Re: The Apple iPad and the future of e-ink ebook readers

On 1/29/10, jlandahl2003 <[email protected]> wrote:
> After Wednesday's high-profile announcement of the Apple iPad with epub support and a base price of $499, the reaction of one initially skeptical contributor to the MobileRead forums was "At that price point they basically just killed all e-ink devices, unless they start pumping them out at $50 each, which is highly unlikely. Amazon will probably survive as some kind of app, maybe, but who knows. Sony's dead in this game now. $499 is a price point that kills everything else dead, no matter what my initial reactions were."  Other enthusiastic and well-informed ebook fans chimed in to agree with this assessment.<br>

And some disagreed, because the combination of backlit screen and
limited battery life doesn't directly challenge the features many
consider most important in an ebook reader. (For me, it's battery life
& portability--the iPad is too big for me to be at all interested. Get
me an iTouch with a 20-hour battery life, and we'll talk.)

>  Those are pretty diametrically opposed viewpoints.  Many members of TeBC have long followed the twists and turns of the ebook industry (I myself started with the Rocket eBook over 10 years ago).  Much as I enjoy reading on my Kindle 2, It's easy for me to see why people think a relatively inexpensive color multipurpose device would outshine and outsell a gray-scale single-purpose one.  Anyone have any insight into why a presumably astute Forrester analyst might reach the counterintuitive conclusion that the iPad might actually help sales of e-ink readers?

The color-multifunction device won't *begin* to compete directly with
ebook readers until it
1) Supports several ebook formats with display options as good as
currently available on e-ink devices,
2) Supports several types of DRM,
3) Allows direct, easy purchase from several ebook stores.
4) PROBABLY--allows ebook reading *and* mp3 playing at the same time.
(The lack of multifunction is gonna *kill* the iPad.)

Of course, no e-ink devices currently do #3. But the iPad would need
something to compensate for its lack of e-ink screen, and using a
multi-device raises expectations of use. It goes online; it should
download & read anything available online. If readers can't purchase
ebooks except from one or two stores that are connected to the Apps
store, they'll find another device for reading.

Kindle users don't do this. But Kindle users think of the device as
connected to Amazon; Apple is pushing the iPad as an Everything
Device, not an Apps Store device. When it fails to do what they can do
with a $250 netbook, many users will decide that the nifty flatscreen
display isn't worth the loss of functionality.


-- 
"I follow Eris blindly in all things. That She is the Goddess of Chaos
simplifies this immensely."  -- Christian the Pagan


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