[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Dennis, it's not clear to me how much a TFT screen costs the manufacturer. We all assume that it is much less because the jetBook and Libre are so much less expensive than the eInk devices.

I don't have cost figures handy, but they are significantly less expensive. It's economies of scale, semiconductor division: the biggest chunk of the cost is an allocated share of the cost of the facility that makes the stuff. The more you make, the smaller that allocated share of the cost becomes for each unit, and the cheaper it can be. eInk isn't at the point of achieving those economies.

Judging from the posts here, jetBook and Libre owners are quite content with the TFT screen.

<shrug> My default reader is a PDA with an LCD screen. I have no problem with it.

eInk gets kudos for low power consumption and hence longer battery life, and a display some folks consider easier on their eyes. Neither of those are compelling factors for me. But eInk does not support color, which is a compelling factor - I need color support in any ebook reading device.

Considering the ease of use of the Kindle, I imagine that there would be plenty of people who would buy a Kindle with a TFT screen for less than $100 dollars.

Possible. But battery life would be an issue, likewise reading outdoors, and the margins on a $99 reader would likely be slim at best. As mentioned earlier, there's no reason for Amazon to bother. They want you to buy the books, from them, and there are an increasing number of options for doing so that don't require a Kindle.
______
Dennis