I'm curious to see if people will buy another device to read on or if they'll squint away at Stanza on the iPhone. The tablet is interesting, because it's almost a netbook - allowing for mobile computing while the others seem limited to be book readers (though iLiad's notes function sounds interesting).

I have always been baffled by the prediction that e-books will kill off the printed books. I know I would love to have all my reference books, dictionaries, thick uni readers and textbooks stored on a e-reader, but still prefer to read a paperback novel because I like the smell of the paper/ink. MP3 players didn’t kill off mini-disc players, we (the market) did because we decide with our purchases that MP3 players are superior to mini-disc players. On the other hand, we can still buy CDs.

Equally baffling to me is the assertion that a e-reader will never kill off the printed books because you can’t take one to bed, beach and bathroom or because it’s too big, too different or too this or too that. That’s akin to looking at a “mobile” phone circa 1982 and concludes mobile phones will not take off because they are too bulky and expensive. One day soon, a e-reader will have all the advantages of a printed book plus more because if that’s what the consumers demand, then that’s what tech companies would eventually invent/supply. The market (we) would then decide what lives and dies.

Yes I agree. I'm beginning to see the advantages of having an ebook for 'bite-sized' reading - to take on the train, uni etc. But I'd still prefer to read the print version for leisure.

For me the proverbial 'tipping point' would be when e-readers become smaller/lighter, cheaper, greener than their printed counterparts. The Apple Tablet is the only one that's really peaked my interest so far.

RE: will people buy another device to read on

I think this is where Apple is clever. It doesn't sell a mobile phone, it sells a wireless mobile device that lets you watch films, listen to music, play games AND incidentally make phone calls. So people might not buy this new product just to read books, but they would buy it because it can do all these other things (whatever they turn out to be) AND lets you read a book comfortably and annotate, etc, etc. And if all else fails, people would buy it simply because it's made by Apple and Jobs.

I think the availability of a mature hardware device is only one factor in reaching a collective (as opposed to a personal) tipping point. There were and are numerous MP3 players that one can argue are better hardware than iPods, but iPods still dominate. Notice Apple didn't just invent the hardware, but also iTunes, signed deals with record companies, etc.

As an avid reader living overseas, with a job that requires exstensive travel (often to remote areas with intermittent electricity) an e-reader sounds like a complete dream to me! I want! At the moment the prices are still out of my reach, but it's getting closer and closer ... right?

In terms of features, I'd be sold on something which lets me highlight & make notes as I go.

Christmas wishlist...

The Tablet looks awesome except... the beauty of the Kindle is its screen is readable like paper, using e-ink technology, as do most e-readers. The Tablet looks like it might not. It looks like a regular LCD screen. Tired eyes, massive amounts more battery consumption and inablity to read it 'anywhere' (in direct sunlight, for instance). If this is the case, then it really is just a tablet PC, not an effective e-book.

We might have the technology but we in Australia still haven't quite worked out how & from where to get content. Other than Iphone apps, all are largely relying on desktop delivery of files then cable or bluetooth transfer to the e-reader. Or SD cards. Kindle is US continental only - they've got a deal with Sprint to deliver files at little cost - given that both News & Fairfax gave Kindle the thanks, but no thanks a couple of weeks ago, and that Aust. mobile phone network is outrageously expensive, it might be quite some time before Kindle operates here. Second problem is ebook providers - not the app with which you read, but the actual e-book itself. Ebook in fact reinforce territorial rights markets and few Aust. distributors or publishers have put content up on e-book provider platforms that can then deliver file formats to hand-held e-readers. Most of what you might want is not available in the Oz market.

Sony has a wireless e-reader: http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219401454

Simon's allegory of mp3 players is a good one. Following it on a little, the music industry has clawed back some of its CD sales by creating a physical product that offers something more than the e-product. The 'deluxe' edition of a CD (with previously unavailable tracks or rarities) or maxi-vinyl product (such as Radiohead's In Rainbows which included artwork as well as mp3s in a collector/fetishist box set) has created sales because people want a gift item, something more. Books as physical artefact still have a lot of appeal. I think publishers should be looking at the idea of "The Book+". What are some things that have sucessfully been added to books to make them a better offering to consumers?

McSweeney is very good at producing "The Book+".