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The future is now in the land of the rising sun

by Rick Martin, Japan

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Pondering the future of e-book readers

Oct 14, 2009 22:23

So I was just over on Japan Probe trying to make sense of whether or not the Amazon Kindle will be "crippled" in Japan. And the more I wondered about it, the more I realized it's a waste of time to even wonder. Because to be honest, when you look at future prospects for e-book readers, the Kindle just doesn't appear very slick at all.

I hate to be the one to bring up the mythical Apple tablet again, but for argument's sake just indulge me for a moment. With iTunes, Apple already has a digital distribution system to rival that of Amazon, and it's inevitable the Cupertino company will move to e-books sooner or later.

You may have heard that Steve Jobs isn't interested in making an e-book reader, but you heard wrong. He likes to make devices that can do it all, and a new tablet in January combined with e-books on iTunes will certainly be something he could get behind. Textbooks on iTunes U would be an interesting addition.

Again, my apologies for bringing up the tablet. I promise I won't do it again.

There are other promising e-book readers in the works, as I saw from last week's Ceatec conference here in Tokyo. Sony was showing off OLED prototypes, and while these likely won't go into production anytime soon, the "Contrast" e-book reader looked absolutely stunning. There was also had a Viao and a Walkman bracelet on display, which you can check out in the video below.

Bottom line, if Amazon hopes to complete in the hardware big leagues, it's going to have to sink a little more effort into design. At its current pace, I don't see the Kindle possibly keeping up.

Video from Engadget

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ferdiei

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ferdiei says...
perhaps you are right. though Amazon pioneered the proliferation of ebooks & currently enjoying a leading market share behind a solid web infrastructure, they should start looking for innovation, as more e-reader displays are going to compete in this arena. reminds me of what happened to PALM in the early days of PDAs which went into a long hiatus before being able to come up to rival (more) practical/flexible OSes, but rather a bit too late on their market re-entry (even with palm-pre etc.)

Oct 14, 2009 22:59

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Jesadac

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Jesadac says...
ferdiei has a good point. I feel their current success has to do with their getting the product and system out to the masses. However, in Europe, its the Sony readers which were getting the attention, mainly because Kindle was not available. With competitors like the rumored B&N ebook reader, upcoming tablet computes (as you mentioned) with better design and more usability, the Kindle will start to see its market share melt away.

Oct 15, 2009 06:03

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juniper

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juniper says...
The e-readers aside, let's not forget the content aspect. Much of the success of an e-reader will depend on whether one can download ebooks onto it and how big the library of ebooks is for that.

Oct 15, 2009 12:34

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bad_thomas0...

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bad_thomas00@hotmail.com says...
I think it's more about the size, it's the about the pricing and distribution policy. The price of the ebook reader is so high (you can get a netbook at that price), how many ebook you have to buy to your investment (in the ebook reader) pay off?

Oct 21, 2009 22:44

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About Rick Martin

After a few years in China studying Mandarin and watching the Chinese Tech scene, Rick Martin has escaped to Japan and is loving every minute of it. When he's not working on his pet projects, 2JPN and DS Ninja, he can usually be found exploring all things tech in the land of the rising sun. Drop him a line on Twitter, Facebook, or contact him via Email.