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This article is kinda bogus. I mean, to some extent, all tech is doomed. How many things made in the last 100 years have remained unchanged, and never obsoleted?
Like they mention Bluray, which from what I can see is becoming fairly popular. Yeah, it will be phased out at some point. It may not be having as big of an impact as DVD did, but then again we're in a economic slump, and Bluray prices have just started becoming affordable for the average joe blow. Even still, movies are frequently $25 or $30, which is more than the normal price people are willing to spend on a movie. When stuff hits the $10 to $15 price range, sales start jumping big time.
With eBook readers, I do have to agree. It is a niche product, and the multipurpose usually wins out because the average person isn't into something enough to justify the expense of something dedicated. For me and my girlfriend, and presumably for many of you, we've more than paid for our ebook readers with the savings from free, promotional, public domain, or Creative Commons ebooks available that we have read. However, everyone on this site is in the minority. How many people attempt to read at least 100 books a year here? You see the counters in the signatures. Studies from the past few years have shown that 27% of people have not read a single book in a year's time, and that only 57% complete at least one book per year. When you have that many people not reading, who would want to buy a device for just reading?
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