Original eDGe Going Out of Production?

The first 2 colours of the eDGe (the blue and the black) are no longer in stock. The blue was out of stock long ago, and the black has just recently gone out of stock. They don't even mention the ability to buy the blue or black from enTourage any more.

Does this mean that they have possibly stopped producing the device and are getting rid of remaining stock? Did they do this because of poor sales or the release of the new device?

Drop your thoughts in reply...

Hi D4N14L,

Don't worry, we have not stopped producing devices. Now that we have partnered with various resellers so that the eDGe is available to a much wider audience. we are slowly moving towards only selling the eDGe through resellers, that is why you are seeing limited eDGes in our store, it is nothing to worry about - in fact it is a good thing. =)

To find a reseller, use the link below:
http://www.entourageedge.com/edge-resellers

Ok, well that's good to hear. But why would you do this? Would you not get a higher return from selling direct?

No, because they'll sell more product by getting them into resellers. Now you might ask why they don't keep some product both in their own store and at reseller locations. I imagine eventually they will. But right now the product is basically internet word of mouth. At least, that's how I found it. If I hadn't gotten angry at Amazon and started looking for a Kindle alternative, I'd never have heard of the Edge. Once it hits resellers, it will reach a much wider customer base, I would expect. My only real concern with the Edge is content, and if I can find a way to create my own content (not PDF-I hate PDF (as an ebook format) like I hate Google books), I'll be scrambling to get an Edge.

The real holy grail would be to get the device onto the shelves of actual physical, brick and mortar stores, like some of us thought would happen with Best Buy (but it hasn't yet). Unfortunately, doing that would require an ability to produce quantities of units to stock the shelves, provide display models, etc, that is beyond the limits of a small company like Entourage.

I'm dubious that simply adding it to the inventory of online resellers is going to do much, since someone still has to be looking for it to find it. I don't know what general category they'd put it in -- if they put it in "e-reader" it's going to show up at the very end of the ever-popular "price low to high" sorting order when someone searches for that. And if they're expecting people to search for "entourage edge" on Best Buy's online store they may as well have kept selling them themselves.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

Unfortunately, doing that would require an ability to produce quantities of units to stock the shelves, provide display models, etc, that is beyond the limits of a small company like Entourage.

I don't know. I could be wrong, but it seems to me you would only HAVE to have a few in stock and a display model. I would happily wait while my Edge is ordered, but I need to try it out first, so even just a display model would be great. I am very excited about the product, but I'm just a poor schlumpf of a part time instructor. I don't have $500 to speculate with. I need to try out the features first.

Good points, all. I've seen all the video I can stand on the eDGe and will probably buy, but there are some questions I have that can only be answered by physically holding and playing with the machine itself. Weight is a concern (at almost twice the poundage of iPad, which I can hold at Best Buy), and there are speed and feature questions I have as well.

Like others here, I stumbled on Entourage while looking for something else. Putting "electronic handwritten notes" into Google should bring up the eDGe, but it doesn't. I was actually looking at digital pens when the Entourage came up as an alternative. Not a particularly strong way to market the device.

Originally Posted by jsfiller

I don't know. I could be wrong, but it seems to me you would only HAVE to have a few in stock and a display model. I would happily wait while my Edge is ordered, but I need to try it out first, so even just a display model would be great. I am very excited about the product, but I'm just a poor schlumpf of a part time instructor. I don't have $500 to speculate with. I need to try out the features first.

Well, there are a lot of Best Buy locations to stock once you go that route; three devices per store is going to be pushing a thousand...and every display model is a device you're not going to be able to sell at full price. Entourage (and more importantly, Entourage's capital providers) would have to be really confident that going that route would increase sales by a lot. It's not like Apple, where they can tell the factory in China they want 1000 extra iPads produced in the next two weeks and they'll pay for them later; everyone dealing with a startup like Entourage probably wants money up front.

@jsfiller

We have display models in many college books stores, if you want to send me a private message with your location I can see if there are any on display at schools near you.

@done

Done. Thanks!

@done

How will Entourage deal with specialized student bookstores? The university I attend has Barnes n' Noble as the school's textbook provider, and I'm pretty certain that BnN would much rather display it's Nook over the Entourage eDGe, especially now that the financial aid money has been distributed to students. When I did happen to visit the school bookstore, all I could see were a few HP laptops and dozens of Nooks in the electronics section, so I really think Entourage will have to step up its advertising game if it wants to be considered as a contender in the currently-raging "E-reader Wars".

If Entourage could get with used textbook stores, that's a good way to help out with eDGe sales considering the ridiculous cost of textbooks these days. Also, if Gelaskin or DecalGirl offered school color or mascot skins, that would be definitely be in the eDGe's favor as well!

@ShiningT1g3R, are you standing in for Jacktown, too?

My school also utilizes B&N for its college bookstore, and while the store doesn't display any ereaders or laptops, if eDGe could get on the renting/buying e-textbooks game, all the better for students and the eDGe.