Quote:
Originally Posted by Robertb
The problem is that most retailers (such as COSTCO) are vehement on wanting 3G as it locks the end user into buying books only from them.
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Given the buying power of a COSTCO, I would not be concerned that they added 3G, which I might not use, since the device might still end up cheaper for the consumer. I would be concerned if they only allowed buying of DRMed titles from their ebook store. This is what Amazon has done with the Kindle, but it would a huge mistake for others to try the same approach. I think it is also a mistake for Amazon to do this, but at least that have 250K titles so they have mostly avoided a consumer backlash. It is sufficient to tie the 3G to your store, so it is much more convenient to buy from the original seller but still possible to buy from other sources (e.g. via a Desktop PC). This will generate more sales of the device, and may even get you more buyers of ebooks because consumers who think they will buy elsewhere end up buying via 3G.
The other issue with 3G is that consumers will expect web access and wiki lookup as on the Kindle. This means someone has to write and maintain that software. Same thing with WiFi obviously. Note that the iRex iLiad had WiFi and never had a iRex-supported web browser - if iRex had more programmers they could have sold many more iLiads by increasing its capabilities via software.