Quote:
Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor
Some great points here. I don't think dedicated ereaders will disappear immediately, but I do think the trend towards convergence will eventually win out.
I remember wanting a PDA years ago, but could never justify the cost. Now, PDA,s are all gone with their scheduling, notes and contact management features all taken over by cell phones.
I used to carry an MP3 player and a cell phone. Now, my iPhone is my MP3 player.
When I looked at buying my first ereader, I decided to read on my iPhone for 6 months first to see if I would enjoy it as much as "real" books. I found my enjoyment wasn't diminished. But, since I found the screen didn't bother me, I then jumped directly to a 7" Android tablet for reading. It was only about double the cost of the ereader I was looking at and does so much more.
I think as more tablets come out and price drops, more people will make a similar choice.
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You make some good points, and I think a development along these lines is quite likely, but perhaps especially for people who don't read that much or haven't had the opportunity to try a dedicated reading device. Personally, I've found myself returning to my kindle - even though both my iPhone and iPad are completely satisfactory to read from. It's just that my Kindle gives me and even better reading experience when reading fiction, because there's no web to distract me, and the e-ink screen is nicer to stare at for hours. I wouldn't like to trade in that reading experience with a multipurpose device - but I'm also sure that I'm in a small minority who both read a lot and am finicky enough about my tools that I want to spend the extra money on it.