Quote:
Originally Posted by lestatar
I too have always been a huge proponent of single specialized tools/gear/software versus Swiss Army type stuff. Every day I carry a cell phone, a Blackberry, one of several mp3 players and now, my new Kindle3. A bit of a hassle? Sure. But one I am personally willing to put up with for a variety of reasons, similar to what people have listed already. But even I must admit: the concept of convergence is compelling, even to me.
Still, I do consider myself an enthusiast in certain areas, which is only one reason I continue to carry multiple devices around. Another is this: no one in my personal circle of close friends has a music collection as perfectly tagged with cover art as I do.  Yes, this takes me some time initially, but most importantly, it is time I feel is well spent, especially considering the results I achieve. |
It's probably a mistake to assume that convergence means (1) all functions (2) on one portable device. That kind of convergence seems unrealistic to me.
Here is a no doubt incomplete list of functions which might converge:
1. music
2. movies
3. games
4. information storage
5. reading
6. photography
7. banking & investing
8. shopping
9. email
10. social networking
11. time management
12. news
13. educational programing
14. military logistics
Given these functions, some are performed better on larger/smaller devices, or light/heavy devices, or purposed/multifunctional devices. Some materially increase their value if they are integrated with other functions, some (stand-alones)don't. Some require more expensive equipment than others.
I would suggest that there are some laws of convergence involved here.
One is that convergence of function tends to increase the expense of the device.
A second is that there are one or more "sweet spots" for each function in terms of both expense and convenience, and that the sweet spots for one function might or might not be the same as for another. Further, sweet spots can be seen as primary and secondary - that is, there is one kind of sweet spot which is based on the function being considered primary, and another kind (the sour spot?) that takes into account that some other function is more important.
Now, the value of convergence for reading seems to me to mainly be reducing the number of devices that must be carried around. But if a person is in a situation where that convergence is important, it is likely that reading will be a secondary function, and therefore its implimentation will be a sour spot. On the iPhone, the screen is too small. On the iPad, the device is too heavy. And both devices are costly.
With all this in mind, it seems to me that dedicated EBRs exploit the fact that reading is a stand-alone function requiring increasingly cheaper and lighter equipment. The sweet spot seems to be the 6 inch grayscale non-LCD device. I expect the price of the entry level EBR to settle down somewhere under $100. I expect some marginal increase in screen resolution and contrast. I expect some improvement in the operating system and navigation functions.
If these expectations are realized, I would think that the EBR is going to become like a cell phone - most everyone who reads (meaning book readers) will have one. This is because it seems clear that electronic reading is not going away, and that a sweet spot device will always be available for every function, simply because there is a profit to be made in the sweet spot.