You don’t have enough real problems —

Does anyone else think that ereader designs have gotten, well, rather boring?

I was looking at the new Jezetek ereaders this morning when I couldn’t help noticing how similar they looked to all other Kindle competitors out there. They were basic black rectangles with a screen and a few buttons, just like Onyx and Kobo’s devices.

I don’t know about Nate Hoffelder, author of the post linked above, but I mainly use my Kindle to read books, not as a centerpiece for the dining room table. Somehow it never occurred to me to consider the actual appearance of the physical object, rather than its ease of use and the appearance of the text on its screen.

Top Three Things I Don’t Care About:

The physical appearance of my eReader, as opposed to its functionality.

The physical appearance of my phone, as opposed to its functionality.

The snazzy design or lack thereof of my laptop, as opposed to its functionality.

When the device in question is meant to perform a function or a set of functions, then my attention is on the functions, not the color of the casing.

Functionality does include physical dimensions, weight, and placement of buttons. One of the reasons I like reading on my Kindle is that it is light and easy to hold with either hand, whether my tendinitis issue is acting up or not. Functionality does not include color or a streamlined space-age look or whatever Hoffelder seems to care about.

I may be out at the far end of this probability curve, though, as I also barely care at all about the physical appearance of my car either. I gather a lot of people care a lot about cars, but I don’t really get this. I don’t want it to look like a total junker, but other than that I don’t care. So maybe the majority of people are dying for zebra stripes on their eReaders or something. How about it? Do you care whether your eReader stands out from the crowd as a physical object?

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