|
As DMcCunney notes, here we talk to the converted, so we take as obvious what is clearly not obvious to the non-ereading public. My brother is a unix expert who spends most of every day in front of three on-all-day-and-night computers, and he would not think of reading an ebook (and never has), though he does read news on the web. I have never been able to convince him that ebooks have certain advantages. And when he hears that people like many of you spend $350 for a reading device, he thinks you are crazy. The very idea of having to charge some device to be able to read seems to him insane. If I can't get him to try ebooks, what chance will I have with the non-computer-literate?
Folks, we are trying to get people to ABANDON the normal book: this is a battle we cannot win at present. Books have been around too long and done just fine, thank you. Moreover, the Sony reader is far from an intelligent device: it's good only for reading a limited number of texts, and it does not do obvious things, as pointed out by NatCh. A better device would help, especially one that displayed in color.
Frankly I am sometimes embarrassed to pull out my Q to read, people look at me as if I am weird. That sense must disappear before ebooks go anywhere.
And I agree with McCunney that price is critical.
|