If you read on a Kindle, Kobo, or another e-reader machine, you probably love it.
Unfortunately, the Boox Leaf 2shows exactly whye-readers don’t make for good all-purpose computing devices.
“General-purpose computing requires a high level of interactivity, which is not possible with e-ink technology.
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How E-Ink Works
The best thing about an e-reader is its screen.
An e-ink screen requires no backlight.
It is just black ‘ink’ on a pale gray page, just like a cheap paperback book.
E Ink
And like that paper book, it can be read in full sunlight.
These LEDs shine onto the screen so you’re free to read it in the dark.
It’s a neater equivalent of shining a flashlight at a paper book to read it.
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Power is only used to change the display (and to initiate the computer inside, of course).
The advantages are clear to anyone who reads on an e-reader.
But the downside is that it takes ages to refresh the screen.
It’s fast enough for flipping pages in a book.
The next page is ready before your eyes return to the top of the screen.
This is why we don’t have many general computing devices with e-ink screens.
They just don’t work that well.
But not for apps.
“Some Android apps are bad on the Leaf 2 because (for obvious reasons!)
they were designed to be used with fast-refresh screens on Android phones, not slow-refresh e-Ink on a tablet.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
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Reading apps are clearly the most obvious candidates.
Another great use, and probably my favorite idea, is an RSS reader for e-ink devices.
That leaves it up to the rig vendors.
And so far, they’re not doing a great job.
