Michael S. Hart schreef:
300 Euro nowadays. When I got my iRex iLiad a few years ago, you could only get it at a specific bookstore chain, not mention at a somewhat different price point. To me this means that e-readers are becoming 'normal'.
I don't consider it "normal" when someone pays 300 euros for a dedicated eBook gizmo at the same time I pay 275 dollars for a full Windows netbook.
A full Windows netbook is in terms of eye strain nowhere near such a dedicated e-ink gizmo. Besides, loads of people spend orders of magnitude more on television screens, blueray players and other consumer electronics. Not to mention what is being spend on vacations etc. 300 Euro is not cheap yet, but perfectly within reach for a massive amount of consumers in the Western world. Basically you are going to hit the point that it becomes feasible to start producing them in larger quantities which in itself will cause a price drop.
I still don't understand why anyone would pay so much for "dedicated hardware" when the full featured computers are even less money.
Because the 'full featured computer' (which a netbook actually isn't) doesn't provide the functionality some people (myself included) require from an e-reader.
I just can't see a world where people are walking about with dedicated readers the same way they walk around with iPods, and I also notice that iPods will be more and more full functioned as the generations progress.
I don't expect them to become as ubiquitous as iPhones, but even that could be possible, especially when schools and universities start to use them. I would have loved to have my e-reader when I was at university, especially since it also doubles as a notepad.
The iPod and iPhone will become full tilt computers long before the world will turn to dedicated ereaders, except for specific situations.
They already are in a sense. Nonetheless you'll see none going around and using an iPhone for word processing. I use my iPhone for reading while on the subway/tram/bus, but for longer train trips I prefer my iLiad. Regards, Walter