The main reason this will fail is that its pricing model is ridiculous. You'd have to read a lot of books for this to be worth the cost, especially considering

The main reason this will fail is that its pricing model is ridiculous. You'd have to read a lot of books for this to be worth the cost, especially considering that the books they're selling now -- bestsellers and popular stuff -- are already available just about everywhere to begin with. I think it would sell better if they bundled a contract-term subscription and cut the up-front price, like carriers do with cell phones. If the reader were $129 with a $10/mo subscription, and included a bunch of stuff -- say a free book and up to 20 blogs per month -- I think more people would consider it.