Quote:
Originally Posted by DaleDe
The idea is that the current new products are all too expensive and have no backlight. There is a demand in the mass market for cheaper devices and many who still want a device with a backlight to use in bed or in the evening. The goal is to stay under $150 for the full device or $100 would be even better. There is no need for a multipurpose device but it must be a good ebook reader. The eb1150 was chosen as a starting point as it is the cheapest device available today. Many folks find that it is the reader they most like but it is getting behind the curve in technology.
Dale
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The original post seemed to me to be addressing the whole issue of obsolescense in eBook readers using the eBookwise-1150 as a starting point. These are the issues I want to have addressed to avoid eBook reader obsolescense:
1. eBook readers are machines and machines always fail, so how long will you be able to get replacement parts and repair service for the ET_x_ or any other eBook reader? (The SmartMedia external memory used to store books on the EB-1150 isn't made anymore, making an excellent device seem obsolent right now.) So I think purchasers will need to know
2. Will repairs be possible, for how long, and where can you go to get it fixed when it breaks. Apple's iPod is sent back to an Apple repair center even to replace the battery, so can an owner find a ready source of routine maintenance if they buy an ET3? I think this information should should accompany the warranty information. But savy consumers--including anyone who ever owned an iPod--will look for this information right up-front: where the device is advertised.
3. I think that most of the people who care enough about books to buy a reader, even at the $100-$150 price, will want to keep their books. Those of us who love books soon have more invested in content than in the cost of the reader. So what happens to my eBooks when the device I bought them for is beyond repair? I think that most people will feel that if they must buy their favorite books all over again then forget it. Myself, I don't have any problem with DRM. The way I see it, I expect to be paid for my work so it seems fair to pay authors and publishers for their's, as long as the price is reasonable (that is, the price of eBooks for any particular reader has to seem fair: justice is a two-way street after all). Related to this, every eBook reader should answer the question
4. "if I buy an ET3, in 10 years, after it quits, will an ET5 still read my old books?" Many posts in this thread spoke of the importance of new devices supporting a universal markup standard, but reasonable as that request is, it adds a new demension: if the ET3 supports epub 2.0, in 10 years will the ET5 support epub 3.4 and still read my epub 2.0 eBooks? These two problems are also interelated issues. It's the same problem public libraries have: their customers have a variety of eBook readers and they need some common stardard that they all can read right across several generations of both readers and eBook formats, while at the same time preserving the copyrights across every platform. I thought perhaps, if it's possible, an important feature in an eBook reader would be support for flash up-grades allowing the device to display emergant eBook markup protocols.