Clay's Blog

I’ve had about a month to play around with and use the Sony PRS-500 eBook Reader System. The device uses technology called e-ink from E Ink Corporation. The e-ink technology provides nearly the same experience as reading printed paper. I have to say I have been very excited about this technology and couldn’t wait to get my hands on the PRS-500. After a month of use, I can honestly say, I still really like the Sony Reader. But, as with most tech, when it comes to implementation, there will always be room for improvement.

Let me start by listing the negatives (of which there are actually quite few). The biggest problem with the Sony Reader is that there is just not enough contrast between the black text and the light gray background of the screen. There is just no substitute for black text on a white background that regular paper gives you. This problem is really only evident when lighting is too low. A good book light can really mitigate this issue when one is not in a well-lit room. Second, in terms of physical usability, it’s very annoying for right-handed people that Sony has placed both of the buttons to go forward one page on the left side of the screen. This issue, again, is not a very serious one, since using the device for a short period of time is all that is required to get used to the button placement to the point of it fading from consciousness. Finally, the Reader System’s support of PDF eBooks and documents is nearly useless in its actual implementation. The text zoom feature that is available for the native .lrf format eBooks is not available for PDF files. And, for that matter, even text files from the Gutenberg Project require additional processing to work well on the device.

Nevertheless, the benefits and fine features of the device far outweigh these problems. And because there is an active and vibrant community of users, there are several very useful tools and tutorials available to make the most of the Reader System. I’m looking forward to color e-ink displays and to more interactive implementations of color e-ink that would include markup tools similar to Tablet PCs, like those found in the iRex iLiad device, but at a more reasonable price. Look for a post in the near future with all of the tools and resources I have gathered for managing and converting files for use with the Sony Reader.