The release of the iPad probably helped contribute to the device's demise. Originally, the Edge was a unique product, and I almost considered buying it instead of my Asus T91MT. However, after Apple entered the tablet market, the Edge started to seem ridiculously overpriced. When the PE came out at the end of 2010, you could purchase a brand new iPad for $499. The original price for the Pocket Edge was $399. Basically, you would need to convince consumers to choose this tablet over the iPad when it had a resistive touchscreen, no access to an app marketplace, no multi-touch gestures, no accelerometer, and no built-in Kindle or Nook bookstore. Personally, I never would have paid $399. Similarly, the larger Edge still sells for about the same price as the cheapest iPad. How could you justify the purchase when it is obviously missing the features that we come to expect from a quality tablet? If I'm going to spend $500, I want to have a capacitive touchscreen, a processor capable of playing games, and a quality app marketplace. The Edge has none of these things.

For $150, I'm perfectly fine with having to turn off the background in Angry Birds. This is completely unacceptable for a $399+ device.

The e-ink screen is excellent. Due to the additional LCD tablet, it is certainly more versatile than a Kindle. However, after having a chance to play around with it, I must confess that I still don't fully understand the appeal of e-ink. The technology just doesn't seem ready for consumer use. Back at the time the Edge was released, the industry absolutely was convinced that people would never want to read on an LCD screen. At CES 2010, almost every company in existence had announced an e-ink reader. However, after the introduction of the iPad, it became increasingly obvious that people were fine reading on a LCD screen, and they appreciated the increased functionality offered by such devices. Of course, I certainly like having an e-ink screen, and it's great for reading certain kinds of books. In addition, I like the fact that I now have an option for reading outdoors. But if I were going to spend more than $300, I'd much rather have a single screen with increased functionality. Right now, the book companies have already started to abandon e-ink for cheap color tablets. By all accounts, the Nook Color has sold extremely well, and Amazon is getting read to release a set of Android devices. Until fast, color e-ink displays become more affordable, I'm afraid that the "age of e-ink" is probably gone.

So, I'd say the Edge suffered from a combination of factors: the release of the iPad, Google's decision to restrict access to the Android market, and the slow demise of e-ink devices. In reality, Entourage could not have anticipated any of these things, although they could have perhaps done a better job of integrating smartphone features (like multitouch and an accelerometer).