But… don’t you sometimes want a dictionary when you write? That’s not a reading-mode-only tool by a long shot.

No. I don't use the dictionary on my Kindle. I've never missed it on my reMarkable. Not while reading and definitely not while writing.

Huh. Everyone’s workflows are different. I surely wouldn’t want to be without one.

It may be once every 2-3 years, if that, when I pull out a dictionary. Never something I seem to need.

It’s bursty for me, too. I won’t use one for ages, then I read something like Infinite Jest where I’m looking something up every other page. That’s super easy on Kobo readers and I’d hate not having it elsewhere.

I'd just use my phone, honestly. It's in my pocket and has access to much of the worlds information.

And now I'm reading/writing with 2 devices. Eh.

You're already carrying that device though, it's not an addition to your pocket. In fact, I'd argue the 2nd device is actually a problem.

No, you are. Not everyone reads when they have their phone on them, or otherwise have their phone on them 24/7. When I'm reading, my phone is at least on a table, if not in another room.

Ah, that's fair!

I guess I consider a device like that, for me, to be mostly used when traveling!

I feel that this is a "writer" around the note concept, versus long-form writing (where a dictionary could certainly make more sense). But I'm sketching, diagramming, etc., more so than anything else (I don't own, though I've been interested in this and the Scribe, and given that I barely use the Pencil on my iPad, I'm having difficulty justifying it to myself, although I might check out the return policies...)

For the price it feels like it should be a good e-reader also.

The fact that they're so expensive is, to me anyway, a pretty good reason to expect basic functionality like that.

Every feature is an eternal maintenance price until the company goes bankrupt (or an opportunity to piss off the handful of users who use it when you cut it). I'd much rather they focus their limited time on polishing things that matter more.

Yes, nobody is denying that "every feature is an eternal maintenance price"

But the maintenance price of such basic features is absurdly low. Seriously, we're talking about a basic dictionary lookup. We're not talking about massive, expansive features that will require many hours of maintenance.

Anyway, if you don't use a dictionary at all, even while reading - and you think a "handful of users" use them - then this conversation probably is not going to go anywhere.