There has been a number of product launches in the UK over the last month for eBook readers, making use of the ePaper technology that gives almost the contrast of ordinary paper. These launches are somewhat behind the US market and have yet to see one of the stronger products – the Amazon Kindle.
The major point about all of these units (some more than others) is that they are way too expensive upfront for mass market adoption, being upwards of £200. For these products to get under the skin of consumers they need to hit the £100 point or lower, whether that is by the use of the razor blade model or not is the question. The razor blade model is to sell the razor cheap, and sell lots of the razors.
In this situation then, they should be looking towards the books being the profit generator rather than the device – something that Amazon is very well placed for. When will the Kindle appear in the UK? Particularly with the throw-in of 3G data for device focused book purchase.
I am certainly looking for it, as I see a huge benefit to being able to carry round my technical book collection on a purpose built device – something that is impossible otherwise. And these books are just the tip of the iceberg, as I have upwards of 1000 books in all – nice to look at, easy to read but a problem to transport and store.
