[cmos]

Actually, the price doesn't really matter right now. Jeff is clever enough to be aware that he's only selling to early adopters, and that will be the case for the next couple years.

As long as he can build the infrastructure + database of online books, he might realize that his distribution company won't make the best electronic book reader in the world, and open his distribution channel to other manufacturers.

What he's doing is sliding the bubble closer so he can make the market mature faster. The money made/lost at this point is insignificant compared to when the prices of the displays plummet and the market for electronic books really takes off.

As apple proved, it's all about the content.