$99 e-Reader article

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

my 2c:
I don't think that there will be time for the ereader to offer more and more at the same price point, because it will be subsumed into a more general device category. At the moment, enough people feel that eInk provides a significantly better reading experience than the screens on the more general devices (netbooks etc.) to make it worthwhile producing a dedicated reader. Once screen technology improves to the point where it is cost effective for general-purpose tablets to have sunlight-readable colour screens, the dedicated reader will be no more. I'd give it 5 years.

I can't agree. The good example is calculators. PC, cell phones and other devices have embedded calculators but customers still buy calculators as separate hardware because it is HANDY and easy-to-use. Another example is MP3 players. Almost each cell phone has MP3 player but customers buy MP3players... If I need ebook reader (not notebook or video pleayer) I will buy it even if the screen will be the same as on many other devices.

[EricDP]

Originally Posted by Crowl

Given their insignificance in the market, everyone else could have easily ignored Kobo's choice of price though, it was the reaction that caused things.

Only insignificant because they are new to the market. But they were causing a stir with their $149 reader, when everyone else was over $200... the others had to respond quickly before Kobo became a real player (I think they're already too late - there's a lot of Kobos out there now).

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by EricDP

(I think they're already too late - there's a lot of Kobos out there now).

In Australia, that could not be a truer statement, though the market is slowly evolving.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by Kris777

I can't agree. The good example is calculators. PC, cell phones and other devices have embedded calculators but customers still buy calculators as separate hardware because it is HANDY and easy-to-use. Another example is MP3 players. Almost each cell phone has MP3 player but customers buy MP3players... If I need ebook reader (not notebook or video pleayer) I will buy it even if the screen will be the same as on many other devices.

When I last bought an MP3 player, I ended up getting an ipod touch because I wanted the maximum solid state storage that I could get, and ended up with a much more general purpose device than I was really after. If I could get an iphone with enough storage on it (which is surely only a matter of time), I would get one and replace both phone and mp3 player with one device. My point is that I think dedicated MP3 players are already reducing in market share as more and more people use their phones (primarily) to listen to music. Calculators are also much less prevalent - I own one, but don't bother to carry it around, because I could use another device if necessary.

Will there be nowhere to purchase a dedicated reader in 5 years? I'm sure that you're right that the category will survive if only as a niche market. My point really was that the market to sell millions of Kindles is a time-limited one which will disappear once, for most, reading is not a function that merits a dedicated device. I think that Amazon are doing the right thing in marketing a reader at the same time as making their software available on other devices, so that this transition will be as painless for them (and their customers) as possible.

For me, and I suspect most people, I like to read on the best (i.e. most comfortable for reading) screen that I have, and I suspect that this screen will be on a general-purpose device. The market for putting an expensive state-of-the-art screen on to a dedicated reader will be limited. Right now, there is a market because screen technology is such that the best reading screen is not the best web/video/gaming screen, but I can't see that situation lasting long.

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by mikij

As EricDP stated, I also became interested in these devices when Kobo hit the market with 149$ price tag.
However, I don't believe in a possibility to see one day sub-99$ e-readers. I would like to, but I don't believe
What I believe is something that happened with PCs: For the same money (let's say 150 bucks), you'll have more bang every time a new reader hits the market.
There will be a kind of standing price, a minimum below no manufacturer will go, but will offer new bells and whistles. Today, you still have PCs at 3000$ or more (gaming), as they existed 15 years ago when I bought a Pentium 1 for the same price. And today you can buy a double core laptop for 500-600$/4G RAM, 500G HD, the same price you paid for P4 laptop /1G RAM, 150 G HD several years ago. If there is something below this price, it is not a laptop, it is kind of sub-laptops based on Atom processor with a tiny screen you can barely use. Clearly, it is another category.
So, IMO, ereader manufacturers will do the same: in a near future, you'll have 3G, color e-ink and I-don't-know-what-else for the same price you pay for wi-fi, greyscale reader today. And I have no idea what will follow (pliable devices, double screen, whatever) for the same price, but years later.

This is mostly because of monopolies that exist for different parts of the PC
their is more competition here for screen technology to processors etc so the prices will likely go down quicker compared to computers

[taming]

I'm guessing that as long as ePUB continues to be widely used, there will be a market for inexpensive readers for people who prefer to not be tied into a proprietary format and want the freedom to look for competitive prices. Whether there is a market for more fully featured non-proprietary ePub readers (with features like the Kindle) remains to be seen.

I have Kobo, which is 58% owned by Chapters-Indigo, a very big player in Canada. Last quarter they spun Kobo off (used to be Shortcovers) and took on other investors, internationally (Indigo, Borders, Australia's REDgroup Retail and China's Cheung Kong Holdings). Chapters-Indigo had to "go big or go home". They are not big enough internationally to be successful with a proprietary format and they sure did not want their Canadian customers deserting them for Amazon, which recently won a big court case allowing them to have their own warehousing in Canada (a first for a foreign owned book biz).

I love my Kobo, but if it were to disappear, I'd be OK with another reader that supported ePUB files, using Adobe ADE and with the ability to sideload with software like Calibre. Will Kindle make this possible some day? Mebbe. Will Google books be a factor going forward? Mebbe.

Let's not forget, we're at the beginning of this ride.

PS: Interesting article from July 10 on Kobo: http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-50020720100709

[EricDP]

Originally Posted by taming

Whether there is a market for more fully featured non-proprietary ePub readers (with features like the Kindle)

I'm not sure what features people want, but Kindle is very limited in how it can render books and until they adopt EPUB they'll remain quite limited. MOBI is great for nothing but text, but any advanced formatting, especially involving verse, images, tables, etc., is completely out of the question.