TidBITS reviews the new Sony Ebook Reader.
Sadly I am not surprised that Sony has, like everybody else, decided to price online downloadable e-books way too high. They are barely cheaper than paperbooks.
In Steven Levy's book about the iPod, he tells of an experiment done with pricing of online music. It turned out that when a song was set to cost 50 cents instead of a dollar, users bought six times as much! Did the big corporations learn anything from that? What do you think?
I hope Apple is working on an e-book reader device. I would like that so much more than the dang Apple mobile phone people have been babbling about for years.
"Sony has, like everybody else, decided to price online downloadable e-books way too high."
ReplyDeleteYou can always use the 100% free Project Gutenberg to read lots of classics which are in the public domain today. Although using a 21st century e-book to real only 18th & 19th century litterature seems more than a little awkward...
Like Sci-Fi from the Fifties. ;-)
No no, that's poetic balance if ever I saw any.
ReplyDeleteI've been watching this and the i-Rex for over a year now. I'd like to buy digital books, but the problem is, I don't like being stuck behind my computer to read them.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember right, though, this reader costs something like $350 US.. I'll wait until it or something comparable dips at least under $100.
Plus, yes, I think the ebooks are often rather expensive - there is only about 10% savings on buying a "real" book, which is nonsense. Most of the price of a book is the actual material, printing and shipping costs.
"Most of the price of a book is the actual material, printing and shipping costs."
ReplyDeleteI bet I can summarize what you said in one word : GREED. Dumb gee-are-eye-dee!
"I swear, tractors is so dumb!" -- (Mater, tow truck in Radiator Springs... and tractor tipping expert.)
I'm really wondering : instead of some expensive reader, wouldn't it make more sense anyway to just buy a simple-design portable PC?
I heard the U.N. have designed one for the third-world countries, with LCD screen included, for $100. And to power it, all you need to do is turn the handle of a dynamo for a few moments and it charges its battery!
Now, THAT is what I call 21st century Sci-Fi come true!
Heck, they could market it in the West, sell it for $150, and two sold woud pay one for the poor countries. The idea would finance itself. :-)
I know, I know, I'm delusional. But only because the "real" world is ruled with such nonsense.
Years ago, I had a mod chip installed in my gaming console (and it wasn't a cheap chip). It didn't work after that. I took it back to the store to have it repaired. They made me pay for the repair too, although a mod work should normally be guaranteed for a month. Well, some months after that, my console started acting up again, and finally broke down for good. Bact to the store for the third time. Diagnosis : completely ruined. The best they could think of offering me was to sell me a new console, modded, "at costing price". Oh, I bought a new one allright, but from elsewhere! That first store, they never saw me again. ):-P
It was confirmed later from an article in the press, that the chip they installed was indeed responsible, it caused harmful overheating in the electronics. I did a small calculation : over the years, the greedy guy in that store lost, from me taking my business elsewhere, several times what replacing my console would have cost him. Probably more than ten times, easily! Not to mention my esteem.
You see, amigo, greed equals stoopeed.
Not only have I found a new store with friendly folks and better prices, it's also closer to where I live. Poetic justice.
"I'm really wondering : instead of some expensive reader, wouldn't it make more sense anyway to just buy a simple-design portable PC?"
ReplyDeleteYou'd think.
But: 1) it would still be complext to use.
2: It would still be too heavy to replace a book. Even the lightest notebook is a kilo, a book should be under a pound.
3: reading on a screen is not pleasant. The "paper" screen of the Sony has much more resolution, and it work solely on reflected light. Also when it is static, it uses *no* battery whatsoever!
"Even the lightest notebook is a kilo, a book should be under a pound."
ReplyDeleteSo you haven't read Harry Potter #4 then, eh? ;-)
"The "paper" screen of the Sony has much more resolution, and it work solely on reflected light. Also when it is static, it uses *no* battery whatsoever!"
Do you mean that new "electronic paper"? I've read about it. That's a nifty invention indeed.
They should make computer screens out of it!
I am sure they would, except so far it is only four grey tones.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read big books, I often cut them up in parts so I can read them in bed.
Some may consider this a sacrilege, but it is just an object!
"I am sure they would, except so far it is only four grey tones."
ReplyDeleteLooks like the trichromic project mentioned in the article isn't perfected yet.
It'll come. This is the third millenium, we are the children of the Future!
Oh, and that thing you do mutilating printed works? The Great Book will punish you some day!!! I wouldn't fall asleep in a library if I were you.