Robert Nagle Speculates on Amazon's Purchase of Mobipocket

Idiotprogrammer � Blog Archive � What is Amazon planning? An ebook reader perhaps!: "Why has Amazon bought Mobipocket (a leading ebook reader software company and distribution channel) and booksurge (a POD company)?"

My Take:

I'm not sure about the hardware angle, but with surely it would take no great skill for a Chinese manufacturer to come up with a simple dedicated ebook reader that runs Mobipocket, has a SD card slot and a decent display, and do this with off the shelf parts. It could also be that Amazon just want's a third format for ebooks (besides PDF and MSReader) and does not want to pay eReader's high royalty prices. I think Amazon wants to be free to develop ebook reader software for any mobile platform, not just what Microsoft produces.

Source: Teleread