] Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI), Sony
] Corporation(NYSE: SNE) and E Ink Corporation announced
] today the world's first consumer application of an
] electronic paper display module in Sony's new e-Book
] reader, LIBRIé, scheduled to go on sale in Japan in late
] April. This "first ever" Philips' display utilizes E
] Ink's revolutionary electronic ink technology which
] offers a truly paper-like reading experience with
] contrast that is the same as newsprint.

[ This is an area I follow with some enthusiasm, since I love to read. I'm still not sure how i feel about ebooks... there's something missing in the sensual experience -- the texture of the page, the smell of ink and paper, the heft and solidity of a bound novel. I can't help but think that this line of thinking will expire, like most traditional modes, as current youth grow up with the new modalities. I see myself already becoming the oldster, lamenting the lost experience offerd by paper books, while the kids snicker about silly old men not being hip to the present. And I'm only 25. Anyway, I'm curious to see what the MS community thinks about all this.

Leaving behind the philosophy, i think this device, as a product, needs to lose the keyboard, add a slick pen interface, and be wireless. Then it's existence as *the* newspaper is solidified... constant realtime updates to news content from the source(s) you choose, an easy means for annotation and bookmarking, clipping and forwarding news objects.

The evolution towards Star Trek style tablets continues. -k]

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