Meet PAIGE - The Next Generation e-Reader.
It’s a book it! … It’s a tablet!
SENSUAL
PAIGE would be as open to marking as a paper book.
– 6.25" x 9.25" D-size (pretty standard for hardcovers)
– touch screen panel to use with a pen or a stylus
– touch screen panel also functions as keyboard, navigation, etc.
– rotate PAIGE for easy typing
– write in margins / highlight text with finger or stylus
– tag your notes
– tablet could offer other computer / PDA functions
– a special e-book jacket - the physical embodiment of each book - could wrap around PAIGE to give it more of a book feel. these jackets would be optional.
READING RITUALS
PAIGE would display books as PDFs. The infrastructure to do this already exists because most manufactured books are printed from a PDF.
– could be encrypted to protect copyright
– maintain unique design of individual books and usage of typography
– avoid loose lines, widows, incorrect word hyphenation, and orphans that make e-reading a little sloppy
– the e-book on a PAIGE would match the real book - easy reference and consistent bibliographies
– an adjustable, non-formatted style could be included to allow for text size changes for people with poor eyesight
SOCIAL
Ever wonder how your friends or classmates draw or write in books? Or what they would recommend?
– share and read notes, tags, as highlights from others as they appear in the text
– view and hide notes through your buddy list
– view other’s digitally shared library to see what they are reading or recommend
ECOSYSTEM
– e-books could be bought online or in a book store. e-books could come free with a hardcover purchase and be unlocked with a special one-time-use barcode.
– e-books could also be purchased as only the e-book jacket (with the barcode) that would wrap securely around PAIGE so that you could display what you are currently reading. People could continue to collect and display covers but store them in a flat file.
– a PAIGE library would probably look more like a display wall showing a collection of covers rather than shelves of books.
