Plastic Logic Reader Looks Like Kindle Killer

Here is what the clunky Amazon Kindle should have been since the beginning: a simple, ultra-sleek full-page 8.5-inch by 11-inch electronic book and newspaper reader with a flexible plastic touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity, and the ability to read regular Office documents without conversion of any kind. As we said yesterday, Plastic Logic showed it at the Demo Fall 08 conference in San Diego. Seeing it up close and on its side makes me want to have one. Badly.

According to the company, the reader is tough enough to resist getting hit with a shoe, which is exactly what I wanted to hear because that’s how I test the toughness of my devices. Hitting them with shoes and/or toasted baguettes with butter and apricot jam.

While the device seems solid and ready for manufacturing, the only question here is when is this actually coming out, the price, and what kind of content support it will have from publishers. Which is why, for now, it just looks like a Kindle killer, rather than being the Kindle killer. Alternatively, Jeff Bezos should buy these guys and smash his frankenbookreader.

TG Daily is covering Demo Fall 2008, so they have more pictures of the device and promise a video soon. [TGDaily]