Paper or Plastic? E-readers vs Mobiles vs Book

With all the latest announcements for e-readers and book pricing, I've been thinking a lot about the nature of reading recently. It seems like each company's reading experience presumes everybody and every bit of content is the same experience.

Amazon is quite proud of their $9.99 pricing for e-books. They claim that it is cheaper than paper. And it is ... for one type of reading. If you read mass market hardbacks or trade paperbacks (the ones that are the same size as the hardbacks) then $9.99 is cheaper than $15.99 or $25.99.

I do that type of reading, but only for professional-related books. These books I might want to learn from, cross-reference, make notes for adoption at the office, and so forth. I will read while traveling, but not relaxing in the tub. I don't really share these books with my friends, though I share some of the ideas with my colleagues.

In contrast, my personal reading time is spent almost exclusively with cheap paperbacks. They've increased in price to $7.99, which I think is too much, but I pay it anyhow. I actively share these with people I live with, and share with friends. These are the books I take into the tub, and are more likely to come to bed with me. I keep them for a long time, but if they get lost on a trip or wet in the tub, it's okay.

Several of these books currently live on the shelves of the people I lent them to, and while I'd like to have them back it's completely livable. You can tell which series I really enjoy, because I no longer have the first book in the series. It's been loaned elsewhere.

Then there are newspapers and magazines. This content is temporary by its nature, and at least for me is more akin to skimming online news and blogs.

These are not the only types of reading out there. One of the key lessons in graduate school was how to read research papers. Reading for learning or book clubs might also look very different. Reading business documents, at least in my product development world, really needs a large screen and a strong social connection. The documents do not live in a vacuum, and their business context must be considered while reviewing the product requirements document. I suspect that legal reading is different again.

Each manufacturer/provider has presumed one type of reading. Kindle is targeting trade paperback/hardback reading, largely for pleasure. The Que is designed for business use. Hearst's Skiff is targeted more at newspapers. Apple is going after content deals galore, including textbooks and newspapers. None appear to target my pleasure-reading needs.

I'm not really worried about device fragmentation in the e-reader market. We know how to design and develop for that. I'm more worried about the purpose fragmentation. Is one going to win?

Clearly the mobile phone will continue to win here. The Kindle's ability to continue reading on the phone where you left off on the device is brilliant. But the problems with sharing and moving content to other places still plague them; I only want to purchase material I know to be temporary. This is an industry DRM problem, but Kindle appears to be extra protective. Still a no-go for me.

In the meantime, I'm still reading the occasional book on my phone, and carrying several paperbacks on trips.

Hi,
I have shared a free txt file reader made with Java ME at GetJar: http://www.getjar.com/mobile/29264/books/