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I've got to think that a UMPC at $600 is a much better buy than an iLiad at the same price.
And when you realize that Microsoft/Intel's goal is to sell 100 million of these devices by 2008 — that will drive the price down to where we all want it — well, that leads me to believe that people who buy an ultra-mobile and read on it as an afterthought will have more to say about e-books than those people who buy specialized e-reading devices.
I mean, you're carrying around a device with a screen that's loads better than a Palm for reading a book, you've got time to kill during the day — sooner or later you're going to think, Why don't I have something to read on this? Isn't that similar to the thinking process that brought many Palm users to e-books?
100 million seems an outlandish number to sell, especially considering the cries of "Overpriced!" and "Underpowered!" and "Buy a laptop!" But we have had many years to experience the excruciating flaws of PDAs and laptops. UMPC's do well whatever those other devices do poorly, whether it be quick email or web check (instant-on, WiFi) or just let me run this one program while I'm traveling so I can finish my report without having to lug a laptop (full OS).
It doesn't have to be as powerful as a laptop. it has to have a large enough screen to surf the web comfortably (no scrolling sideways!).
There's a big market here. And e-reading program plus portable device equals the central advantage of the printed book.
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