Astak's 5" Pocket Pro $199

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by rling

I'm more than happy to have regular firmware updates - to me, it is a sign that the product is still being actively looked at, supported and updated, and that the vendor is still thinking about existing customers.

Well said, rling!

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Yes, you do "have" to always download to the hard drive and then drag and drop it to your device memory (internal or SD)...This is very, very simple, GA, and you will feel like an expert in a minute or two.

Plus, we are here to help if you have any problem. Just breath easy!!

Thanks Robert! In my old age I am becoming more like my luddite mother!

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by rling

I'm more than happy to have regular firmware updates - to me, it is a sign that the product is still being actively looked at, supported and updated, and that the vendor is still thinking about existing customers.

I agree!

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by wodin

I seriously doubt that anyone is losing money on ereaders. As consumer electronics go, these thing have one of the highest margins around. When Asus and Acer can build full on netbooks and make a profit at $300 each, how can anyone not be making a ton of money selling ereaders with no keyboard (to speak of), no hard drive, a processor that's whimpy even by cell phone standards, a tiny battery, an open source OS, etc. for two or three hundred dollars? Build cost for these things can't be over about fifty bucks.

Why do you think everyone's jumping on the band wagon? The margins these things draw can only be dreamed of in any other niche of the consumer electronics arena.

Dear Wodin:

Everyone jumping on the bandwagon is far different than what you notice. The ones jumping on the bandwagon are Barnes & Noble types. They are NOT looking at making anything on the eBook Readers. They look at making money on the eBooks themselves. That is where the profit is.

I try very hard to be honest all the time on this forum. I do not expect anyone to instantly believe... but this is a pretty learned crowd. THINK!! Amazon makes it so you can buy ONLY from Amazon. WHY? The profit is in the eBooks. There is nobody new jumping into just making eBook Readers. Why do you think Plastic Logic teamed with B&N? Because they might get some of the money from sale of the huge library of eBooks.

The "independents" like Astak are making the thinnest of margins.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Robertb

THINK!! Amazon makes it so you can buy ONLY from Amazon. WHY? The profit is in the eBooks.

As you say "THINK". If they make the profit only on the eBooks... why do they not sell ebooks to anyone and only to Kindle owners?

I think the most profit is with owning the entire ecosystem as Apple does with iPod/iTunes... you can only sycn an iPod with iTunes. They keep trying to patch iTunes so the Palm Pre won't sync with it.

BOb

[cvkemp]

Me I call the pulling the wool over their customer's eyes. They get away with charging a arm and a leg for their products and because they con the customer into buying into the formats that they control and most of the customers have so much of it that they can no longer affort to change to anything else. I believe that Apple and Amazon in their own ways love the way that they control there customers. I was thinking about the Kindle but I did a lot of research and I could see the same patterns happening with with what Amazon was doing with the Kindle as I was seeing with Apple and the ipods and iphones. It is called control and if there is one thing that I hate is when someone or some thing is trying to control me. What I like about the EZreader and the clones is that I have full control over what firmware I use which gives me control over what I put on my ebook reader. I see the Kindle and the iphone and ipod as something that you pay a lot for just to have a company tell you what you can have on it and what you can not have on it; which is a bunch of BS to me.

Chuck

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

Me I call the pulling the wool over their customer's eyes. They get away with charging a arm and a leg for their products and because they con the customer into buying into the formats that they control and most of the customers have so much of it that they can no longer affort to change to anything else. I believe that Apple and Amazon in their own ways love the way that they control there customers. I was thinking about the Kindle but I did a lot of research and I could see the same patterns happening with with what Amazon was doing with the Kindle as I was seeing with Apple and the ipods and iphones. It is called control and if there is one thing that I hate is when someone or some thing is trying to control me. What I like about the EZreader and the clones is that I have full control over what firmware I use which gives me control over what I put on my ebook reader. I see the Kindle and the iphone and ipod as something that you pay a lot for just to have a company tell you what you can have on it and what you can not have on it; which is a bunch of BS to me.

Chuck

Dear Chuck:

Thank you. I am very pleased that you like the EZ Reader and I value your comments!!

[Robertb]

Dear all:

Engadget did a great write-up on the Pocket PRO is their back-to-school guide!! We are very grateful to them for including us:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/20/e...-on-the-cheap/

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

What I like about the EZreader and the clones is that I have full control over what firmware I use which gives me control over what I put on my ebook reader. I see the Kindle and the iphone and ipod as something that you pay a lot for just to have a company tell you what you can have on it and what you can not have on it; which is a bunch of BS to me.

Chuck

This is exactly why I ended up buying an EZ Reader (after several months of research).

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by KarenH

This is exactly why I ended up buying an EZ Reader (after several months of research).

Dear Karen:

VERY good point! I sometimes want to wave a flag saying "safe haven" on it. Astak is Open Format, not overjoyed with DRM as it presently is used, and believes that end users personal property is their domain and NOT ours. You aren't "borrowing" an EZ Reader... you are buying it". That, to me, implies the old "what I do in my own private domicile is my business as long as it does not hurt anyone". Your car and your eBook Reader are a part of that domicile!!

[tolutaua]

Hey RobertB,

Can you provide any insight into what the waitlist/expected delivery date? Just pre-ordered today.

Thanks!

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Robert, I have a question about margins. I am a little apprehensive about filling the entire page with text. I would like a little margin around the edges.

With the Pocket Pro, will the user be able to set margins around the text?

I did take the margin issue up with the factory engineers. They will see what they can do they said to make the margins user-settable. Once done, this would be a firmware upgrade!

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Robertb

I did take the margin issue up with the factory engineers. They will see what they can do they said to make the margins user-settable. Once done, this would be a firmware upgrade!

Thanks Robert! It's great to know that the powers that be are thinking about it!

[bsg75]

Originally Posted by Robertb

The ones jumping on the bandwagon are Barnes & Noble types. They are NOT looking at making anything on the eBook Readers. They look at making money on the eBooks themselves. That is where the profit is.

I try very hard to be honest all the time on this forum. I do not expect anyone to instantly believe... but this is a pretty learned crowd. THINK!! Amazon makes it so you can buy ONLY from Amazon. WHY? The profit is in the eBooks. There is nobody new jumping into just making eBook Readers. Why do you think Plastic Logic teamed with B&N? Because they might get some of the money from sale of the huge library of eBooks.

The "independents" like Astak are making the thinnest of margins.

It is well known by everyone in the industry that Amazon et al. LOSE MONEY on eBook sales. Barnes & Noble types are looking to make profits in the future and battling for market share, but there's no profit in eBooks as of right now. They pay publishers about $12 for NYT bestsellers, half the price of the hardcover, and they take a loss with each sale at the $9.99 promotional price.

The fact is that profit margins on eBook readers are LARGE relative to, say, computers. There's overhead, R&D, marketing, and middleman markups; but the actual manufacturing costs are low. An 800x600 E ink display module runs ~$40-$60, and the only other expensive (>$10) parts are wireless modules and touchscreens. Isuppli has done a teardown of the Kindle 2 and it costs $185 to build, vs. $299/$359 retail. That's a VERY healthy margin. (Of course, the Kindle's selling price includes free lifetime wireless data service.)

With no wireless module and a smaller screen with less grayscale, the Pocket Pro should cost well under $150 to manufacture. Maybe $100-$125, I'd hazard to guess. Don't get me wrong: I still want one. It looks like a good unit and you don't buy an ultrahigh margin case separately. I just like to think I'm learned enough to know I'd be paying an early adopter price.

[rling]

Originally Posted by bsg75

It is well known by everyone in the industry that Amazon et al. LOSE MONEY on eBook sales. Barnes & Noble types are looking to make profits in the future and battling for market share, but there's no profit in eBooks as of right now. They pay publishers about $12 for NYT bestsellers, half the price of the hardcover, and they take a loss with each sale at the $9.99 promotional price.

In society, we take the easy (and cheaper) way out. Living overseas, ordering books from Amazon/B&N costs a lot in postage (accounting for some 30-50% of the cost of books I purchase on line). eBook will be the way to shop, and with better and better ebook readers coming out, the change will be inevitable. Some larger companies will take a loss to get marketshare - that's simply business. They hope to recoup this in the near future.