Reuters - E-readers seen as holiday hit, presage tablet PCs

[Gaurnim]

I searched quickly for this article here, but couldn't find it.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronic readers could be the hottest gift this holiday season as a new crop of portable media devices begins to join iPods and other music players as must-have tech accessories.

http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...5915WJ20091002

[Xerxes]

That's not hard to see.

[jeremy_ahn]

i wish i had friends who would get me an ereader for christmas.

[neilmarr]

I'm wondering if Amazon will catch the holiday spending spree by launching Kindle outside the US. They're cutting it fine and the less insular competition seems to have a firm toe hold. If I could afford to buy readers for friends and relatives in the 'rest of the world' this year, I certainly wouldn't even consider Kindle. Like many other ebookworms who don't live in the United States, I feel rudely snubbed. Merry Christmas, Sony, CyBook, Cool-ER et al. Neil

[Crowl]

While it wouldn't be a particular selling point for me, I think that the convenience of a reader with wireless built-in and a properly integrated bookstore would make me more likely to consider buying an ebook reader as a christmas present for a relative

[neilmarr]

Sorry to be a spoilsport, Crowl; but I honestly can't see much advantage to the wireless facility. In fact, after the Orwell fiasco showed up the possibility of remote interference with our reading, I'm a tad suspicious of it. Mind you, I've never tried it, so I may well be off beam. Cheers. Neil

[Xerxes]

Wireless, and the dedicated bookstore almost makes it a no fly zone. Like Neil said, them just plucking stuff off the system would be extremely annoying although I figure that may never happen again. And I'm a bargain shopper. Only one store/option is like foreign concept.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

I'm wondering if Amazon will catch the holiday spending spree by launching Kindle outside the US. They're cutting it fine and the less insular competition seems to have a firm toe hold. If I could afford to buy readers for friends and relatives in the 'rest of the world' this year, I certainly wouldn't even consider Kindle. Like many other ebookworms who don't live in the United States, I feel rudely snubbed. Merry Christmas, Sony, CyBook, Cool-ER et al. Neil

Sigh. I hate explaining this over and over, but the reason Amazon doesn't sell the Kindle outside the US is because the cell phone companies in the rest of the world are still not willing to work out a deal for the Whispernet service.

And while I'm here, regional restrictions are imposed by the *publishers*, not the sellers.

Believe me, American companies *love* to sell globally. That the ebook market hasn't caught up with the digital age is not Amazon's fault (or Fictionwise's or BooksOnBoard's).

[Crowl]

For my own use, I would tend to agree with you about the wireless, I'm perfectly happy with my sony as it is, but as far as giving a reader as a present to my parents, only having to do tech support for them on the reader itself and not the pc software as well would be a big plus point for me.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by khalleron

Sigh. I hate explaining this over and over, but the reason Amazon doesn't sell the Kindle outside the US is because the cell phone companies in the rest of the world are still not willing to work out a deal for the Whispernet service.

While talks may have failed in the past, there's been nothing about them trying again in a long time, whereas there have definitely been reports of european carriers having shown an interest in the ebook market quite recently.