Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
It's interesting that the emergence of truly workable tech for e-reading isn't on his list, and equally interesting that the economy is.
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Not at all, since Mike seems to think the Kindle and iPhone represent "truly workable tech" for e-books... or, at least, assumes that variations of those (like larger color tablets?) will fill in the voids for things like textbooks.
Personally, I agree that smaller devices like iPhones will become more ubiquitous e-book readers than larger dedicated readers. Unfortunately, those who agree seem to concentrate on the iPhone, to the exclusion of other platforms (there's no Stanza for my LG Dare), so even this trend could be slowed significantly by proprietarianism.
Of his conclusions, the only one I would argue is his economy point. Although he may be correct that Kindle and Kindle books will eventually save you money, most consumers aren't going to think that far ahead for something like an e-book reader (for a car, sure, but not a Kindle). So those being hurt by the economy are more likely to just buy fewer books, or keep buying print books and forego a $300+ investment in a reader. To save money, they're more likely to start reading on the cellphone they already have.