Im assuming you mean the ebooks themselves. I think the answer to that is a mix of economy of scale, and desirability.

Economy of scale, in that being the first to make something in small quanitities means its initially expensive – remember the price of the very first cell phones and ipods and compare to now?

And desirability – if its a hot item (like an ipod or phone) they know that people will pay a premium for such an item. Look at what Plastic Logic are doing now in building up anticipation for their ereader not due to be available til next year.

For me to get a Sony ebook here in NZ (and thats assuming I can – havent checked) it would cost me around $600 with the current exchange rate.

BlueRose: Why is the hardware so expensive, do you know?

Rhyss: If you find one you like, please let us know. I love the one Anne D. posted, but I wish it weren’t from the UK.

XandraG: you’re right, of course, about Apple’s reliance on proprietary hardware, and maybe PC-based manufacturers don’t mind punishing Mac for that via its users. And I also wish Linux were more mainstreamed, because it’s sooo attractive as an OS, IMO.

Frannie: I get confused, too, lol, but one of the main reasons I love my Mac is because IMO it’s so much easier to use than a PC. So if you are used to a PC, after a short adjustment to the Mac, you’ll probably be more proficient than a lot of us Mac users!

liz m: I don’t miss Firewire anymore because I just use a USB data stick, and I can transfer data back and forth between my machines so much more easily than trying to sync everything with that freakin’ Firewire! Amazon and newegg have great deals on 8 gig and higher data sticks. I got a Kensington 8 gig that has a retractable USB connector, making it easily transportable and really safe.

Sunita: the main difference between Bootcamp and Parallels is that Bootcamp literally boots your computer into Windows, whereas Parallels allows you to run both at the same time. I don’t know which one is superior — if there is one better — but I will probably go the Bootcamp route, because my sense is that it will be more stable.

Susan Kelley: I’ve had to figure a lot of stuff out by trying because instructions tend to confuse me (like rules, lol). But I’m hoping SonomaLass will have a good suggestion for cheaper used, trustworthy Macs.

Hilcia: The Amazon ease is attractive with the Kindle, but I already feel too locked into my devices, so I didn’t want to go in that direction with my ereader. But people seem to like the Kindle, that’s for sure.

Gail Dayton: When I actually am able to use the Sony store, I’ll be anxious to compare prices and ease of download and reading, because so far I’ve not been able to purchase from them (and isn’t that a weird thing to say when I have the device?!).

You need to set the conversion format to either ePub or lrf. I prefer ePub and leave that as the default, but lrf is useful because if the ePub version has problems, the lrf will often work. You set that at “choose output”, which is in the upper right quadrant. You can switch the default setting as often as you need to.

The book file has to be imported into Calibre first, which you do through the “add books” command at the top left (you’ve obviously done this for your Sony books). To begin the conversion process, highlight the book or books you want to convert and then click on the “convert ebooks” icon. You’ll get a popup screen for each book, where you can edit the information, change the font size, etc. If you want to use the default, just press OK and it will work. You can then view the conversion through the “view” command (next to the convert ebook icon) if you want to see what it looks like before you transfer it to the Reader.

I hope that helps, and apologies if I’m telling you stuff you already know!

I’m still not sure how to do the conversion thing through Calibre, and just recently figured out where the Sony store stored my books on the hard drive so I could put them IN Calibre. But I’m reading like Crazy. I haven’t really needed to mess with it much. (Though I really want the newest Liz Carlyle, and there was one other I wanted, which I can’t remember now.)

The hope that Apple would come up with an eReader went down the drain with the iPhone… I most certainly don’t want to read my books on a phone… they can certainly do better than that.

Every new MacBook has an Intel chip, which means it can run BootCamp or Parallels, two software programs which enable you to run Windows on your Mac. The ways in which the two programs do this are different, I believe. I have Parallels and am very happy with it but both programs are good. It’s really not that difficult, and you can learn as you go. When I first installed Calibre I used very few of its tools, but over the past few weeks I’ve gotten more familiar with how it works and am finding new goodies all the time. The nice thing about Calibre is that you can use it for very simple tasks or for relatively complicated ones.

This was very useful to me. Thanks for the review from a mac centric point of view. the other thing that baffles me is that we apple users have already shown that if you offer us a product that works, we will pay a premium for it. The ipod, the imac, the iphone, none of these are cheap. So if I was offered an e-reader that worked effortlessly with the mac and was as pretty as that there Sony red – it’s an instant purchase for me.

On the downside, Adobe turns its nose up to us–I can’t read adobe DRM’d stuff at all. But it’s all good, because I’ll never buy anything with Adobe DRM anyway.

I hope people aren’t waiting for Apple to swoop in and save the day with ereaders. They probably could do it, but with the trouble I’ve had with iTunes, and the inability to use my device as I see fit without some gymnastics (that are easy enough, and so common that even the developers are acknowledging it) irks me. And it prevents the price from coming down with Apple’s tendency to stick with proprietary hardware. Of course it’ll work on all apple stuff, but you’ll never be able to find one for cheap. It’s a trade-off, and with the times I hear people wanting cheap ereaders, Apple might not be the right tree to be barking up. (That sentence right there shows I is a riter).

I can’t understand why Sony has designed such a beautiful machine but uses such a primitive technology for it’s cover and charges you $40 for a new one because there is no way to repair those fragile plastic hinges.

Does anyone know of an alternative cover that can be used for the ereader that doesn’t cost so much?

The margin is made up by gouging customers for either necessary or extremely useful accessories. Digital cameras are another annoying thing that often get supplied with rechargeable batteries but the power unit is an optional accessory.

Im surprised remote control units come included with things like TV’s – imagine the markup they could have made on those!

I worked in computer retail for 5 years. You learn all sorts of interesting things :)

I also agree that a wall adapter should be standard equipment — another Mac-based bitch, because in general Macs have less USB power than PCs for some reason. I have purchased and had to return several USB devices because my laptop can’t power them — one suggested that I plug it into two USB ports at once to get enough power! If there’s enough power there to charge my iPod, that should be enough for anything else; if it isn’t, then I expect external power to be an option provided for.

First, as others have mentioned, it's inconvenient to charge the device with the USB cord and not be able to use it at the same time. And I don't understand enough about the technology to know why this has to be. Yes I could buy the wall adapter, but I haven't yet been willing to spend the money.

This is because of the limited amount of power a USB port can handle – you need x amount of power to turn the unit on and use it (if its low and it needs juice) and you need y amt of power to charge the battery and x + y probably adds up to more power than you can pull through a USB port, which is why the separate wall adaptor is necessary.

The other benefit of the wall adaptor is it will probably charge faster, and you dont need to leave your PC on while its charging.

Jayne: I fold my cover back, too, and I’ve gotten used to it, but I still wish it were more functional if it’s going to be there at all, and certainly more attractive, lol. I know I can get another cover, either upgrading the Sony one to a different Sony cover, or purchasing from someone like Anne Douglas, who makes covers, but I’m not yet ready to add yet more bulk to my reader by adding another cover.

Tae: One thing you might also want to check out is the number of refurbished machines Apple sells through their own store, which include the standard Apple warranty but are often significantly more loaded than the so-called new ones, for a substantially reduced price. While not cheap, by any means, you can get a really good deal for an upgraded machine by seeking out the refurbs.

SonomaLass: My laptop is realllllllly degenerating, being four years old going on five, having a fan that sounds like a car motor, stalling constantly when the CPU has too much activity, and having some keyboard problems to boot. So I really need another machine, which will be an Intel/Leopard MacBook, simply because that’s what’s out there right now, and I need the speed!

Great quote from Steve Jobs, btw.