Cnet is reporting that Borders, a popular bookstore chain in the US, will begin carrying the Sony Reader "in Spring 2006".
Check out the slick Sony Reader product overview website.
So, I gotta admit. Although I prefer having a more multi-functional device, the Sony Reader does seem pretty cool. Features: really high resolution (SVGA 800x600), highly portable (6.9 in x 4.9 in x 0.5 inches at about 0.5 lb, which is much better than lugging around huge stacks of books), spankin' new e-ink technology (170 pixels per in, allegedly as clear and easy to read as the printed page), and unbelievably long battery life (the display supposely consumes no power except when turning a page, and the battery holds the equivalent of 7,500 pages turns!). Neat, eh?
This is not the first time Sony's marketed an e-book device. Sony's first device, the LiBRIe, had a qwerty keyboard and was sold only in Japan. The Reader improves on the LiBRIe by removing the keyboard, shrinking the size, up-ing the internal storage from 10MB to 100MB, adding external memory card support, and adding native pdf, jpg, and mp3 support. And we Palm Addicts know that Sony has a solid record of making quality handhelds, as they have demonstrated with the popular (but now discontinued) Clie line of Palm OS devices, so the ingredients are there for a quality product.
I could see this device being really useful in the educational setting, especially if you consider that textbooks for a semester in college can run you nearly $500 (or more!). So, instead of walking into the university bookstore and leaving with a huge, back-breaking stack of books, you can just download textbooks on the bookstore store's website, perhaps even at discounted price since no printing/shipping is required. Since your textbooks are all on the same device, you don't ever have to worry about forgetting or grabbing the wrong book for class or having to haul stacks of books to Starbucks to study. If you get bored in class, you can continue reading The Da Vinci Code or Harry Potter and no one would suspect a thing. Lastly, if your device is stolen, you can get just reload your backed-up e-textbook files on your replacement device. I'm sure frequent travelers and book lovers would also dig this device, for similar reasons.
Other cool features: easy font resizing (great for those with poor eyesight), mp3 support (great for studying), newsfeed support (for that bus ride or waiting room).
Major con: the price. Yes, you pay a premium for new technology. But $299-$399? Pu-leeze. With a price like that, I rather get myself a T|X (nope, the Reader doesn't have wifi or sudoku =P ). Plus, the only way to get new e-books is through Connect.com, Sony's own iTunes Store competitor. Details are sparse, but you can bet on serious digital rights management (consumers still have a bad taste in their mouth from the whole Sony rootkit debacle). The LiBRIe was a flop in Japan, and there's no guarantee that the Reader will do any better here in the US, so potential buyers would have to contend with the risk of purchasing a device that may not be supported by Sony in the future (remember the Clie? It was popular, and they still axed it!).
So, my conclusion? It's got potential, but currently too pricey, risky, and lacking in features for my taste. But who knows? Maybe this is a hint of what the future holds for books. And I haven't yet experienced the device in person. So if any of you Palm Addict book lovers decide to get one, make sure to let the rest of us know what you think.
linkage:
Sony Reader Home Page (Sony.com)
Borders to sell Sony digital reading device (CNet)
Sony Reader targets book lovers (BBC)