I know a netbook is not comparable to eDGe, but... Just to show & discuss prices and options.
The cheapest netbook I can find in Poland, already with the modern N450 CPU & architecture (despite it's flows) costs $264!! The cheapst N450 ASUS netbook is available from #320!! So 2.5 times less than eDGe. A decent e-book reader can be bought for $150-200, so if netbook + e-reader is to substitute eDGe, the price will be only $420-570!!
Just to remind you, in Europe eDGe costs $765.
Netbooks and e-readers can be bought anywhere and will be serviced locally, so there is no shippment costs, eDGe will add international posting every time...
Trifles, but that's why we're talking about a $200-400 difference between netbook + e-reader vs eDGe. That's a gap that most European buyers won't decide to cross.

And one more thing, both the netbook and the e-reader 1) will last longer on batteries, 2) will be lighter, and 3) netbook will do more than eDGe, though without eDGe's E-Ink functionality.