Quote:
Originally Posted by tomsem
I agree that dedicated reading devices have a limited future (well, what doesn't?)
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Me.
All these articles are written by the same sort of tech-twonks who can't see the forest for the trees. The key factor here is size. You can read books on your smartphone, but the fact is the screen is too small. You can read books on a netbook, but the fact is the device is too big. The most comfortable size for a single column of text is a 5-7" screen, and that sits in a middle zone that's too big for a phone and not big enough for general web browsing. Since size is the crucial factor, it doesn't really matter what technology appears, the basic physics will remain the same.
The Kindle, Sony and B&N readers have sold well, and there's still a lot of growth in the market for people who want a device that is good for
reading books. Sure, extras would be nice, but it has to perform its core function properly. As long as manufacturers play to their strengths and produce products that obey that rule, then they'll sell product.
Phone cameras haven't hurt the sales of SLRs, and games on the iPhone App Store haven't led to the demise of the XBox. So much for 'convergence'.
The only area in which I see any real prospect for convergence is with the larger ereaders. If you need to display multi-column text on an 11" screen, then it makes a lot more sense for the device to carry more generalised functionality as well.