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  • Spring Design Alex (Remember?) Officially Discontinued

    Devin Coldewey

    Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. → Learn More

    Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

    We haven’t heard anything regarding the Alex e-reader for a long time. I nearly reviewed it, but can say now that due to its performance it really wasn’t fit to be reviewed at the time. I was told then that a successor was in the works, and although we’ve heard no more from them, this week finds a notable change on their site: the Alex is no longer “out of stock,” but has graduated to being “phased out.”

    It’s possible that this heralds the announcement of the new device, but it also might just be that they’re in the process of liquidating the company. Of course, if they get the settlement from Barnes & Noble they think they’re going to get, that might just keep them going into the next phase.

    And I do think there’s going to be a next phase — some people think e-ink readers won’t survive the tablet onslaught, but I think there will be a place for them as the e-ink tech improves and makes for bigger, lighter, and more flexible designs.

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