Would someone please pass the fried wonton?

As for the DPI question, experimental E Ink even as far back as 1999 was capable of 600 dots per inch. Today the Sony Reader does around 160-170 dpi, and most people don’t notice that big a difference between that and laser resolution. A bigger issue for everyday E Ink remains text-background contrast, and that’s on the way to being solved. Meanwhile, albeit with ample “stipulations,” you’ve told how a Kindle might suffice to hook you on a book. You even said you could read on with far-from-perfect typography. In the context of your future libraries book, that comment is significant.

I’ve got better things to do than follow your career, in which I wish you success; but I would like to point out that Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness and Reality is hardly a minor work for you in the grand scheme of things. And the display argument is no small support of the premise when it comes to reading of lengthy texts. We’d both agree that books are important to libraries. So the readability of lengthy texts in E is a big consideration here.

Anyway, I’m glad that E is on your radar and hope that rather than just criticize the very real failings of e-books, you’ll now turn your attention to issues crucial to libraries, such as e-book standards. I think that even your limited display of open-mindedness about the Kindle is a good sign, and I hope you write more of the same, ideally while encouraging librarians to worry about Amazon’s proprietary approach and do something about it.

Thanks,
David

I’m not a director of PALINET at all. I am not even an employee of PALINET: I’m a (very) part-time contractor. All you need to say is “Walt Crawford is Director/Managing editor of the PALINET Leadership Network.”

As to the “main point” — don’t hold your breath. Even if you weren’t so fond of attacking me and somehow reducing my career to one section of one book, the fact is that ebooks and ebook readers represent a very small portion of my interests–one that you’re helping to make even smaller.

If you fault me for suggesting that librarians in 1995 were well-advised not to count on 300dpi electronic displays in a couple of years as a basis for collection development decisions: Guess what? I’ll stand by that suggestion. (160dpi is still a long way from 300dpi–and 13 years is a long way from “just around the corner.”)

Walt Crawford is Director/Managing editor of the PALINET Leadership Network (PLN), a wiki-based resource for library leaders. PLN is supported by PALINET which is a cooperative membership organization of hundreds of libraries, information centers, museums, archives, and other similar organizations.

Maybe Walt Crawford is trying to emphasize the fact that he is not a Director/Managing editor of PALINET. For example, a Director at Yale University Press is usually not a Director at Yale University.

Thanks,
David

Addendum: Your Linked-In profile reads “Director/Managing Editor, PALINET Leadership Network at PALINET.” In the original version of the post, without the just-made tweak, I used “Director/Managing Editor.”

Further thoughts: Do I also need to say “a managing editor?” Also keep in mind that “self employed” just might have referred to the writer-speaker stuff.