Quote:
Originally Posted by Patricia
Returning to the topic, there does seem to be two camps when it comes to reading devices. One believes that a dedicated device works better than a multi-purpose one. The other believes the contrary.
My (purely anecdotal) impression is that younger people prefer the flexibility of multi-purpose devices, while (often) older people prefer a specialist reading device. However, I may be getting an inaccurate impression...
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I don't know if a multifunction device will work better (it currently couldn't as e-ink is the best for reading but can't handle full net browsing etc.).
I just think that it would sell much better and get more people buying ebooks, since a dedicated reader only appeals to avid readers. Which is a smaller market that people who are buy devices to listen to music, watch movies, surf the web, send e-mail etc. etc. So if you can put them all into one device where everything works well then that will appeal to a larger market and more than just people who read a ton.
But dedicated ereaders are the present and they'll continue doing well and selling well to avid readers for several years. They're just not going to sell like dedicated mp3 players as more people listen to music all the time than read all the time, especially among the younger tech savy crowd.
But you could sell that crowd a few ebooks if some portable gadget they bought to websurf etc. could also read books. So that's where I see an advantage of a multifunction device in terms of spreading the ebook market.
Currently I wouldn't want one as backlit LCD screens etc. that are good for the net, videos etc. are hard on my eyes, so I'll stick with my dedicated reader.
But down the road, I'd love something with a screen just as good (or better) for reading than e-ink that could also do full featured web, video, games etc. Such a device would be a dream for traveling! Could just take it instead of having kindle and mp3 player and laptop and dvds and Nintendo DS etc.