Nick sent me a link to the COOL-ER reader, and I have to say I’m impressed. Somehow the launch of a totally new, and if I may say so, totally sexy, device passed me by. This is launching at BEA right now and is available for pre-order in the UK, shipping later this month. They have also got an ebook store ready to launch in the States, with up to 700k titles (so they claim).
In terms of functionality it doesn’t seem to go beyond the Sony- no touch screen, no colour, no wireless. In some ways this might put it a a disadvantage against the Kindle, but on its side it has the most iPod-esque design of any ereader yet, ADE compatibility, lightness (45% lighter than others apparently) and, from our perspective at least, availability in the UK.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I think ebook readers will only take off in a mass way once they are seriously desirable devices. These are, and hence form an important step. Activity around devices is hotting up. With the recent announcement that Amazon and the newly bought E-Ink corp are working hard at developing colour e-ink screens, the staturation point for ereading devices inches closer.
Repeated for the nth time: it’s not about an iPod moment, it’s about iPod moments plural. And I think this might just be one.
5 Comments
It’s too bad the refresh rate and the build quality of this device are so poor.
I want this to be an iPod-like moment, but I just don’t see it. I’m just not sure how a smaller screen and no wireless is an improvement over other options. The price would have to be soooo low to make this worthwhile. I just don’t think this is the device readers are holding out for. It’s just smaller specs and scaled back… a simpler eReader and that’s not what the industry needs right now. maybe once eBook adoption swells, but not now. And really shiny color cases have no bearing on what folks are looking for. I understand what you’re saying about users and their devices, but the iPod went through many industry shifting iterations before they introduced color.
What the Cool-er does is make the device look great (color choice, who’d have thought…), although I don’t understand why there isn’t a lawsuit from Apple heading their way, and is affordable. At least $100 less than Kindle / Sony. For e-readers to work you need their adoption by both those who read a lot (older folk) and those who like cool stuff (younger folk) – although these are not mutually exclusive. If you are used to downloading onto an iPod then the lack of wireless won’t kill the Cool-er / Sony etc but it must make for easier sales if you could download on the fly like a Kindle.
I can’t comment on the quality of the device, having not actually held one in my hands (Cool-er people, if you’re out there, a reader would be really, really nice…) but I do think it’s not worth underestimating the importance of design. After all, if design wasn’t important how would interesting but unreliable cars keep selling? Something kept Alfa Romeo going through the bad times, and it wasn’t build quality. Admittedly though if a product is unreliable, this will eventually spell the end.
Trav- when you say a simpler ereader is not what the industry needs right now, I’m not so sure. People like simplicity. Not everyone wants the killer convergence device. Cory Doctorow has long argued that ebooks will suffer from being too plugged in, as books require a unique kind of focus. Given that, a lack of wireless and other features might arguably benefit the reading experience, if not the retail experience.
It’s worth pointing out that the display is identical to the standard Kindle, Sony PRS 505 and Cybook – virtually all EBooks use the same 6″ screens produced by a single manufacturer. The actual reading experience should be very similar to any of the other EBooks out there. If you’re happy plugging your iPod into your PC to load songs, then you’ll have no problem with the Cooler.
The one area that may be a problem for the Cooler is that it has been brought to market very quickly and to a strict budget, which may have restricted what they’ve been able to do with the user interface. The standard firmware for these devices is a little bit clumpy and doesn’t show the flair you’d expect from Apple, Sony or for that matter the Kindle. Whilst that’s not a problem for geeky early adopters, it could prevent the Cooler from becoming the mass market device it aspires to be. As you can get the Sony for a very similar price if you hunt around, the Cooler has to show something for being developed nearly two years after one of the earliest e-ink machines to market. Good software is part of that and shows that they have understood what is good and bad about their competitors besides the price.
If Cooler can commit to firmware updates and a skilled Human Interface designer to make the experience as slick as the physical design, this could evolve into the start of a very promising product line.
For what it’s worth, here’s my take on convergence in E-Readers, prompted by the news of the new Pixel Qi screen technology http://t-swamp.blogspot.com/2009/05/pixel-qi-ebooks-and-convergence.html