As eReader after eReader is unveiled at CES in Las Vegas this week I shake my head at this latest development for two reasons:
1) From an economical standpoint the market cannot and will not support so many different platforms. I’m just waiting to see which eight or nine entrants to the eBook reader market space disappear.
2) From a consumer’s point of view an eBook reader is a waste of money no matter how many bells and whistles are under the hood.
It’s point #2 I’ll spend time with now.
The street price for the eReader of your choice is anywhere from $199-$299 and you’ll get a very capable eBook reader with a few snazzy features backed by a huge library of available titles. In black and white. That’s nice.
But this is much nicer:
An Acer Aspire One Netbook that is roughly the same size, weight and price (street price of $199-$299) can do anything an eBook reader can do — but infinitely more because it’s a full-blown computer running Windows 7. In full color and with stereo sound.
Now let’s kick things up a notch:
AT&T Wireless will sell you a fully-loaded Acer or HP Netbook for $199 with a two year data plan that gives you Internet access anywhere in America.
Want to pass on the monthly fee of $35 or $60? Fair enough. Your new netbook can also connect to any existing wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) network in your home, office or favorite cafe or anywhere else for that matter. WiFi is so ubiquitous these days.
Take your new Netbook and load on a free copy of Amazon’s Kindle software for Windows and you have a fully-functional eBook reader with 1000 times the storage capacity of any eBook reader that also doubles as a fully-operational computer. That means your Netbook is capable of going on the Internet, playing (and storing) movies and music, immersing you in the latest multimedia computer game extravaganza or – even better by my light – deliver fully interactive fiction books. The ability to actually, actively participate in a full-length novel is something else no eReader in the world can do.
Oh and you can also pay your bills, read all the newspapers you want, check the latest sports score and stock quotes, craft up a spreadsheet, blog (just like I am right now), and – uhm – everything else you can do with a computer on the Internet.
Dollar for dollar why shell out money for a one-trick-pony when the same money can get you a three ring circus?
I call upon all my fellow technologists to educate the public about the flim-flam nature of the emerging eBook market and instead focus on how much smarter an investment a good netbook would be.
