Quote:
Originally Posted by kacir
I can't fathom why would a company stop manufacturing their best selling device.
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We're talking Sony, to start with.
Rational decision making isn't all too common there, nowadays.
The 505 case, though, is tricky.
First, a lot of the components in it are old; the button-heavy interface is expensive, and the assembly line that built them was probably reconfigured for other uses long ago.
Asian electronics products are produced in batches; the assembly line is set-up, the batch is produced, and the line is reconfigured for another product. If more is needed, they reconfigure back. In may cases, though, they can't.
Panasonic ran into a situation a couple years back where for three months they had no product to sell in a given Plasma TV size because the completely misread the market. By the time they realized the market wanted more the assembly line was producing a different model and they were gearing up to produce the following year's updated model.
In the case of the 505 producing a worthy successor is tricky because Sony's design philosophy these days is to throw the kitchen sink into their hardware; the idea of prodicing a lean and mean reading machine doesn't quite fit their self-image as market leaders. So they keep on looking for ways to lead, with side-lights, touch-screens, elongated screens (not a bad idea onto itself but they got the ratio wrong), and other *expensive* features that just didn't go where the market was headed.
They are supposed to have a new generation of readers due Real.soon.now. It is possible that after the fiascoes of the last two years they may have taken a look at what the 505 did right and the 700, 900, etc did wrong and come up with a worthy succesor.
It is *possible*.
But we're talking Sony, so don't hold your breath.
The reason remnant new and used 505s are so expensive is that hardly anybody expects to see that particuar combination of readable screen in a solid case at a fair price again. Especially now that "fair price" means essentially US$150 +/- $50.
As we've seen in the various threads here on Mobileread, the reader market seems to be moving in directions that don't play to Sony's strengths and there is a fair amount of doubt as to how long they can stay in the game.
It may very well be that the Sony 505 will be the highwater mark of Sony readers for a long time.