The Day Of The Digital Book

Read this January 2006 blog post. Then peruse this product page for the details of this just announced device (see Amazon's front page for the actual announcement), and view all the embedded videos. Except for special editions and books of the coffee table sort, The Day Of The Digital Book and the beginning of the death of the paper-and-ink book has arrived — almost. All that’s needed now is a small physical refinement (the device needs a retractable or fold-back cover), and a price tag of $39.00 instead of the current $399.00. Not that far off as soon as Amazon and their partner publishers — which include at the very start every major publisher in the US and some small presses as well — finally understand they’re in the book-selling business, not the electronic hardware business. If they’re really smart about this, they’ll even sell the device at a loss if they have to. Think Gillette and the safety razor.