Okay, I’m not one to argue with the likes of Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, but… oh, well, yes I am… So, here we go.

Jeff, buddy, what the hell are you thinking? E-book readers have been tried, and have dropped like flies at a bug-zapper trade show. I’m very sorry but the new Amazon Wireless Reader is doomed to fail… Here are the reasons why:

First: A book is a book… it feels like a book, ‘reads’ like a book, and you can spill your coffee on it, wipe it off and still read it like a book. You an throw it in the bottom of a bag with your car keys, let it get peed on by your cat, highlight it with a pen, write notes in the margin, and still read it like a book. When you invent a reader that you can do all those things with, and will never need batteries, or be subject to screen fade, or be to dim to read in bright sunlight, I might buy it.

Second. There are already quite a few devices out there that you can read a book on, and all of them do much more than just display a book to be read. It is human nature to want more for your money. So even though you might be less satisfied with an e-book reader that is also a phone, computer, pda, wireless hub, and washes your car, because you will want to do all these things instead of read your book, you’re going to buy it anyway… And you will do everything with it except read your book. Also, this more popular item will end up actually costing less than your stand alone e-book reader, because of the number that will sell… doomed…

Third: Cost. It retails for a cool $400.00!! Holy crap! I CAN buy an i-phone for that. So the big draw is that it can hold up to 200 books (but you can still only read one at a time, and my bookshelf holds more) and it’s wireless *checks his bookshelf and all his books for wires* … Ahem… Doomed…

I’m not saying people don’t read on their computers. Hey, I do all the time. Cory Doctorow has had millions of copies of his books downloaded through Creative Commons licensing, which is all good. But the people who really want to ‘read’ a book, will buy a good old paper and ink copy, dog the ears, flip the pages, spill coffee on it, fall asleep and drool on it, and love every word.
Sorry, but nice try Jeff.

If you’re interested, here’s more on the new Amazon Kindle.

Cheers! Read On!