MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Am I wrong or is it too soon for most ebook readers

jveenem · 09-30-2007, 02:03 PM

I've not been clear in what I said ... due to what I said ... matter of emphasis I guess.

The "Paperback" Bookreader has already been here ... and gone ... it seems for lack of interest. Gemstar couldn't do it. Franklin couldn't do it on the no frills side. Rocket e-book seems to have come closest maybe in getting acceptance and use, but from my impression more so outside of america.

Perhaps, it was actually from a lack of support on the manufacturer's side as they priced themselves out of the running with the general public. Pricing a "simplified" item so high.

But that is not a criticism of the Text reader as such. I've already got MY substitute Paperback reader, for me it's the Ebookwise. And though I'm tempted occasionally to "upgrade" to a Sony or such. I haven't done it because they aren't to "the next step", they're not (to me at least) doing something $300 better ... not yet.

BUT I do see that the day of the ebook is coming, not for what it can do to try to replace the paperback but what it can do for all reading matter. Example previously given, replacing the backpack of books for school kids.

It's not that I dearly want a big color screen reader and am dissatisfied with my text reader but that I like others occasionally have tried to push my device closer to a next step, the step most manufacturers don't seem very interested in doing. And I'm really puzzled why they aren't trying harder to get there themselves.

I really don't see this, the text reader, as a "Specialized Niche" item. I do see this as currently having a specialized enthusiastic following, a niche of text'n tech heads willing to pay extra for the return others don't quite appreciate yet. But only as the "killer app" hasn't been found for it. My opinion the "next step" would begin that process but manufacturers don't seem to see it that way ... yet.

What I'm talking about is the ratio of use to cost. Look at Ipod, it's another "simplified" tech object with an enormous price but I really think it hadn't a chance if Mp3 and CD ripping and the connected "Piracy" ... a world of almost free audio ... hadn't been found first. It was an after the barn door closer, semi-legitimizing the destruction of the music industry. It makes that sort of "piracy" easier to handle ... or at least the portable Mp3 device if not Ipods just by themselves.

Not many people are as yet into the vast sea of almost free reading matter that's out there, so they don't have the need yet of a device to make that "piracy" comfortable. Not Yet. But cross the threshold, make an ebook almost a required device ... I've heard ebooks, outside of a dedicated reader as yet, in the form of pdfs, have become more and more necessary in the legal profession ... let it become an already in hand device, say for some professionals and, I think, school kids. Then watch the flood of "free" ebooks become generalized, and with that will come a flood of ebook devices. Some fancy, able to do full color at a big size ... able for me to include my collection of e-comic books into a handheld device ... and some simple, just text.

Again ... this is futurism not fact .... not yet.

Later
JVN

09-30-2007, 02:03 PM	#43
jveenem Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Device: Ebookwise	Lack of emphasis? I've not been clear in what I said ... due to what I said ... matter of emphasis I guess. The "Paperback" Bookreader has already been here ... and gone ... it seems for lack of interest. Gemstar couldn't do it. Franklin couldn't do it on the no frills side. Rocket e-book seems to have come closest maybe in getting acceptance and use, but from my impression more so outside of america. Perhaps, it was actually from a lack of support on the manufacturer's side as they priced themselves out of the running with the general public. Pricing a "simplified" item so high. But that is not a criticism of the Text reader as such. I've already got MY substitute Paperback reader, for me it's the Ebookwise. And though I'm tempted occasionally to "upgrade" to a Sony or such. I haven't done it because they aren't to "the next step", they're not (to me at least) doing something $300 better ... not yet. BUT I do see that the day of the ebook is coming, not for what it can do to try to replace the paperback but what it can do for all reading matter. Example previously given, replacing the backpack of books for school kids. It's not that I dearly want a big color screen reader and am dissatisfied with my text reader but that I like others occasionally have tried to push my device closer to a next step, the step most manufacturers don't seem very interested in doing. And I'm really puzzled why they aren't trying harder to get there themselves. I really don't see this, the text reader, as a "Specialized Niche" item. I do see this as currently having a specialized enthusiastic following, a niche of text'n tech heads willing to pay extra for the return others don't quite appreciate yet. But only as the "killer app" hasn't been found for it. My opinion the "next step" would begin that process but manufacturers don't seem to see it that way ... yet. What I'm talking about is the ratio of use to cost. Look at Ipod, it's another "simplified" tech object with an enormous price but I really think it hadn't a chance if Mp3 and CD ripping and the connected "Piracy" ... a world of almost free audio ... hadn't been found first. It was an after the barn door closer, semi-legitimizing the destruction of the music industry. It makes that sort of "piracy" easier to handle ... or at least the portable Mp3 device if not Ipods just by themselves. Not many people are as yet into the vast sea of almost free reading matter that's out there, so they don't have the need yet of a device to make that "piracy" comfortable. Not Yet. But cross the threshold, make an ebook almost a required device ... I've heard ebooks, outside of a dedicated reader as yet, in the form of pdfs, have become more and more necessary in the legal profession ... let it become an already in hand device, say for some professionals and, I think, school kids. Then watch the flood of "free" ebooks become generalized, and with that will come a flood of ebook devices. Some fancy, able to do full color at a big size ... able for me to include my collection of e-comic books into a handheld device ... and some simple, just text. Again ... this is futurism not fact .... not yet. Later JVN