Do you think Sony's involvement in the e-book market will ultimately help the market to grow, or is it the opposite? I see two scenarios:
- Scenario 1:
- major book publishers cooperate with Sony
- e-books at "Sony Connect" online store available for considerably less than p-books
- consumers happy
- "iTunes for e-books" effect: online sales become a major revenue source for every participant
- iPod effect: other vendors offer alternative hardware readers to catch a slice of the market
- Scenario 2:
- major book publishers cooperate with Sony
- e-books at "Sony Connect" online store available at p-book prices
- consumers unhappy, have to pay the same amount and are stuck with DRM-infested proprietary format
- "iTunes for e-book" effect stays out, marginal revenues, publishers retreat
- iPod effect stays out: no followups to the Sony Reader device
Related:
Poll: Which e-reader would you choose?