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Originally Posted by rmeister0
Once those two are in place, you need the missing link, which is something like iTunes Music Store.
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Actually, this will kill eBooks faster than anything.
iTunes Music "Store" doesn't sell music. It rents it. You have no control over the content it "sells" and it can change the rules of your "purchase" at any time.
Perhaps something like Fictionwise is a better choice.
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Originally Posted by rmeister0
The big chink in this scenario is this: if you already have music content, converting it to work on your portable music player is a non-event.
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I would argue that if you already have text files (which we do) converting them to work on your favorite PDA in your favorite format is almost a non-event. I routinely convert text files into eBooks. I'm backlogged on eBook reading for the next couple of years.
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Originally Posted by rmeister0
Converting you existing books and magazines into an electronic format is a real pain. Even some commercial publishers have trouble doing it properly. It takes time and effort, which consumers won't spend.
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I would disagree that it's a real pain. Take 1 HTML file, add Sunrise and, viola, you have an eBook for your favorite PDA. No muss, no fuss.
But I agree that the average consumer won't do that.
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Originally Posted by rmeister0
A lot of people will disagree with me here, but I ask the e-book pundits this: what is your personal driver for eBooks? Are you using the technology to solve a real problem (to answer that, think about what you would do differently if ebooks did not exist at all), or is it really just that the technology is enticing for its own sake?
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1. I am one of those people who are reading several books at once. It's much easier to carry several books on my Palm. Also since my Palm is on my person at all times, it's much easier to snatch a quick read at the long traffic light, standing in line at the store, etc.
2. I am getting access to content that I never had access to before. Project Gutenberg and Fictionwise has offered me content that is long out of print and that I never read before. Tarzan, for example. More stories by Jack London than I could ever find in print. And more.
I'm also getting "teaser" content from places like Baen so I can experience authors that I've never read before with no cost to myself.