eBooks are electronic versions of books and since they did not require paper, printing, or delivery - the major publishers thought they could make a mint on over charging the general public:
"Oh, look, let's get the e-book version of this title. It's 3 dollars less and cost more than audio book!"
Plus, there were about 3500 different DRM formats:
There was one for the Palm PDA:
"Wow my book is in grey text and looks like reading a calculator turned upside down."
There was Microsoft Windows PDA - Pocket PC-
"For the love of all things Douglas Adams! Why won't you sync my book to my hand held!"
Some places sold DEDICATED eReaders like Sony with new flat screen low power technology:
"This looks cool, I hope I can buy....oh wait...I have to buy from Sony for my books. Next!"
And even Adobe got into the fray:
"We believe in an eBook standard, and it should be PDF. It's a pity you can only read your eBook on your computer or laptop. That's not a problem, is it?"
Pretty soon eBooks were on the ropes and about as loved as an entertainment company executive.
"The best way to reach our customers is to assume all of them are criminals. We need a new campaign! I know! Another layer of tape on the packaging of DVD's! Brilliant!"
But eBooks may have a new Saviour - the Amazon Kindle. This thing is wireless AND you can buy books wireless-ly. AND the books are really cheaper like they should of been back in 2000. Ten bucks for most expensive ones. However, paperbacks cost more...someone explain this to me, please. And somehow, this is the number one electronic being sold on Amazon now.
But there's another catch:
The bloody thing is 400 dollars. So to make it pay for itself, you would have to buy / read 20 best seller books. I could do this in about 4 months. Of course, it would take less time if I eat a lot of Taco Bell.
Still my inner-geek cries out for this when my rational mind goes, "But lately I've read more audio books because it's safer for my long commute to work."
I would love this puppy, but if I manage to get my hands on 400 bucks, it would be to buy an iPhone. Then a Kindle! Or maybe a GPS that updates! Or I should really get Bren a new laptop. No, okay, let's say I win the lottery...
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