Marco Arment on Grayscale vs. Color Ebook Screens

December 24, 2009

But down here, below the clouds, in the world of ebook-reader owners, I can guarantee you that the times I want color are far outnumbered by the times that I’d benefit from sharper, bolder, faster grayscale.

The numbers break down something like this:

  • Times I’ve wanted color: I don’t know. Maybe one or two? I can’t remember any. But it has probably happened once.
  • Times I’d benefit from grayscale improvements: Every time I use it.

This isn’t to say that there’s no reason to make any devices with color e-ink screens, but I don’t think there’s much reason to make mainstream ebook readers with them.

via Marco.org – Generalization of technological progressions.

Marco Arment on why for the typical user of an e-book reader, improving the rendering of grayscale on e-ink screens is far more important than developing color e-ink technology.

  • Ken Clark
    Agreed. I thought Marco's comments were dead on.
  • Jon Rosen
    I agree with this. We're going to need color ebook screens for textbooks, especially science books, but for the most part, enhanced resolution is going to make ebooks far more useful. Apple knew that when they released their early Macs. The Mac Plus, SE, etc. had B&W screens that had much higher resolution than they could have had if they were released with color screens. It was a very wise choice at that time, based on the limits of the technology. LCD screens, back in the 80s, were mostly limited to watches and some small alphanumeric displays.
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