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Old 06-09-2009, 02:37 PM   #20
Elfwreck
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Posts: 5,187
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
Dedicated ebook readers won't be more than a tiny niche unless distributors start pushing *free ebook* sources. (And that support will need to be better than what Jetbook's currently seems to be.)

iPods caught on because nearly everyone likes music, and nearly everyone would like music of their choice on tap... and because it's easy to rip your current music on disc to digital format.

Books are not nearly as popular as music. (Even for those of us who love books. I listen to a lot more songs per year than I read books.) And content conversion is what caught the digital music world, not just the new, smaller version of a Walkman.

Radio and television caught on because the content was free. Computers weren't in nearly every household until the internet caught on... which was pushed as "infinite content for a small monthly access fee." Selling the device won't appeal outside of its niche until people are convinced they're not just buying a limited, expensive way to cut down on the shoulder strain of carrying a lot of books.

And if publishers really want the ebook market to explode, they'll need to figure out how to allow a secondary market, like the one that exists for pbooks.
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