Kindle 2 Price Plunge Signals E-Book Reader Market Competition

[John Dishon]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/168098/kindle_2_price_plunge_signals...


From the article:


"The bigger question remains, Is there a market here worth expanding? A dedicated e-book reader may enjoy a niche audience, but the question remains whether a separate device for reading digital books will be viable in the long term. Already, we have a Kindle for iPhone reader and a slew of iPhone e-book apps; and so-called smartbooks and other portable, connected devices are coming soon.

The way I see it, as nice a luxury as Kindle is, if I can get similar functionality using the same device that I use for other tasks, I'd rather consolidate the functions in fewer devices, instead of adding another piece of hardware to the fray. And a lot of people must agree with me--you don't see too many dedicated PDAs coming out these days."

[Benjamin Sobieck]

But when will they make a Kindle for the thrifty gentleman? Wait, I seem to remember a very cheap version of the Kindle that doesn't even require batteries. It's called a book. That's what I'll be reading until the price of Kindles comes down considerably.

[John Dishon]

Well, a $60 reduction is not less reasonable.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

How is $299 more reasonable? When I think "plunge," I think 50 percent. This is only $60.

[John McFetridge]

If the screen was bigger I'd like an iPhone to read books with e-ink. I'm very close to buying a Sony or Ditto or some e-reader.

[John Dishon]

Cell phones and computers could incorporate e-ink technology in the future.

[John McFetridge]

It's a good question. The e-ink technology and the bigger screen makes the dedicated readers better than the iPhone for reading, but maybe not better enough for enough people. Dedicated readers may be an industry thing as editors and agents use them all the time and a niche market among readers.

I think my kids will be getting iPhones or something like them very soon and if they want to read books on them, fine by me.