I’ve been fascinated by single-purpose devices such as iPods for music, flip-phones for communication, and e-readers for ebooks. Considering that my interest for these devices has reached an all-time high, I was wondering: Why has the iPod died out while e-readers continue to thrive and see growth? Don’t they both serve the same purpose of allowing users to enjoy one (primary) form of entertainment? Aren’t both types of devices easily replaceable by a modern smartphone or tablet today?
Yea and no.
Simply put, iPod had a price tag that was (for a time) interesting. But the device itself was limited in its features. Whereas iPhone was only ever slighty more expensive but had more feature. It made sense for the customer to migrate to the iPhone. Also, it was also a business decision to halt the development of the iPod.
For the eReader, the story is different. Firstly, it is not controled by a single company, so there are multiple business decisions making it stay alive. Then, a tablet and an eReader serve two very different purpose. One is for general use while the other is only used to read ebooks. Because of this, the tablet and ereader have two different types of screen : LCD/LED and eInk.
The first one is based on sRGB and will deliver colours flawlessly at the cost of more power consumption. And by design, the tablet has a large processing power. That means the battery will drain faster. Which is not something you want when reading a book.
On the other hand you have the eink screen which only covers a few colours and, as such, don’t use much power. Plus, you don’t need any computing power to display texts, so the device is very energy efficient. That creates a specialised device that can last for many hours before needing a charge. Plus the fact that eink makes it almost look like you are reading a real book and not a screen.
I think that covers partly your question. And sorry for the broken englisn.
I mostly agree with this, except that iPod was far from the only portable digital music device (mp3 player) — just like Kindle is far from the only eReader using eInk screens.
I think for music, some of us took a longer time to give up our mp3 players because solid-state phone storage was much more expensive than the mechanical drives that high-capacity iPods offered. But as streaming services became available, fewer of us felt the need to have a device that could hold our entire library. It became reasonable to store just the niche music (whatever the streaming service didn’t have available) on the phone. The prices of solid-state storage dropped over time, too, and most phones now have more storage than most high-capacity mp3 players did. Plus, some music streaming subscriptions let you upload your obscure songs into the cloud and stream them from any device. So the advantages of having a dedicated mp3 player became fewer and fewer. A few people still want them, but there’s just not a large market for them anymore.
With eReaders, things just haven’t gotten to that point. The battery life is indeed a key advantage over standard tablets — I’ve been known to occasionally exclaim “my book is out of battery, I hate the future!!” 😂 The screen itself is probably the biggest advantage, though. I can read it very easily in the brightest outdoor light (say, relaxing on a beach). Or I can configure the front lighting (which shines onto the screen, not out of it) to be very dim, just enough to read the page in bed with the lights out so it doesn’t prevent me from falling asleep. I can read in the pool or the bath if I wish, some eReaders are waterproof.
Perhaps someday tablets will be able to combine the screen technology so that it acts like an LED panel most of the time but can also switch into a paper-like mode? I’d be surprised if we still have lots of dedicated eReaders being made 20 years from now, but the tech definitely isn’t here yet.
Your phone can play music just like an mp3 player can.
Your phone doesn’t have an e-ink screen.
That’s the whole reason.
A dedicated e-reader is way better for reading than a smartphone or tablet. They use e-ink screens which are better for your eyes and for battery life.
Also there are dedicated mobile music players. A lot of them are targeted at the audiophile market and can drive high impedance headphones and have a high quality dac. But most people aren’t audiophiles and don’t use headphones that would benefit from something better than a smartphone.
Every iPod feature has been rolled into the iPhone. In fact with phones having direct access to streaming platforms like Spotify, phones have made iPods redundant. Nobody wants to sync with iTunes anymore.
E-readers however still have benefits over phones. The screen quality and the battery life.
