The End Of The eInk Era?

I’ve proclaimed the death of eInk more than once, the first time here:

eInk eBook Readers: They’re All Dead, Jim!

And how eInk was detrimental to the future of books, here:

ALL eInk Devices: BAD For eBooks!

With the excitement I’m seeing over the NookColor, I’m wondering if all of that will now actually come true.

Human beings are fickle creatures. Someone with an eInk display sitting next to someone with a color screen is likely to have something funny happen in their head.

I quote from my previous post, E Is Also For Envy:

Before the night was through, this guy who had been very satisfied with his Aero began to feel like a pauper — because everyone else had color screens!

I was shocked by his turnaround in attitude. Suddenly the Aero was no longer good enough for him. Owning it seemed to be a reflection of his economic status. Even of his social status. Of his very manliness!

What I don’t understand is why anyone should be excited by the NookColor. Is it because it’s simply the New New Thing?

What about all those praises readers once had for eInk, about long battery life, less eyestrain, less weight, reading in direct sunlight, etc?

If Amazon shows a KindlePad, will eInk sales everywhere — even Kindle 3 sales — start to dry up?

You can have something better than a NookColor just by getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab, an Archos 70 Internet Tablet, or the upcoming Cruz Tablet. Each would give you a Nook, a Kobo Reader, and an Amazon Kindle in one device!

I didn’t see anyone saying they’d drop their eInk device for any of those tablets!

Sometimes you lot just make my head spin like a top.

Previously here:

Does The NookColor Have An iPad Factor?
NookColor: Next!
Super Sekrit Nook Color

Does The NookColor Have An iPad Factor?

WE know NookColor is not a tablet. But will people CARE? Just like some people “know” the iPad “isn’t a computer.”Wed Oct 27 13:22:22 via webMike Cane
mikecane

@mikecane No, nobody cares that nook color is not a “tablet”.Wed Oct 27 14:15:15 via YoruFukuroulizcastro
lizcastro

The NookColor will not allow people to use Kindle, Kobo, or Aldiko apps. To us here in the eBook world, that matters.

To NookColor buyers, it probably won’t: “I don’t need those, I can get books from Barnes & Noble.” And: “I don’t care if it’s not a ‘true’ tablet, I can still get apps from Barnes & Noble.”

Note that second reason was often used by iPad owners against Windows supporters!

Given how hard I expect Barnes & Noble to push xBooks (just see AliveTouch in the video below at about 2:50), some of those NookColor owners — with their exclusive Nookbooks — could wind up turning around and asking, “Can your iPad do that?”

Even eBookstores Are Doomed

So, here is what’s bothering me about Barnes & Noble coming out with the Nook: When the music industry was changing due to digital distribution, we didn’t see Tower Records come out with an MP3 player. That would have been the equivalent move, right?

If, as I expect it to, the economy gets worse and even fast food suffers (and it has been; I’ve seen two places close in the past two months), would we expect McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, et al, to start selling a line of at-home cookware?