Sony's Latest E-Ink Brings Nothing New And Costs Over $1,000!
With more people and corporations adhering to social responsibility, we all hope that one day physical paper will become obsolete. Perhaps this is the argument Sony had in mind while designing their latest e-ink device, Digital Paper. The 13.3 inch device is part iPad, part e-reader and according to rumors, it’s said to have a 1,200 x 1,600 16-level gray scale display. Moreover, the device sports 2.8 GB of flash storage, includes a microSD card slot, the latest WiFi tech and only weighs 358 grams.
Sony’s Digital Paper sounds pretty cool, but...
...the abundance of neat features can’t justify the price of $1,100. While personally I get that Sony’s device was not designed for the average consumer, I am under the impression that the Japanese electronics manufacturer is addressing naive legal professionals with large expense accounts.
At this point, it’s hard to say whether or not the gullible professionals will take the bait. Remember that the gadget is essentially a note-taking device. Even though it incorporates a flexible display featuring an optical and a digitized touchscreen, it’s still a one-purpose gadget.
To make things worse, the software only supports PDFs
Although the e-ink introduced last year in the Japanese market has received numerous software updates, it can only support viewing of PDFs. Granted, both Excel and Word files can be converted into PDF so you can view them on the Digital Paper. However, do professionals really want to waste time with file conversion on another device only to view them on an e-ink? Very unlikely. Moreover, I forgot to mention that the device lacks an email client and doesn’t allow the installation of additional software.
In my opinion, the launch of the device – which will happen at the American Bar Association Tech Show in May – is bound to be a huge failure. After all, who can forget previous disastrous attempts of marketing very expensive one-purpose devices such as iRex, Skiff or Plastic Logic Que.
