E-Book Readers Bomb on College Campuses

From Article:

Hopes were high last fall when the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle DX was distributed to a group of students at seven universities around the country in a classroom pilot program for the electronic reader. With students able to download class materials and textbooks easily onto the slender 10.2-ounce device, many thought the era of carrying heavy textbooks would soon be over. Just a few months later, their hopes were dashed, as students reported that the Kindle was a poor replacement for a textbook, hard to use in the classroom, and difficult to navigate.

Article: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jun2010/bs20100610_200335.h...

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Opinion. If you have a different opinion, that is cool.

When the elite media and tech firms again began promoting e-readers, a lot of us shook our head. It wasn't as though the technology had really moved that much forward from the old e-readers that have been around for a long time. Microsoft was a little ahead of the game with their e-reader software development & with text reading but the elite media was too busy bashing Microsoft at the time to much pay attention.

The success of the Kindle had more to do with the wireless connection and download than the e-reader itself. The convenience of being able to read something similar to a book while waiting for next appointment or class or while at lunch or when you'd rather be doing something other than staring at strangers or four walls or something to do while you are watching your kids playing at the park or pool is cool.

Of course a real book you grab as you head out the door works just as well.

Regardless, all that said, the best tool to read and work is with the full power of your computer. When in a classroom, why would you want to use a device less powerful than a computer when the computer works better and there is no reason not to be able to use your computer. It is not like the class is being held at the beach. (Yeah, when I was in college I wished but seldom happened.) You can pretty much read any e-book you want on your computer, even that Kindle Book you buy from amazon.

It is true that the current round of e-readers had better success than past e-readers. Still, tech firms trying to push the e-readers, and the elite media constant blah, blah, blah on the subject for whatever reason did not change the fact it is a limited niche market.

Computers and the regular internet will continue to be more used than the alternative walled device gardens the elite media and tech firms try to promote beyond those devices niche markets. I confess that some of those devices have had better success than I would have thought, but I still do not think that success can be quantified beyond being termed a niche market.