Latest crazy Amazon tablet rumor: dual screen E-ink/LCD
I’m only repeating this rumor so I can snicker at it, loudly.
According to the ZatzNotFunny blog, they have a source who sat next to an unnamed Amazon exec on a flight somewhere. This Amazon exec is supposed to have said a few things about the new Kindle tablet:
Most notably that it features two displays: e-Ink on one side, color LCD on the other. And he seemed quite clear that this is front and back, versus the stacked displays seen on the original Barnes & Noble Nook or a dual mode screen, à la Pixel Qi. Which sounds pretty far fetched… How thick would the device have to be to support two screens and reasonable battery life?
Dave Zatz didn’t believe this rumor, either, which is to his credit.
This is a rumor that you can write off as an impossibility. We’ve seen 3 dual screen ebook readers come and go over the past 18 months. All were failures, and 1 never even made it to market. Not even Amazon could succeed after 2 other companies failed. Heck, I’m not sure that Apple could pull off a success for a dual screen tablet. Also, there’s no way that this would be cheaper than the NookColor.
I’m sure Amazon played with the concept, but I don’t see how they could plan to release one. As much as I like the idea, a dual screen tablet proves the rule "jack of all trades, master of none". You have to admit that a dual screen tablet will not be better as a tablet than a single screen Android tablet, nor will it be better than the Kindle as a reading device. Do you think Amazon would want to make a second rate device?
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