I don't know that this necessarily kills the Kindle and other ebook readers, but it will definitely require some serious adjustments. Up to now, ebook readers

I don't know that this necessarily kills the Kindle and other ebook readers, but it will definitely require some serious adjustments. Up to now, ebook readers held an a huge advantage with the e-ink screen and ergonomics. Ebook readers still have an advantage when it comes to ergonomics, but I think they'll have a hard time appealing to the average consumer based on ergonomics alone. The ergonomics advantage isn't even one that ebook reader manufacturers can expect to keep. It will be reduced to just about nothing as soon as someone makes a netbook with a screen that can rotate around and fold down so it can be used like a tablet. There must be price cuts. I can't imagine enough people will prefer the simplicity and ergonomics of a dedicated ebook reader over an equally priced- and now equally functioning- netbook to sustain a business. They also need to focus on what they're good at and figure out what inherent advantages there are in having a dedicated device. Ebook readers need to be as simple as books, they shouldn't have to boot up, they should be extremely light, you shouldn't have to worry that some email worm is going to keep you from reading your books, etc. In any case, this is only a good thing for consumers. We're likely going to see cheaper and better ebook readers as well as better netbooks.