The days of dedicated devices are numbered: at least that is what many are claiming that the iPad has heralded. So what is the future of dedicated e-readers such as the Kindle and the Nook? Is the Kindle killed off or will the Nook have a niche?

The iPad will never replace the cell phone as many had predicted, at least not in its present form. The boot-up time precludes the possibility of answering a call! However, does it ring the death knell of e-readers? Many are predicting 2014 or thereabouts as the date when such devices will no longer have a viable application because devices such as the iPad will have developed to the extent that they can do all that the Kindle can, and much more, at a lower price.

Sales of e-readers will increase for a while, at least for the next 2 - 4 years, but then are predicted to fall off. Yet the best of today's e-readers offer a better reading experience with their predominantly e-ink and e-paper black and white displays that uncannily resemble real book pages - a far greater resemblance than the iPad currently offers. Their battery life is better and they fire up much quicker for immediate use.

However, that is all expected to change and multifunctional devices are expected to offer a compelling option to the advantages of dedicated e-readers while also offering the added advantage of a palm or table computer, with broadband internet roaming connection and mobile 3G and GPS connectivity.

Currently, the iPad is the most high-profile competition to Amazon's Kindle and other dedicated e-readers although it expected that as e-readers increase in popularity of use, the market will be split between the low-cost readers priced at under $150 such as the current Kobo and the higher-end multifunctional devices like the Kno Tablet. According to the article "Kno Tablet Aims to Replace Textbooks", while no concrete price has been announced, the CEO of Kno has stated that the price should fall well below $1000 (Digital Book Readers).

The higher end devices will likely be exemplified by a development of the Kindle to a Kindle tablet, or of a Sony development should the company decide to compete using perhaps a derivative of the Sony Atom-based VAIO P series. Barnes & Noble recently upgraded their Nook software to offer games and a Beta web browser. The pace of electronic development is such that within 2 - 4 years who knows what these companies could produce in competition to the iPad.

Currently running on the Dell Streak, Google's Android software stack is one likely contender in the competition against Apple, although all of this appears to be pointing towards the death of the dedicated e-reader. But will that really happen? Do e-reader users really want to replace their devices with multifunction mini-computers, whether that is an iPad or a competitive device from a firm not currently offering such a device?

Are bibliophiles interested in hand-held computing devices, most too large to carry in the pocket or purse, or are they happy with small e-readers that enable them to read their novels, study for courses or check up on the day's newspapers and magazines in the train or waiting at a bus stop?

The smart money is on a drop in use of dedicated e-readers until the price drops to the $150 level or below, and there will be an expected surge in their popularity. Tablet computers will continue to sell, but not predominantly as e-readers, and even the current popularity in the iPad is believed by many to be through curiosity and boys keeping up with their toys, rather than a genuine upsurge in the use of electronic books and newspapers. What is almost certain is that the launch of the iPad did not bring with it a massive surge in those preferring to read their literature on an electronic device rather than using the real thing.

If that is accepted as a fact, then the future of the dedicated e-reader might not be as bleak as most believe it to be because the iPad's popularity is likely not due to an increase in e-readers changing their devices, but more to a curiosity factor.

Nevertheless, it is still forecast by the experts that the future of the e-reader industry is in the form of two distinctly different devices. One of these is expected to be a range of dedicated e-readers selling at around $150, significantly lower priced than the Kindle is currently, and the second to be a variety of multifunctional devices such as the iPad for which the Kindle and others will have to provide an equivalent if they intend to remain as genuine contenders in the battle for the higher end of the multifunctional e-reading market.

For now, however, each device is alive and kicking, and while the Kindle and its kind offers as close to a natural book as you will get with their e-ink and e-paper technology, many prefer multifunctional devices that offer eBook reading as just another facility in a piece of hardware that enables them to access the internet, make cell phone calls and write emails and reports: but is that just accepting compromise as the alternative to purchasing individual devices?

Possibly, but does it matter to those that purchase and use them?