A strong defense, you say, but unconvincing, eh?
Well, I tried.
Ultimately, my point, one which you will no doubt find some spurious reason to pooh-pooh, is that the Kindle technology has been around for a very long time but has not for some unexplained reason been successful. This was a point made by Bezos, too. He is clearly concerned so as a come-on Amazon did what generally works which is to cut the price of the product in an almost predatory way. Ten dollars for a book that retails for $25 is one hell of an inducement. If Kindle succeeds, it will be because of the book pricing and the free wireless access, not because of some whizbang feature special to this latest useless device [I will admit that it will make carrying 5 or more books a lot simpler, but this is an argument you did not mention. You are welcome, noblesse oblige and all that.]
I think ebook devices have not been successful because they rob the reader of an unique sensory experience, but you are of course free to disagree.
I wonder what Kindle will do to libraries. If Kindle is as phenomenally successful as you think it might be, libraries will disappear as they will be perceived as another gathering spot for dreaded Luddites. What a shame that would be.
Please feel free now to tell us why libraries are no longer a good thing. |
