Why e-book readers don't stand a chance? Are you kidding me?

Don at CNET was kind enough to post a note about how Kindle and other ebook readers don’t stand a chance. Basically, the claim that the publishing industry will be able to hold off the digital wave is rubbish. Amazon Kindle is an expensive device. For $399, you are paying a lot of money to be able to have the ability to read digital books. But Kindle is more than that. Not only it allows you to read eBooks, it also supports audio. Best of all, it is a “connected” device which I think the major factor that Don is not considering in his assessment of Kindle. You can use the dictionary or just surf Wikipedia for more information at any time, and that is something a paper book can’t do for you.

Amazon Kindle is also easy with our eyes, which makes it a major alternative to a paper book. Besides, you can change the font size and a bunch of other things that make Kindle a good choice for those of us who can’t read the small font used in some of the books in the market today.

But why is Kindle expensive? Is it a glorified RSS reader? I don’t think so. Kindle is a game changer because it is a connected device. The possibilities are there. Just like Dash Express. I am not saying that Kindle is perfect, nor is any other connected device in the market. But to think that the $399 you paid for Kindle is an extra cost is plain inaccurate. The ebooks are cheaper than paper books. Check dummies books on Amazon. They are going for $9.99 rather than $19.99, and I am sure the prices will drop in the future.

I think of Kindle as a longterm investment. Depending on the number of books that you read every week, you can get your money back in as early as a month. But here is the fun part of that post:

The only way e-book readers will emerge from their current state of irrelevance is if the manufacturers of the device decide to make them free or as close as possible to free and then make their money on the e-books. At that point, consumers would be more than happy to pick up a Kindle or a Sony Reader and buy cheaper books at their leisure.

e-Book readers being free is a good dream to have. But how can the book get cheaper if companies are trying to cover the cost of e- book readers? What about e-Book piracy? By offering e-Book readers for free, a company such as Amazon would be giving the pirates more ammunition. Don’t get me wrong. The issue of piracy is big today, but it would be huge if we start giving free readers to these people, lowering the barriers.

Do I like Amazon to drop prices on Kindle? Absolutely. Should e-Books be cheaper? Sure, why not! But is the $399 that I paid for my Amazon Kindle a waste of time? Never. What I have gotten from my Kindle (connectivity, portability, and convenience) I can’t get from my print books. Not to mention the amount of money that I have saved by buying e-Books rather than print books. And let’s not forget. Amazon has lofty goals for this device (to have all the books digitized and available for Kindle). Now that is something to dream about. But no matter how good a gadget is, there will always be people out there to bash it. That’s always been the story.