[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Dennis, it's a fair point. In the larger sense, the world doesn't need UMPCs. (No one needed the iPhone, either.) But it is a new form factor... and I'm sure there are those out there who don't need a desk-bound computer, think cellphones are too small and laptops are too big for their needs... yet a UMPC would fit their needs perfectly. That alone makes the device worthwhile, for somebody.

I suspect I wasn't clear enough.

The original UMPCs had underwhelming sales, precisely because they didn't have a compelling use to justify buying one. ("I already have a desktop, a laptop, and a smartphone. Why do I need a UMPC?")

The ASUS eee pretty much created the netbook market, that everyone is now jumping into with both feet. While the form factor is roughly equivalent, the eee had two advantages over the original UMPCs:

1) It had a compelling use case. It was a portable Internet device.

2) It was a lot cheaper than the earlier UMPCs.

The combination of form-factor, use, and price was the win.

It's just another choice for the consumer, and I'm always for more choices, more ways to personalize the things you do. If a PC works for your e-book reading, by all means, go for it. If you like to read on a Blackberry, use that instead. And if you really want to read on your Gameboy... more power to you.

Oh, I quite agree. But I'm thinking a bit more from the perspective of the vendor here: I stay in business by offering products and services that fulfill needs and that people willingly buy. If I plan to offer a new product/service, it behooves me to make sure it fills a need beyond my need to generate more revenue and profits. It needs to fill a need for my customers.

I don't begrudge any company in trying to sell a product. I do rail against selling products under false pretenses, about as much as I hate to see consumers respond to condescending and psychologically-loaded ads. (As you might guess, advertising, and consumer response to ads, have made me livid on occasion...)

Nor do I. What I was cynical about was an attempt to create and sell products that seemed to be rooted in "How can we generate more revenue and profit, and keep our growth, and therefore our stock price, up?" It's an understandable goal, but revenue comes from outside the enterprise. You get it as a consequence of filling a customer need. If you start with "What needs do my customers have that aren't being filled and I can address?", you are more likely to make the revenue and profits you desire.

I also rail against being forced to buy a product, or being denied available choices. Fortunately, when it comes to e-book reading hardware, we have lots of choices, many configurations offered by multiple brands, and that's good. If people's choices are larger, they are more likely to find the most comfortable way of doing whatever they want to do... like reading e-books... and therefore, will probably do it more. If the UMPC does that for someone, it is to be lauded.

Agreed again. The UMPC might well be a good choice as an ebook reader, since the form factor might be suitable for the user, and it meets the criteria of "able to do other things besides display ebooks" (which is my main reason for not buying a dedicated reader: I need a multi-function device.)

But reading ebooks will be simply one thing a UMPC will do. I doubt it will be the reason someone buys a UMPC in the first place.

And after all, it's not like anyone is forcing you to buy one...

No, and I didn't buy one.
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Dennis