Are the Kindle and iPad eBook readers really worth it?

eBook readers are cool gadgets and Amazon has sold more than a million Kindles according to some sources and it says that sales of eBooks were actually better than real books last Christmas. Amazon isn't the only supplier of eBook readers of course, and there are Sony devices and many more. Now there is also Apple's iPad. However, you have to wonder whether there is really a mass market for them when you consider how much the device costs and how much eBooks cost. You'll pay hundred of pounds/dollars for the device itself and then sometimes the eBooks are more expensive than the paper editions. That's crazy!

The Amazon Kindle is $259 for the 6in version and $489 for the 9.7in version. OK, let's assume I'm buying the cheaper one. There isn't a UK price, but $259 is £165 at today's exchange rate and Amazon will ship one to the UK. Now suppose I want to read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. The Kindle version is $6.31, which is £4.02. However, the paperback edition with free postage is just £3.49 from the UK Amazon store. Why on earth would I want to spend a large amount of money on an eBook reader and then pay even more for eBooks when the old fashioned paper edition, which has worked for hundreds of years, is cheaper? I just don't get eBook readers.

Just think about it. Trees have to be cut down and transported to a sawmill and chopped up, then taken to a paper mill and turned into paper. This has to be transported to a printer and combined with ink on a huge and expensive printing press and turned into a book, which then has to be transported to a warehouse. Then it has transported to my home by train or truck when I buy it. How can this cost more than a eBook, which has no physical form at all? The cost of producing and delivering an eBook isn't zero, but it must be very close, so why aren't eBooks much cheaper?

OK, I have only quoted one example of an eBook that costs more than its paper equivalent and no doubt there are many that cost less. But really, all eBooks should cost a lot less than paper books and they should never cost more.

The launch of Apple's iPad has made the situation even worse because now that there is an alternative platform for book publishers (I know there are other eBook readers, but the iPad userbase is quickly going to number in the millions). Pressure is being put on Amazon to raise the prices of eBooks even more. I can't see a future for eBook readers like the Kindle or iPad beyond gadget lovers and enthusiasts.

The only way I would consider an eBook reader is if it cost the same or less as buying traditional books - the cost of the eBook reader plus the cost of the books I might read over its expected lifetime. I know some people will point out that you can carry 200+ books on a Kindle or iPad, but most people read one book at a time - you buy one, you read it, you buy another, and so on. Apart from a few niche markets (students, technicians), you rarely, if ever, need to carry more than one book.

I'm currently reading The Bourne Identity and it's a great book that's very similar to the film so I will follow this with The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. I borrowed them from the local library for free. eBooks? No thanks!