I Am Not A Fan of eReaders

January 17, 2010 By Simren Deogun 5 Comments

The Skiff eReader

I’ve never used an eReader. Never even seen one in person. So this post is already beyond judgmental.

But, I am the target market for the eReader. I love to read. Visit Amazon (and Chapters.ca!) regularly. And I appreciate all literature.

From Kindle to the new Skiff, I’m not ready to trade in my book for the electronic reading device. I’m also not ready to add another portable device to my current setup, which includes an iPhone and MacBook.

iPhone has multiple electronic reading applications available for download, a couple of which I have tested out, and the only perceived advantage that I can extract from an eReader would be screen real estate and screen resolution.

Within time, all such devices will be equipped with over-the-air book download capabilities and perhaps this is why I fail to see a lasting competitive advantage with these products. The feature set is far too niche to offer long-lasting usability (in comparison to smartphones) and once these readers begin diversifyng their offerings they will fall too close to being a portable computer / mp3 player / book reader etc. And the problem here is that these already exist — enter the laptop or the smartphone.

With tablet computers on the horizon as the next electronic craze and netbooks creating a notable frenzy, the eReader is not sustainable for me because there just isn’t a strong enough differentiator especially when everyone is looking for the all-in-one device — not the all-in-one device plus an eReader.

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  • http://www.lionslinger.com Walter

    Perhaps such time will come when all will be integrated. As for now though, eReaders will gobble such convenient products like Kindle. :-)

  • http://www.simrendeogun.com Simren Deogun

    Hey Walter

    I think the best part of all this is that the average person doesn’t realize how close we are to the integration you refer to.

    And it’s not to say that eReaders, including the Kindle, haven’t been successful but I believe in the near future they will be too niche for widespread and long-lasting adoption.

    Thanks for commenting.

  • http://www.simrendeogun.com/apple-ipad-uninspiring-but-good-for-portable-all-in-one-technology/ Simren Deogun's Marketing Blog » Blog Archive » Apple iPad Uninspiring But Good For Portable All-In-One Technology

    [...] as I mentioned in an earlier post on eReaders, it will be the tablets and the netbooks that spell doom for the single-purpose eReaders, Mashable [...]

  • http://amazonkindledeals.com/ Ebook Reader

    Apple has just released Ipad with competitive pricing and seemingly better features for their entry level model. Do you think this will affect the Kindle DX market? Regards :)

  • http://www.simrendeogun.com Simren Deogun

    Hey there,

    I actually don’t know much about the differences between the Kindle and the DX — perhaps you could share?

    But, I think regardless, the iPad is most certainly threat a but its underwhelming introduction doesn’t hold a lot of promise for being a large long-term seller. They really need to go for gusto with an all-in-one platform with a complete OS to really diminish the Kindle on the basis of multi-purpose functionality and innovative design. What do you think?