Barnes & Nobles has had a hell of a year last year, seeing their shares drop and their sales not doing so hot. Even after spinning the nook business into it's own entity, they've been struggling (both B&N and Nook).

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is doing well, but not as well as it could be doing.

Part of this reason is the canibalization of e-Ink readers by their tablet offerings.

E-ink is still very slow, and it's refresh rate simply can't accomodate video. This makes

e-ink readers impractical for applications, web surfing, and video--all things tablets can

do.

Now, for me I could give fuck-all about that stuff, because I'm an avid reader. I want

a screen that will not damage my eyes, and that I can stare at for long hours doing something

that I love to do--read. So, it would completely break my heart if the nook Simple Touch were

to dissapear (I like the kindle, but I wish they supported the ePub format).

But, since Apple introduced the iPad and defined what the current generation of tablet divices

should be like, all the companies that have copied Apple have more or less introduced devices

that very closely match e-ink readers in functionality with all the extra bells and whistles...

And, consumers responded accordingly.

So what is the solution for those of us who don't want to stare at a backlit conventional screen,

even if it has a retina display?

Mirasol.

Mirasol technology is already being used by Korea's largest bookstore chain ( Kyobo ),

and is likely going to break into the market in 2013 in the USA.

Like e-ink Mirasol reflects light back at you like written words on paper would. Unlike

e-ink, MIrasol has colour and a 30 fps refresh rate, making it capable of runing applications

and playing video.

E-ink can support colour with an additional layer that reflects colour back at you, but

the refresh rate is no faster than current e-ink displays. Mirasol is already leaps and bounds

ahead of e-ink.

My hunch is that Barnes & Nobles as well as Amazon will introduce Mirasol e-readers very,

very soon, and that this will be the perfect solution for those of us who do not want to use

conventional tablets (I can't believe I'm calling them conventional already ).

We get the best of both worlds with Mirasol--a natural, non-back lit display that is easy

on the eyes, along with fast refresh rates that allow us to watch and view video.

I honestly can see Mirasol screens being perfect for work environments since they

consume about as much electricity as e-ink displays ( an e-ink reader will last at least

1 month between recharges).

Here's an example of the Kyobo ebook reader : http://youtu.be/pDoVzKd9H4U