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(Boy... your internet connection goes out for an evening, and look at what you miss...)
Some quick, first thing in the morning thoughts after reading what has been discussed-
I think many of you are basing e-books' success on the dedicated readers, and thinking that PDAs and Smartphones are just too small to enjoy e-books. Remember, there are plenty of people (me included) who can read on the smaller devices all day, and are happy to do so. The PDA's Cleartype setting made that possible for me, for instance. So an investment of $300 or more is not required, just to get into e-books.
One of e-books' greatest strengths is that it can be read on many electronic devices, many of which may already be in your pocket, and it's up to the user (should've added that to my earlier list, too.)
Enticing commuters with electronic papers and newsfeeds is another good one for the list. I've read with my PDA on the subway. And frankly, I couldn't care less what other people think of that... I'm too busy reading!
Finally, publishers may be slow to adopt, but they are businesspeople. When they clearly see the demand for e-books, and the profit that can be made from it, they'll come around. The public has to provide the demand, and they'll have to figure out how to profit.
We are covering a lot of good ground, here. Unfortunately, none of it is leaving this forum. There are still lots of people who don't know e-books exist... don't know that they might be carrying e-book readers in their pockets... or that there are other readers they can try. How do we spread the word?
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