What I Want In My Ideal eReader Device

I love my Kindle Touch. I really, really do. I love the ability to instantly download ebooks, anywhere I am (and that I can use 3G for free to download them). I love how I can carry thousands of books around without it getting heavy. I love that the e-ink feature doesn’t strain my eyes when I read, like reading on-screen does. But there’s still a lot that for me is wanting.

Here’s my current wishlist for an ideal ereader device. I want it to have:

e-ink in color. No eye strain, but be able to read picture books, comics and graphic novels, and magazines all in color–and to be able to see book covers in color. I miss that.

access to millions of current novels that are DRM-free, so that if I change my eReader device, I am not limited to a specific format. (I know that’s more about ebook format wishes, not eReader, but I’m including it any way.)

the genres and tags for ebooks automatically download with the ebook itself, so that they’re easily sortable, and have ebooks be able to be sorted in those genres or tags (and have all the tags and genres be editable) such as YA fantasy, YA realistic, suspense/thriller, etc.

the ability to *easily* and intuitively change any of those tags and categories/genres to ones that work best for me.

the ability to *easily* take notes, highlight material, etc, and share them. Emphasis on easily, and without any delay. This, for me, means more of an Android tablet-like interface, where, if you’re typing by touch on the screen, an arrow pops up where you touch the screen, and you can drag it to the correct place to edit. And better word suggestions pop up while you type, and learn from what you type, the way some Android keyboards do.

software that allows me to easily create file folders on my eReader; add or delete ebooks; file ebooks; and create tags and categories. I would also love it to have open software so that 3rd-party developers can add their own tweaks and products.

the ability to file and sort ebooks the way you can on a computer, not just with folders (and the genres and tags) but also with subfolders (folders contained within others) to make sorting even easier, so that I could put, say, YA fantasy within YA books.

the ability to buy ebooks no matter what country you’re in. Really. (Okay, that’s something that publishers control, but it makes my wishlist).

spell check for when you’re typing or making notes.

easy social networking and sharing of notes and book recommendations (Kindle Touch already allows me that through allowing me to tweet notes and comments while reading….). AND the ability to completely turn off that social networking and sharing or to choose what you share and what you don’t.

an intuitive and easy interface.

a way to request (and receive) notifications of when new ebooks come out for specific authors, from all the places I buy ebooks. The request part is important. I only want notifications for authors whose books I love, not every book I buy.

a way to request (and receive) notifications of price drops for specific books (like books in my wishlist, or books that I create a list for just for that purpose, to get a notification if the price drops) from all the places I buy ebooks.

a way to resize graphic content using the pinch and pull method, and to have the graphics be clear and vivid, including the text that comes with them. (And of course a way to resize text–that’s a given).

a way to intuitively read graphic novels and comics, more like some of the online graphic novels are, where you can move from pane to pane, so that each pane is clear, and follows the story consecutively.

the ability to borrow ebooks from libraries (currently not possible in Canada with the Kindle).

the descriptions for ebooks automatically downloaded, attached with the ebook itself, again for easy sorting or to see which book you want to read next

the ability to quickly mark ebooks as favorites with a star or some other symbol beside them, and have an automatic linkable list created that I can easily refer to and leave comments on for myself.

bookmarks easily viewable and sortable for each book.

the ability to automatically remember where I was last in the book *even if it was not connected to the 3G network* so that I never lose my place in an ebook again, even if I’ve switched to another ebook and then come back to one.

the ability to remember the last 10 books I read, so that I can switch between books.

the ebook you’re currently reading show up at the top of the list of ebooks, no matter how many ebooks you’ve added, or have a button where you can always get back to the last 5-10 ebooks you’ve been reading. And not have that count an ebook you open for 10 seconds to see if you like it or what it is.

a low weight, so lightweight, but sturdy.

long battery life.

free 3G in the US, Canada, and UK. (We all buy a lot of ebooks! Currently, my Kindle Touch has that; it’s a great feature) AND if there are any deals from ebook companies, to not have those deals exclude where we happen to reside (such as Canada).

So those are the things I want in my ideal eReader device; they’re all I can think of at the moment.

How are you? What do you want?