User Centred Design Limited

Further to my comments on ereaders below one more thing... as Columbo used to say.

I'm in a Waterstones in Canary Wharf and they have a Sony eReader proudly on display for 200 squid. Looks quite clunky and a bit too big for footering about with on the TUBE. I mean, eRead, meRead, so WHAT?

Most of the folks I see on the tube ALREADY have their hands full - literally - with iPods and stuff. Could they handle another device - one as big as this, and with as limited a functionality as this? Uh-huh, no way, brother.

Later, I arrive home and one of the leetle ones is pestering me about her Manga collection, and how she wants some rare stuff from Singapore through eBay, with a hefty TWENTY quid postage charge... So, I wonder if I can torrent anything useful...

Some expert searching later, and I have acquired vol. 1 to vol. 400 of what she wants... and I know JUST the device she can read it on - her Nintendo DS.

Fitted with an M3 cart, latest version of the M3 operating system and a 2GB micro SD card, she's soon ready to rock...

Now THAT, folks is a REAL eReader... Not a dedicated device - because that just WON'T work, but a convergence device, kids. Plays games [brilliantly], plays music [well], video [pretty good] and yes, works purdy darn fine as a wee-reader.