Bookstores [Was: Re: Going OT [Was: Re: Replacing PBXes with Open Source]]

[Ken D'Ambrosio]

Michael Costolo wrote:

> But why exactly would they do that? Same size, weight, etc. of a
>
>book, but needs batteries, has a screen that can break, and costs far
>more than a common $10 or $15 paperback.  
>
Have you seen the price of low-cost notebooks these days?  Imagine one 
with almost no CPU, a relatively small hard disk (the 20 GB Ipod disk 
would work fine), minimal RAM, no legacy PCMCIA/serial/parallel/VGA, and 
yet the ability to hold hundreds if not thousands of books?  Yeah, I 
think -I'd- be willing to pay for that; after all, I spent $27 of Harry 
Potter's latest installment, and there'll seven of those when they're 
done, not to mention the untold dollars I've spent on Tolkien, the OED, 
etc.  If the only costs I were paying were some marketing, royalties and 
trivial distribution fees, I HAVE to imagine that lifetime savings (for 
me, at least) would be in the thousands.

$.02,

-Ken