Quote:
Originally Posted by Isles8008
DarkScribe, I am not comparing apples to oranges when I say that tablet popularity threatens the eReader market. The plunge in eReader sales has been well documented, and while you and I may know the major difference between E Ink and LCD, new consumers and disgruntled E Ink users can easily be persuaded to try out a retina display. If E Ink wants to stay viable in a highly competitive market, they need to upgrade their screen technology.
If you love the old Pearl screens, get on eBay and buy five or six old Kindles. You will use them for the rest of your life. That's fine for you, but I'm hoping for something better.
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I think that one problem is defining the market. The core of the market nowadays is comprised of people who have been keen readers for most of their lives, often well over forty. Initially it was a more youthful demographic - techno buffs, students, writers etc. The market has shifted, in fact I don't know anyone in my own age group (mid fifties) who doesn't own one - regardless of their gender and occupation. Even my in-laws use them. The market in the sense of new purchasers has definitely plateaued. The market as far as continuing interest and purchase of eBooks is booming. It is like colour TV, the first couple of years the market was chaotic. It plateaued but not because of lack of interest, simply because it was saturated. Everyone who could afford one already had one. They wouldn't upgrade until their old one failed.
The market for eReaders has done the same thing. It will not die, they will become a standard possession like a phone or a computer. All that has happened is that the boom is over, it is NOT a result of being usurped by tablets. As with a TV, most people are not hanging out for a new release, they will keep the one they have until they actually NEED to get a new one. I am looking at the responses and attitudes of "most people", while you seem to favouring the "techno-buff" response. Most people who I know well regard their eReader in the same manner as they regard a home appliance. Useful, valued, appreciated, they wouldn't like to be without it, but like any other appliance unless it fails they are unlikely to to upgrade. The same demographic who
doesn't upgrade their phone until they either change carrier or it fails to work is at the core of eReader ownership.
By the way, why the recent interest in dual screens from tablet manufacturers if they are winning this imaginary war of yours? If people are truly happy to read on a high res LCD screen, why bother with an ePaper screen on the same device? You see, even the tablet manufacturers don't think that they are winning. Once they solve the bulk and weight problems that is a trend that should be popular. I wouldn't mind an iPad that I could flip over to reveal an eInk screen.