Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonist
I am not sure what this proves?
Nothing has changed. A century or two ago, the equivalent demographics did not have libraries either, and were likely to be barely literate. They didn't have much leisure time, but spent a full day in fields, or in the factories. They spent their meager disposable income on beer, not on books.
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It proves only that those who make up a majority of sales (and I'm spitballing here becaues I don't have the figures) are those who buy one-off purchases, impluse buys at airports and when on shopping trips, not own full libraries or purchase books regularly. Why would they drop $350 dollars on a device with a grey screen that does only one thing when they can have a full-colour device for significantly less that does everything, including purchasing that last minute book on the way to their holiday? The convergent device would be far more suited to a far greater swathe of the populace, as, rightly or not, it's seen as good value for money.
I have friends who are avid book collectors, have far greater libraries than I, and spend a lot more money and they, as a whole, are very reticent about the idea of a dedicated e-book reader. The same group, shown my iTouch, were far more excited about the idea.
It's all anecdotal, but I think my point is that the ereader is focused upon a niche, not the mass-market, and I can't see it becoming a mass-market device until it's converged.