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Comment by midas | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if the reason that there are so few e-readers for sale is because their use-case doesn't really change. In other words, they remain useful for much longer.

This might make people hold onto them instead of constantly upgrading to the latest version.

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Something else to consider is how fast and how steep the price drops on a Kindle have been. From Wikipedia: "On July 8, 2009, Amazon reduced price of the Kindle 2 from the original $359 to $299. On October 7, 2009, Amazon further reduced the price of the Kindle 2 to $259. On June 21, 2010, hours after Barnes & Noble lowered the price of its Nook, Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle 2 to $189." Now it's down to $99 for the ad version.

So, is someone who paid $250+ for a Kindle just two years ago really going to sell it for $50 or so, when the new models aren't much different?

In my case that is 100% correct. I've got the Sony PRS-650. It isn't wireless, doesn't have a built in light, simple functions (read a book). But there is no reason for me to upgrade to anything that has more features.

I plug it in when I want to put a bunch of books on it, I have a light in the case, I only want to read books. No reason for me to upgrade.

I'll upgrade when it breaks or another family member wants one.

Definitely agree with you.

I've had an older Kindle for a while now. It's an uncanny relationship. With most of my electronic devices, I can tell you the exact specs, when I got it, and how antiquated it is. My Kindle is different; it feels like a book to me, not a complex device.

Brilliant work on Amazon's part.

Brilliant for you, yes. But when does amazon begin to consider this a bug, not a feature? I worry for the day that some new feature is introduced in .azw files that will break legacy devices. Now that would be evil.

Amazon are looking to make money off the books, not the device (they're basically the opposite of Apple). The Kindle device price is trending towards zero - a lot of good money is betting that Amazon will eventually give it away for free, making all their money back on book purchases.

Plus, I'm more likely to just hand over my old Kindle to a family member or friend than try to get money out of it. An old iPad might be worth a few hundred bucks - an old Kindle? It doesn't seem like it'd be worth the effort to put on Craigslist.

Good point. Why would there be so much churn for a few bells and whistles bezeled around an e-ink display.

That said, that new Nook Simple Touch with the "backlight" could be a gamechanger, at least for me.

Agreed - I've been waiting for a built in light since the first time I saw a Kindle. Although making it this easy to read in bed probably means I'll get even less sleep :)

I think part of the explanation would be that the underlying eInk displays have not evolved very much either, and thus the devices themselves have limited potential to grow.

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