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I'm confident that over the years the price of an eBook reader will plummet, just as it did for pocket calculators.
I have been struck by how price-sensitive so many people here are - struck because we here are the enthusiasts. Obviously people who don't care much for reading are going to wait till the price is much lower.
I think we saw this two weeks ago with Nate's reports from the CES. Many announcements were for readers in the mid $200s, and the general reaction here was that the newcomers were offering tweedledum and tweedledee products. I believe that we would have seen a lot of enthusiasm for the very same products if their prices were half the amount quoted.
In regard to the iPad, I don't see people paying the big bucks for the purpose of reading on a backlit screen. However, I can see that sort of money being spent by people who want a big iPod Touch with all of its apps. I see them thinking that the iBook app is just an extra, and they may read two light best sellers a year on the device. I don't see those people to have ever been the JetBook's market.
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