[markm]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I'm pretty sure internet connection wasn't "cheep" when it was first deployed.

Actually, Internet accounts, when first made available to the general public, were less expensive than they are today. The average price was $15.95/month for unlimited 56kbps analog dial-up access. Many ISP's were only $9.95/month. Though poky by today's standards, 56k was sufficient at that time for a satisfactory Internet experience.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Neither are computers. I remember my parents buying our first one for $2,000 (IBM clone). It had a blazing fast 486DX2 processor, a whopping 16MB RAM and a massive 500MB hard drive.

The first IBM PC was introduce in 1981. The first IBM clone came in 1983. The 486DX2 around 1992. During this 11-year period system prices dropped from over $5,000 to about $2,000 while performance increased 55x (from 4.77MHxz to 66MHz and 8-bit bus to 32-bit bus) and storage increased from 343x (160k to 500MB).

WWW (http) was introduced in 1991 and the first general-purpose web browser, Mosaic, was released in 1993. Even before WWW, a vast but disorganized and largely hidden amount of information was available in network news groups, ftp sites and gopher sites. NetNews was used for everything from Q&A groups (including various school/homework topics) to distribution of research papers, technical documentation, software (both open source and pirated), and, of course, porn. Pirated music became popular a little later when the MP3 standard was created.

Parallel and more accessible to the general public were the commercial on-line services such as AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy, each of which ultimately open gateways to the Internet. But for $10.95 to to $15.95 per month, these services provided easily-navigated access to a wealth of information for computer users in the 1980's and early '90's.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

What problem did it actually solve? Nothing really. In fact, it was an added headache to my parents because instead of doing my homework, I was playing on the computer. Typing up homework and stuff (no widespread internet at the time) can easily be done on the typewriter. The cartridge for the dot matrix printer is also a great deal more expensive than typewriter ribbon.

I don't know anyone who would agree that typing-up any paper is easier with a typewriter than a computer. Ignoring the ability to easily correct and reorganize your work without messy correction fluid or retyping the entire page, just the sheer mechanical force involved in pressing the keys -- even on an electronic typewriter -- requires more effort than a computer.

And this is a key problem that computers solved: The ability to quickly store, analyze, reorganize and update lots of data. True: if you're filling-in a shipping label, a computer is not the solution. But if you're typing a three-page report for presentation (or a final grade), or playing "what if" with budget numbers or product specifications, a computer is the only solution that makes sense.

Even discussions such as these, which have gone on for more than 20 years on the Internet via on-line BBS systems (prior to WWW) and NetNews, would be impossible without the computer. Whether you agree or disagree, these discussions are worthwhile from an educational and developmental perspective.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

MP3 players were expensive when they were first released. I think the first one cost $250 and had around 32 or 64MB of storage. Nowadays, you can get 1GB no-name portable audio players for $10.

Yes, ebook readers are expensive now and yes, so are ebooks (this one's harder to stomach, specially when brand new paperbacks sometimes cost less). However, that's just how technology works. New tech is expensive, but as more people use the technology, manufacturing costs go down, more players (manufacturers) get into the game to get their slice of the pie, competition goes up and retail prices go down.

First of all, yes, I believe the Kindle is overpriced. The first eBook reader, the Rocket eBook, introduced in 1998, had a 4.5 x 3-inch touchscreen, 4MB internal RAM, and up to 33 hours battery life for $500. After 11 years of progress, the Kindle II has approximately a 5 x 3.5-inch screen, non-touchscreen, 2GB RAM and built-in cellular wireless for $360. Clearly, e-book readers have not progressed anywhere nearly as quickly as either PC's or MP3 players. E-book readers are not "NEW" technology, they've been around for a decade and the cost should have fallen much more steeply, but low user adoption keeps this technology firmly in the "expensive gadget" category. Why?

Hardware cost, DRM and overpriced media are the answers.

If you gave the hardware away or made it so cheap as to be a non-issue, you will drive adoption. More units sold means more media purchased. More media purchased potentially means cheaper media. Problem: Amazon can't afford to give it away.

On the other hand, you can make the media less expensive than traditional media. The media is already protected by DRM so there's no secondary market for used ebooks. Cut the price of media by half that of store-bought books and give the average consumer a real benefit for switching formats. For publishers, if you can get the majority of your customers to switch to DRM-protected format you wind up gaining sales by taking library loans and used book sales off the table.

Or go with another concept that's helped attract consumers to the on-line music and video stores: offer a monthly subscription that allows you pay one price each month and read as many books as you want. The catch is you can't permanently store the book, and maybe you can only have two or four active titles at a time, but after you mark one title "finished" you can access another title. I'd pay $250 for a Kindle (what I believe represents a fair value for the technology) plus $14.95/month for this unlimited download service.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

By the way, I have no complaints whatsoever that ebooks don't take up any physical space on my bookshelves. All my shelves are full and I even have books underneath the bed, the couch, the entertainment center, in boxes, etc.

Sounds like time for a book sale!