an affordable, useful e-ink based reader. So far the choices are very limited. Here is a comprehensive E-book Reader Matrix. A quick look will notice that most (except iRex iLiad ER-0100) has a smallish 90mm x 120mm reading area. In Australia, most documents are in A4 (210mm x 298mm) size. Fitting reading material which is originally at A4 size on such a small reading screen is not comfortable reading!

To really get to a paperless future, we need A4 reading size, portable, always on e-ink based reader with no DRM hazzles. Since e-ink display is basically flexible, consumes no energy except during page change (no page refresh is required to maintain the display), it has the quality to meet the above requirement. I just hope that some investor will have the vision of seeing a future where there are several e-ink display devices on each desk - at least one of these device is A4 for document reading, not just novels reading.