In the past few weeks, we have heard a lot of rumors about the future of the e-book industry. Kindle is dominating the market, and a few companies are watching Amazon closely to pounce at the right time and grab some market-share. But the competition in the e-book reader market is going to get interesting if netbooks effectively enter the market. Pixel QI has introduced a 10.1″ netbook screen that allows netbook users to take advantage of the E-ink technology to read documents on it more conveniently. You heard it right. It makes using E-ink technology on netbooks much more feasible.
Netbooks are almost as portable as a Kindle, but they are far more capable. They are computers designed for folks who want to create and consume data on the Internet. By adding E-ink technology to these tiny devices, you are going to have an all in one device that attracts students and business individuals alike. Add to that the fact that a lot of netbooks are cheaper than a Kindle, and you’ve got a formidable challenger to all e-book readers on the market.
I don’t believe netbooks will kill Kindle anytime soon. I do however believe that it’s time for Amazon to drop its prices on Amazon Kindle. I have always believed that while Amazon Kindle is well worth its price, it could be even more attractive if Amazon was selling it for less. And with netbooks being so popular among college students, one has to wonder what strategy Amazon will pursue to push Kindle DX properly among college students. Experts love to talk about doom and gloom scenarios for Kindle every time a new device is introduced to the market, but the more alternatives out there the better off consumers will be. It’d be certainly interesting to see how these hybrid netbooks stack up against Kindle and other readers on the market.
Your take: will these hybrid netbooks kill Amazon Kindle? Worse yet, are companies such as Plastic Logic in trouble already?
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0 comments
#1cameronMay 29, 2009, 6:05 pm
Pixel QI makes screens not Netbooks. They provide the screens for OLPC.
The biggest innovation they have done is actually not the fact that they made a hybrid screen. It is the manufacturing process. They have found a way to make a hybrid screen using traditional manufacturing. This should result in very cheap screens.
#2P. RadMay 29, 2009, 6:35 pm
You are right cameron. I have no idea how I botched the story so badly. Shouldn’t have happened but thanks for catching it.
#3cameronMay 30, 2009, 6:01 am
Honestly is the next generation of OLPC is anywhere close to what they are planning, they will change the netbook and ebook reader market forever
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XO-2
#4P. RadMay 30, 2009, 6:26 am
It’s very exciting. I wonder if Apple’s working on similar technologies for next generation Macs. They do have several patents in this area, so who knows.
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