This story about emerging competitors to Amazon's Kindle, including Sony and PlasticLogic, suggests that several trials by newspapers and periodicals will be underway soon. Yet, no matter how good a device may be, it does not have the familiar appeal of paper. This means the adoption period will be longer that many expect unless a newspaper takes the radical step to stop the presses.
Nevertheless, in this early phase, when the market for these devices is immature, standards have not yet appeared. The story has no discussion of standards. From a consumer perspective, what makes sense is different hardware choices that will enable various content, whether books, newspapers or magazines. That suggests a software platform(s) equally friendly to consumers and publishers.
I have no doubt that these devices are the future of newspapers. They simply cannot continue supporting the costs of hard copy printing and distribution in a digital world serving a generation raised on a digital diet.
"...Van Baker, consumer electronics analyst for research firm Gartner Inc., said e-readers likely will appeal to only small numbers of people because of their cost, and he wonders whether a slew of devices will confuse consumers. 'If the newspaper has one reader, and the book store has another reader and the magazine publisher has another reader, it just doesn't make any sense,' he said."
Coincidentally, the NY Times has a story on e-readers in today's paper.
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