Thanks Jorgen for an article at ITWorld that suggests eBook Reader Kindle will die a slow death in a competition with the various tablets coming on the market, while parent company Amazon will gradually win the monopoly on actual eBook sales (the books/content).
This, the article predicts, will be the result of a new world where tablets dominate. We’re told the new multifunction devices will win out over the special focus features of E Ink or E Paper-based eBook readers. I agree that tablets are going to be a dominant handheld tech-form, but if selling technology to a global market tells us anything, the next new machine does not necessarily mean the rubbish heap for the last old one.
The technology market is maturing, and represents a wide enough range of consumers. There will be room and demand for access to a technosphere of devices that suit individual preferences. While the competition is going to cause some extinctions, the variables in a global marketplace driven by consumers in different age, economic, political or cultural backgrounds will make market predictions like the article’s more and more difficult to make.
It’s not an either or situation. Price is the only thing that will drive Kindle out of the hardware business. If they continue to overcharge for a conglomeration of fairly old technology that has relatively few functions, then sooner or later, someone is going to price an eBook Reader (or other device) based on its function. (We’ve talked about the $99 price point being the key to eBook Reader ubiquity…)
Amazon should retain the eBook (the books/content) selling crown, but it is a vast, flexible and unique marketplace that is changing the game, or is it changing the change. When an author or publisher can sell directly to the reader, middlemen have to remain relevant. So, price will decide this race too, yah?
