Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
When we have a reasonably priced device that's about the size and weight of a trade paperback, with a reflective (probably front-lit) color screen that can handle full-motion video framerates and runs organizational software and a full-strength browser (even if it provides no other native software, people will be able to get what they want from Google Apps and similar), and a long-lasting battery, we'll probably see mass-market ebooks, and I'm willing to bet the format and DRM issues (and probably the price and availability issues) will be solved at the same time. At that point the market pressures will force a frictionless online retail experience to be developed and provided.
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I respectfully disagree. People still buy expensive iPods when there are cheaper things out there. The content is the issue. Were ebooks to be available at the push of a button from your print book the way mp3's are from your cd's, Sony and other devices would sell at 300$ easily.
The key is content, free or cheap the way is with music. Remember that all the statistics show that roughly on average about 0-5% of every iPod music is purchased as e-music, the rest is ripped, downloaded, shared and the like.
When the same will be true for ebooks with pretty much any book you care, the devices will fly off the shelf. It does not matter if a cheap multipurpose device that can read books will be out there if the ebooks are not there (or are crippled and expensive which from a mass market perspective is the same)
I agree that this picture is not in the interest of content creators by and large, but that's the way e-content developed accidentally or not (do not forget that all the big hard-tech companies, internet providers, internet enablers and others have a big vested interest in bountiful cheap or free content - why do you think that all RIAA, Disney and other big money content creator firms have not succeeded in doing anything about piracy; pass a law allowing them to sue your ISP or Google for infringement and you would see what happens - but of course such a law has no chance of passing since Google and the rest have far deeper pockets and stronger lobbyists), and I really do not see things changing.