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Originally Posted by BenLee
This is right on.
Right now there is a serious danger of the eReader dying out. iPad is the reason. It's not even a perfect eReader replacement yet, but already many people either have already or are considering abandoning their dedicated devices. All this, with an imperfect eReader, something that can be addressed very easily.
If Apple or another company can make the reading experience of tablets match that of an eReader, there will be very little reason left NOT to get one. Theres a very good chance this could happen now that they realize how much additional market they can capture by paying some attention to readers.
This is exactly what happened to dedicated word processors. For a while there was a need for them. But then came affordable PCs. And given that a computer provides so much more value than a word processor AND handles word processing perfectly, wordprocessors became useless.
People will always look for the device that provides the most value, that they can use all the time. Tablets are trying to give you that experience by loading up on very USEFUL apps, and one of them happen to be ebook readers. As of now, it nearly replaces the eReader. Nearly.
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The problem that is holding tablets back is technology. It will take 2-3 years before color screen technology has advanced to the point that they will be as energy efficient and suitable for long term reading for everybody as e-ink is. And tablets still have to lose a lot of bulk and weight. Once they have achieved that, then there will only be a market for dedicated B&W readers below USD 50, but those will probably virtually wipe out paperbacks and sell in the 100s of millions.