Quote:
Originally Posted by S.Canton
I think ebook reader technology is going to take a while to really start making a dent in paper book market share. The technology still needs to mature a bit, and costs need to go, both on hardware and on the software (ebooks themselves). It's going to happen though, it's the logical progression.
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The problem (IMHO) is eBooks themselves. We have this Tower of eBable that a lot of people just don't want anything to do with. You want to purchase a specific eBook and you have a Kindle and Amazon doesn't have it yet it's available over at CyberRead in Mobipocket, too bad. If you have a Sony and want to get a book that's over at ereader.com, too bad.
There there is the issue of interoperability. If I want a Sony and my wife wanted a Kindle, we would have to purchase multiple copies of the same eBook if we even could.
This is all without stripping DRM/converting which I can do and would do. But for the average person, this is a real issue. And it's an issue that needs to get solved before eBooks can become mainstream. All those articles saying that Amazon is mainstreaming eBooks is hogwash. Nobody is mainstreaming anything to do with eBooks. Too many formats, too much DRM, interoperability issues and not all eBooks are available in all formats. So until this mess gets cleaned up, the hardware really isn't an issue. The hardware won't be an issue until the eBook mess is no longer a mess. And the solution is DRM free ePub.