[dmaul1114]

Meh, large screen e-ink devices like the KDX were always going to be a pretty niche item and never catch on in the mainstream IMO.

Just not enough people need that big a screen for reading, vs. those who read novels, straight text that can be reflowed etc.

And many who need the big screen--academics, students etc.--can't get much benefit out of e-ink as the mark up sucks because of lag (on the touch screen devices), page turns are to slow for flipping through for studying/research etc.

So the market for these large screen e-ink devices is really just people who need to read A4 pdfs, newspapers, technical manuals and other large documents who don't need color, markup abilities, quick page turns to flip through etc. Or people with poor vision who can read easier on the larger screen etc.

Vs. something like the iPad or another tablet than can handle all those type of documents but do much more--and for the same or less price than these large screen e-ink devices.

So I think the iPad and other tablets won't kill the market for large screen e-ink readers, it will just remain a niche that never had a chance of going mainstream anyway.

The real thing to watch is the impact it has on the future expansion of the market for portable e-ink readers used mainly for novels. Do they keep expanding like they have the past year or two? Or does the influx of tablets that can display e-books, are fairly comfortable to hold and read (unlike a laptop/netbook) slow their growth?

That's what I'm interested in watching over the next year or two.


In regards to 3G, I think that's pretty moot. The 3G on the kindle is pretty useless for anything but receiving books--even shopping for them sucks and is easier done on the PC and just turning on the 3G to get the download later.

With the iPad, I really wonder if most people need the 3G. It seems more a device to use in the home or office most of the time since it's not in your pocket like an iPhone etc. And even on the go, WiFi is pretty ubiquitous these days with it even being in McDonalds etc. Maybe in a more rural area there aren't as many WiFi hotspots around. But there you probably don't have 3G coverage anyway most places so it's kind of moot.

In any case, I certainly don't need and wouldn't pay for 3G on a tablet device, living in a major city WiFi is pretty much everywhere I'd want to use a tablet--and I'm mostly use it at home and in the office for document reading and mark up anyway.