Rare Book Monthly
EBook Reader Prices Drop - and They're Probably Not Done Yet!
Barnes & Noble's Nook.
For the eBook readers to survive, the technology's going to need to get cheaper so they can sell cheaper, and for sellers that also have bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Amazon, those stores selling content are going to be what carries them. This is where the real ebook wars will take place; just like the competition between Apple and Google to provide Apps to their competing iPhone and Android phones. Sooner or later everyone's hardware is about equal, but it's usually the software and content that distinguishes successful from not.
The eReaders may also just never see widespread success. It makes sense that they'd stay a niche item for a demographic that I think is already a niche: readers! The Internet's changed the way many people read, and for the most part, it has seemed to lower our attention span. My own experience with the Internet has virtually taken over all the time I spent reading as a kid.
In the future, reader hardware may just be part of the next generation of iPads and tablets. The readability of the e-ink makes them ideal for schools and for long reading sessions. What I see for the future is the ability to switch your tablet's screen from backlit color to an e-ink-like monochrome view, thus giving you the best feature of an eBook reader, and marrying it with the capabilities of a full-fledged computer/tablet. Now that's an eReader that I'd buy.
