Originally written for eBookGuru - The Digital Magazine Devoted to eBooks

It was just over two months ago when I published a post (The Future of eBooks) that included a chart from Forrester Research Inc. showing the growth drivers for eReaders. It predicted a $199 price point at sometime around mid 2010 to 2011.

The new Cool-er reader (Price Matters…) came out in mid July, right around the same time that Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle 2 by $60, and I stated that I really didn’t expect to see an eReader break the $200 mark before the end of the year.

Well Sony has done it. There have been lots of articles about this but best one so far is this post by Canada’s own Globe & Mail. The ‘Pocket Edition’ of the Sony eReader will be retailing for $199 at the end of August. The Pocket Edition is smaller and a little limited compared to current eReaders. At 5 inches (vs the 6 inch Sony readers , the Cooler, & the Kindle 2), it can’t play music and can ‘only’ hold 350 books but the sub-$200 price point

“breaks an important psychological barrier”

In an ironic twist, the article includes a quote from Sarah Rotman Epps, a media analyst at Forrester Research.

“This is something that is affordable for the holiday season, and I think that you’ll see sales of e-readers outpacing current forecasts”

The current forecast has sales of eReaders doubling this year to 2 million, up from 1 million in 2008.

Sony is also announcing a higher-end eReader, the Touch Edition (note: Sony seems to finally be catching on that names are a lot catchier and easier to remember than model numbers - the Pocket Edition replaces the PRS-50 and the Touch Edition replaces the PRS-700). This model will retain the same 6 inch size and touch screen abilities, losing the built-in light that seemed to cause more trouble than it was worth.

Another major milestone for the new Sony eReaders is their compatibility with both PC’s and Mac’s.

Neither of these readers has the same wireless access that sets the Kindle apart but given the recent furor over Amazon’s bungled book recall, this isn’t such a bad thing. Certainly for those of us outside the US this isn’t a limitation as Amazon’s Whispernet is limited to US states, with the exception of Montana and Alaska. Even in covered states, it has been reported that coverage is often close to non-existent outside of major urban centers.

Sony is apparently working on a wireless eReader but won’t say when it will be available. Hopefully it will be soon as a new eReader from iRex is entering the marketplace. The 8.1 inch eReader with wireless 3G capabilities and a touch screen is slated for fall 2009 and is rumored to be able to connect with a large on-line eBook store.

The eBook market is also progressing with the recent launch of Barnes & Nobles eBook eReader software and eBook store (An Embarrassment of Riches).

The eBook market will change in ways that we can’t foresee but for the moment the future for eBooks is here.