From the article:

'More anecdotal Kindle sales data (http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/2/publisher___stunned__by_kindle_royalties): An e-book publisher tells us that in December, his royalties for Kindle sales equaled Sony (SNE) e-book royalties for all of Q4 2007.'

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/3/e_publisher___kindle_royalties_now_outpacing_sony_ s_

or http://tinyurl.com/2rgetv

You keep on fueling Kindle vs. Sony and posting provoking articles?
:thumbsup:

Sorry, but Kindle is going to eat the Sony reader (and all others) alive in this area. Here's why...

Let's say that my worst yuppie-geek nightmare comes true and I find myself at a coffee shop without a wifi connection (it could happen). I'm reading along and I realize that I have just finished the last page of "Earth in the Balance". OMDG! What ever shall I do? I have a fever and the only cure is more climate alarmisim. But wait. No need to panic. I can go to the Amazon store on my Kindle using the CDMA whispernet link and do a search for anthropogenic climate catastrophy and get a whole list of things to buy OR SAMPLE.

See now, the sample thing is the trick. I have bought three of the five items I have sampled IN JUST TWO WEEKS.

OK OK, sure. I'm easy. But I can't help but think this will put even some of you more wary trout on amazon's stringer.

jacksonunit
Never happened to me.
I have a defined to-read-list for 1.5 year at least.
I can insert a few books here or there as well. So, I have 5-6 books on my reader...that could last me for a few months of reading fever. I always plan ahead what I would like to read.

Amazon quite possible will eat Sony. I do not argue with it.
It is just Kingston always finds provocative articles about Kindle vs. Sony Reader and posts them here. He doesn't do anything else. However, he burst into flames when I suggested that he and amazon are close friends :)

Sorry, but Kindle is going to eat the Sony reader (and all others) alive in this area. Here's why...


Aren't you forgetting that the Kindle can only be (effectively) used by an almost negligible minority of the world's population, whereas the Sony (and the CyBook) can be used world-wide?

I think one thing that brings this sort of anecdotal evidence into some context is the difference in demographics that Amazon and Sony are playing to.

This pretty much doesn't apply to any Kindle owners here, they're pretty demographically similar to the Sony owners here.

Please read that sentence twice before you get on my case. :wink:

I think Amazon's customers are mainly folks who didn't know e-reader devices existed until the Kindle appeared on Amazon's home-page one day. I think they're folks who mainly read best-sellers, read them once, and then go on to the next one, never caring if they can ever read them again. These two things combine to mean that they're mostly unaware that they can get content anywhere but Amazon, so they get all their content there.

Whereas Sony's main demographic is probably more like folks in this community: they're more likely to have known about e-reading for years, know all sorts of places besides Sony's store to get content, and how to convert it to work on their Reader. They're also more likely to avoid DRM when they can (because they know about the long-term hazards of it, and want to be able to access their books again later), which further reduces the likelihood, or at least the frequency, of them buying from Sony.


Amazon has clearly (in my view) made and marketed the Kindle for the purpose of selling content, the way they're marketing it demonstrates that. Unsurprisingly, it's working. Folks argue that Sony has the same thing in mind, but I don't really think that's the case. I think the more viral marketing approach they have taken is much more likely to reach folks like those who hang out here. Especially since several of their efforts have been pretty well targeted at MobileRead, specifically, and several more at us along with others like Engadget and Gizmodo.


As an anecdotal evidence to support what I'm suggesting: in December of 2006 I showed my shiny new PRS500 to my family at Christmastime. My mom, a Library Science PhD, was completely disinterested at the time. One year later she's all het up about the Kindle, and even more excited because her department is getting her one to play with. The only difference I can see is that the Kindle is on Amazon's front page -- nearly as I can tell, most of the books she works with (Juvenile Literature) are not available in Kindle Editions. :shrug: She wants it for reading bestsellers and doesn't care if she never reads them again -- just like most Kindle users I've talked to outside this community.


There you go, that's my theory, salt to taste. :nice:

Aren't you forgetting that the Kindle can only be (effectively) used by an almost negligible minority of the world's population, whereas the Sony (and the CyBook) can be used world-wide?

While we may know that the Sony can be used outside the USA with a little extra work that is not common knowledge I believe and certainly not advertised on the Sony site. I believe the average user on the street will think that both the Amazon and the Sony are targeted at the USA.

Dale

Aren't you forgetting that the Kindle can only be (effectively) used by an almost negligible minority of the world's population, whereas the Sony (and the CyBook) can be used world-wide?


[Tongue in Cheek]I'm certainly glad that I'm in that negligible minority[/Tongue in Cheek] :smartass2

This pretty much doesn't apply to any Kindle owners here, they're pretty demographically similar to the Sony owners here.

Please read that sentence twice before you get on my case. :wink:

I think Amazon's customers are mainly folks who didn't know e-reader devices existed until the Kindle appeared on Amazon's home-page one day. I think they're folks who mainly read best-sellers, read them once, and then go on to the next one, never caring if they can ever read them again. These two things combine to mean that they're mostly unaware that they can get content anywhere but Amazon, so they get all their content there.

Whereas Sony's main demographic is probably more like folks in this community: they're more likely to have known about e-reading for years, know all sorts of places besides Sony's store to get content, and how to convert it to work on their Reader. They're also more likely to avoid DRM when they can (because they know about the long-term hazards of it, and want to be able to access their books again later), which further reduces the likelihood, or at least the frequency, of them buying from Sony.


I don't see how the above examples are relevant. In effect, you're saying that the "hardcore" readers will gravitate towards the Sony. Even on this forum we see that's not the case, as everyone here is in effect a little more hardcore than the mainstream, and the split on devices is pretty broad.

Really, all the devices handle non-DRM content about the same. Both Sony and Amazon have their own DRM format (and even the Cybook has it's one format it can accept), and outside of that they handle one primary format for ebooks. Pdf doesn't count, since most people don't find it very usable on the Sony; conversion from other formats also doesn't count, as the end result of what you put on your reader is one primary format.

I think they're both really nice devices, and considered them both for quite a while before I ordered one.

These discussions really just boil down to personal preferences, mostly related to design or a couple of extra features. Anything more is just looking to stoke up the old tired Mac vs. PC flames. I would hope we're all better than that here.

David

I think one thing that brings this sort of anecdotal evidence into some context is the difference in demographics that Amazon and Sony are playing to.

This pretty much doesn't apply to any Kindle owners here, they're pretty demographically similar to the Sony owners here.

Please read that sentence twice before you get on my case. :wink:

I think Amazon's customers are mainly folks who didn't know e-reader devices existed until the Kindle appeared on Amazon's home-page one day. I think they're folks who mainly read best-sellers, read them once, and then go on to the next one, never caring if they can ever read them again. These two things combine to mean that they're mostly unaware that they can get content anywhere but Amazon, so they get all their content there.

Whereas Sony's main demographic is probably more like folks in this community: they're more likely to have known about e-reading for years, know all sorts of places besides Sony's store to get content, and how to convert it to work on their Reader. They're also more likely to avoid DRM when they can (because they know about the long-term hazards of it, and want to be able to access their books again later), which further reduces the likelihood, or at least the frequency, of them buying from Sony.


Amazon has clearly (in my view) made and marketed the Kindle for the purpose of selling content, the way they're marketing it demonstrates that. Unsurprisingly, it's working. Folks argue that Sony has the same thing in mind, but I don't really think that's the case. I think the more viral marketing approach they have taken is much more likely to reach folks like those who hang out here. Especially since several of their efforts have been pretty well targeted at MobileRead, specifically, and several more at us along with others like Engadget and Gizmodo.


As an anecdotal evidence to support what I'm suggesting: in December of 2006 I showed my shiny new PRS500 to my family at Christmastime. My mom, a Library Science PhD, was completely disinterested at the time. One year later she's all het up about the Kindle, and even more excited because her department is getting her one to play with. The only difference I can see is that the Kindle is on Amazon's front page -- nearly as I can tell, most of the books she works with (Juvenile Literature) are not available in Kindle Editions. :shrug: She wants it for reading bestsellers and doesn't care if she never reads them again -- just like most Kindle users I've talked to outside this community.


There you go, that's my theory, salt to taste. :nice:


Well said! I totally agree with you 100%.

I don't see how the above examples are relevant. In effect, you're saying that the "hardcore" readers will gravitate towards the Sony. Even on this forum we see that's not the case, as everyone here is in effect a little more hardcore than the mainstream, and the split on devices is pretty broad.

I think Natch meant that a person had to be at least moderately techie in order to get content on to the Sony Reader, and that it's much easier to get content on to the Kindle (Amazon does most of it for you).

I think Natch meant that a person had to be at least moderately techie in order to get content on to the Sony Reader, and that it's much easier to get content on to the Kindle (Amazon does most of it for you).
I disagree. I think what was meant is that the Kindle user overall is a buy it, download it, read it, toss it type. Whereas the Sony 500/505 user is a buy it, download it, read it, want to keep it, might read it again type. Thus in order to be the Sony type, you should be more tech savvy or have access to a tech savvy person to help. But that's not to say that some Kindle users don't want to be like Sony users and visa-versa.

To me its clear that Amazon saw what Apple did with the iPod and iTunes, and copied their model. Which works quite well I might add.

Hardware-wise there isnt a big gap between the two except the connectivity capability, which puts the Kindle above the Sony feature wise. Factor in the Amazon store (iAmazon so to speak) and its all around a better experience IMO.

Sony's backend services are way behind Amazon, had they offered a more compelling online store that was OS neutral (big mistake) it would have been a different story.

I don't see how the above examples are relevant. In effect, you're saying that the "hardcore" readers will gravitate towards the Sony.That's certainly not what I mean to be saying. :unafraid:

I'm trying to say that I think most of those who have bought Kindles are likely to look mainly or exclusively to Amazon for e-content, but that those who bought Readers are more unlikley to even mostly look to Sony for their e-content. I see that as a theory about how "e-book aware" each set of buyers are, and I don't see a correlation between that and how hardcore their reading habits might be. :shrug:

I tried to specifically phrase my comments to exclude people here -- at least as far as Kindles go -- because I think our Kindle owners are more similar to our Sony owners than they are to average Kindle owners. I see this as being a result of the marketing targeting that I see on the part of each company, that I mentioned above.

These discussions really just boil down to personal preferences, mostly related to design or a couple of extra features.You're very correct, excepting of course those cases where some specific user need makes one set of hardware more usable in a concrete way. :yes:

Is it so far fetched that folks with similar preferences might be similar in other ways? I'm not talking about a cause-and-effect, mind you, just a correlation. :nice:

In any case, I don't have a problem with different folks having different preferences, either from one another or from me. And I certainly didn't mean any of my comments as demeaning or derogatory to anyone, only as observations.

Anything more is just looking to stoke up the old tired Mac vs. PC flames.Not necessarily, I think there's a lot of interesting stuff to explore in this area, without it being simple sniping. :shrug:

I would hope we're all better than that here.We are, generally, and we work pretty hard to keep it that way. :nice:


I think Natch meant that a person had to be at least moderately techie in order to get content on to the Sony Reader, and that it's much easier to get content on to the Kindle (Amazon does most of it for you).Something very like that: I meant that the average Sony user was more likely to be, as you say, "at least moderately techie" than the average Kindle user (again, not talking about MobileRead Kindle users), largely because of the marketing approach the two companies have taken, and the people those approaches are most likely to reach. :yes:




Aren't you forgetting that the Kindle can only be (effectively) used by an almost negligible minority of the world's population, whereas the Sony (and the CyBook) can be used world-wide?
While we may know that the Sony can be used outside the USA with a little extra work that is not common knowledge I believe and certainly not advertised on the Sony site. I believe the average user on the street will think that both the Amazon and the Sony are targeted at the USA.I think that the U.S. is the market that Sony and Amazon view themselves as being targeted at (certainly it is for e-books), so a U.S. only scope to the discussion of who's selling more e-books is probably appropriate. :wink2:

The big advantages to my mind for the Sony are:

- size --- I've got shirt pockets it'll fit into --- not even the shirts I had tailored to have pockets to accommodate my Newton MP100 will hold an Amazon Kindle

- .pdf support --- the Kindle's nicer fonts somewhat ameliorates this, but it's a big matter to me.

William

I agree that the Kindle is all about delivering the content. For that reason, the important number is not how many Kindles are sold but how many e-books are bought on Amazon. This is what could push the publishing industry into producing more e-books (for all devices).

The Kindle demographic is probably wider than the Sony's, but I don't see it as entirely bestseller oriented. The defining characteristic of the Kindle community is (presumably) that they bought books from Amazon before buying the Kindle. In other words, an established book customer who sees $400 worth of "value" in the Kindle. From this point of view, the potential for Amazon is huge - because their customer base for a $200 device is much larger and at (say) $100 it could really take off.

For that reason, the important number is not how many Kindles are sold but how many e-books are bought on Amazon.Exactly! And because of that, comparing the number of Kindle e-books sold to the number Sony store e-books sold just isn't all that meaningful to the discussion of which device is doing better. :shrug:

Exactly! And because of that, comparing the number of Kindle e-books sold to the number Sony store e-books sold just isn't all that meaningful to the discussion of which device is doing better. :shrug:

Another factor which may be worth considering is that if (and I don't know if this is true or not) the Kindle is being bought by a rather less technically-knowledgeable customer than the Sony on average, it could well be that they are buying more content rather than creating content themselves.

You keep on fueling Kindle vs. Sony and posting provoking articles?
:thumbsup:


You keep on with the ad hominem (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=ad+hominem&spell=1) stuff?:smack:

__________________________________________________ ______________
My sister is probably one of the typical Amazon customers that NatCh describes. She reads a lot, mostly best sellers and established authors. Reads and discards.

She is terrified of a USB cable and refuses to even THINK of hooking one up. So without the wireless connection and ease of use she would never ever use a Sony.

BTW my sis is like Nathans Mom, now she is an acolyte for the Kindle and shows it off to everyone. She has met considerable resistance from traditionalists who hold that books should only be paper glue & cardboard and not digitalized.

Another factor which may be worth considering is that if (and I don't know if this is true or not) the Kindle is being bought by a rather less technically-knowledgeable customer than the Sony on average, it could well be that they are buying more content rather than creating content themselves.That too, is an excellent point.

Most of us around here "create" even the content we buy, to the extent that most of us seem to modify it to some degree or other. :shrug:

I'd probably buy more stuff from Sony directly if I could only fix their stupid micro-fonts. :rolleyes:

I'd buy from Sony if I could remove the DRM and change the formatting to what I want.

I think we're making some rather.... well, bad generalizations.

The Sony Reader has a base in gadget nerds (if I may use the term, I'm certainly one) because, largely, it's been around much longer and is more widely available (in terms of both the 500 and 505). The Kindle doesn't have the market saturation to see much hacking yet, and we're not sure where that will go.

That being said... between the tools here and the MobiCreator there is nothing I could put on my Sony Reader that I can't put on my Kindle that I'd want there (I'm not going to pretend unconverted pdf files were worth bothering with (for me at least.). So as far as being able to grab my own content - I have that option, and so do other Kindle users who want to do that.

But what really matter is CONTENT. Amazon promises content. Amazon has delivered on content - and solid content, not a bunch of pulp fiction, scifi, fantasy and romance. I can find about 75% of what I'm looking for on the Kindle anymore, and usually at a great price. Compared to Sony's store (a month ago) where I found something along the lines of 10%.

I'm ignoring content from both Amazon and Sony that involves "classics" widely available here or elsewhere, and of course the contents of Microsoft Lit formats are available to just about everyone.

Don't get me wrong.. I love a good hack, and I hope people start doing more with the Kindle but for some of us it's all about content - and while DRM sucks, DRM is everywhere for any text I'd buy. My only option is scanning it myself if I don't want DRM, and that works just as well no matter what device I'm using (actually, it's easier for the Kindle since I can use the Mobicreator program).

So I think we should avoid too much in the way of "most people." There is no doubt the Kindle is more mass market, but that doesn't mean anything in and of itself except you will have more passive users (that probably consists of most SonyReader users as well, proportionately. We are a vocal minority, none of us are the typical users of such devices.)

As far as hacking the Kindle... well, what would you do exactly? You're not going to hack it to read other DRM formats, and almost anything else can already be put in the device. I suppose you could add real PDF support, but given how badly such support would be in the end I see little benefit. This is not to say the Kindle is perfect, but I don't see a lot that can be done given the hardware limitations. It's not going to start displaying comic books or images well or anything.

I really think the Sony Reader is a helluva device, but having been in the unfortunate position to interface with Sony media offers before, I have very little faith in their store acquiring a lot of content at good prices and their DRM is just as nasty. And I admit to missing the sleek little device I could spend hours messing with, but when it comes down to it I have a reader to read - and the Kindle does the best job for me of that.

If we're seeing a lot of noise, it's because people already have relationships with Amazon and trust and like them. Hell, even my mom does the majority of her online shopping there and so do I (I got a great cast iron griddle there just this week!) They played the PR and marketing well, and that's part of a successful device launch. As far as hardware... I think the Sony (505) is definitely a better device, but the library, sample chapters, and periodical support really seals the deal not just with me, but with many users who may have given up a certain amount of freedom in order for the device to do what it is supposed to - let us read what we want easily.

Still, this is all sophistry... there is no good data out there about any of this aside from anecodotal, which hardly counts.

What works for you, works for you. But I don't find the generalizations all that helpful and my points above are only to indicate that the Kindle is a very reasonable option even for someone who hacks just about everything that gets into his possession.

Hey! What's wrong with pulp fiction, scifi and fantasy? :laugh4:

And I'm amused that you've used one of my favorite words: "sophistry," though I think this is more baseless speculation than true sophistry. :shrug:

Hey! What's wrong with pulp fiction, scifi and fantasy?

In my opinion, a large catalog of these genres is key to success in this market. Most of the people I know that read several books a week are fans of these or romance novels. I know folks like to look down their noses at this stuff but it's serious money. Plus I know plenty of highly-intelligent people who enjoy some fun, lightweight fiction. This is the sort of thing that will drive the volume up and the price of screens down. Then when larger, color screens are cheaper, we'll start seeing more magazines. That'll not only be big money, but a great boon to the environment.

But even without wireless as in the rest of the world for the moment, I can do everything on my Kindle by downloading from my PC that can be done on any other reader, such as the Sony, etc., etc.

Charles Wilkes, San Jose, Calif.


Aren't you forgetting that the Kindle can only be (effectively) used by an almost negligible minority of the world's population, whereas the Sony (and the CyBook) can be used world-wide?

Don't get me wrong... nothing wrong with any of that (I like me some fantasy and sci-fi myself) but the 6 dollar paperback are not the books I spend all my money on - nonfiction is. So as far as what I'm in the market for, Amazon has me covered far better than Sony.

When it comes to most fiction, given the prices, I generally don't mind just grabbing the paperback and I don't have too much time to read anything I don't have to, anyway.

Sorry, but Kindle is going to eat the Sony reader (and all others) alive in this area.

I have a Sony. I love my Sony. I buy most of my content from Sony. And I think the wireless download on the Kindle is a HUGE feature.

In the US, of course. :p

I'd buy from Sony if I could remove the DRM and change the formatting to what I want.

Same here.

But even without wireless as in the rest of the world for the moment, I can do everything on my Kindle by downloading from my PC that can be done on any other reader, such as the Sony, etc., etc.

Charles Wilkes, San Jose, Calif.

With the greatest respect, Charles, you've misunderstood the point I was making. What I meant was not that the Kindle is only sold in the US - that's true for the Sony too - but that you can only buy Kindle content if you live in the US (or if you have a US credit card).

If we're seeing a lot of noise, it's because people already have relationships with Amazon and trust and like them.

Pretty much. I also believe that the Kindle is more important to Amazon than the Reader is to Sony, and more likely to be around in the future. I still read on a Sony Clie, but they abandoned that market and I wonder how long they'll keep their Reader line alive. I also have dealt with Sony support on various products, and don't have a high opinion of it.

Which is why I am still on the fence as to which reader to buy, even though I like the Sony's design (and price) better (the Whispernet and keyboard on the Kindle mean little to me).

Exactly! And because of that, comparing the number of Kindle e-books sold to the number Sony store e-books sold just isn't all that meaningful to the discussion of which device is doing better. :shrug:

I think it becomes more meaningful over time. If the majority of the profit is in the content rather than the hardware, then a device like Sony's could be abandoned despite its popularity if folks aren't buying their content through them.

I can definitely vouch for the Kindle having a different demographic.

I thought reading devices sucked and didn't know about e-ink until I went to amazon.com one day looking for a hard-to-find book. Lo and behold, there on the front page was the Kindle.

My initial reaction was "oh my goodness this is the most awesome thing ever" and had I been American I probably would've bought one on the spot.

The funny thing is that I am very much a techie who usually researches everything, and that was my experience. For non-techies, I'm sure they discover the Kindle and that's the end of the story.

Out of curiosity, does the Sony advertise anywhere besides their website in the US? Most people look at Sony hardware in stores and don't visit their site ever, so the Kindle definitely has a huge advantage in that department.

I've seen Sony ads but not often. I came across it for the first time at Fry's Electronics. I think it's a great advantage for them that they actually have physical units in stores that you can play with. If the comments on places like Engadget and Gizmodo are any indication, I don't think most people really get the e-ink thing until they experience it.

Which is why I am still on the fence as to which reader to buy, even though I like the Sony's design (and price) better (the Whispernet and keyboard on the Kindle mean little to me).

Yeah, I don't particularly care about the keyboard (which is the worst defined feature on the device IMO) or the Whispernet (it's nice getting the papers and such, but I'd be okay just being able to connect it to the computer as well.)

But they have a good store and it's getting better all the time. But as you said... Sony has started and stopped so many services over the years, I don't have any faith in them not leaving me in the cold.

Sure, Amazon COULD do that... but right now it certainly doesn't appear that way. Sony is still barely updating their store and their software is pathetic (which shows you there what kind of priority they have for actually making the device succeed.)

I've been wondering if they've internally conceded defeat and are just putting the minimal effort in to get whatever bit of revenue they can. They certainly could add a lot more value with a few key firmware and store features but I'm not seeing that kind of investment in the future from them right now.

I've been wondering if they've internally conceded defeat and are just putting the minimal effort in to get whatever bit of revenue they can. They certainly could add a lot more value with a few key firmware and store features but I'm not seeing that kind of investment in the future from them right now.

Don't tell me I am going to have my Sony Mini Disc experience all over again...:eek:

I guess that is why I try to avoid DRM'd content from Sony, for books or music.

At least with your Sony Reader, you will still have plenty of other content options even if Sony no longer supports it. As long as it runs, you can still get other books. The sucky bit would be Sony content after the Reader stopped working. Hopefully if it's end-of-lifed, someone will crack their DRM so people can transfer stuff later to other devices. I hope they keep going, though. I want to see lots of competition.

Agreed. The more competition the better. Consumer-wise.

I wish they kept on running.

However, I do not feel very optimistic. As many people said, reader/books is such a tiny part of Sony that I do not see why would they bother to compete with such giant as Amazon, whose primary product are books.

...shirts I had tailored to have pockets to accommodate my Newton MP100 ...


You ARE kidding right?

I think it becomes more meaningful over time. If the majority of the profit is in the content rather than the hardware, then a device like Sony's could be abandoned despite its popularity if folks aren't buying their content through them.That's a good point. I suppose it depends on what Sony's view of the Reader/eBookStore relationship is, they keep saying that the store is there to support the Reader, not vice versa, but we have to decide how much we believe that. Personally, I think it's more than half true, but I wouldn't want to commit any more than that. :shrug:


I've been wondering if [Sony has] internally conceded defeat and are just putting the minimal effort in to get whatever bit of revenue they can. They certainly could add a lot more value with a few key firmware and store features but I'm not seeing that kind of investment in the future from them right now.I know they got moved from one division to another recently, that may account for some of the apparent "fuzziness" in their Reader activity. :shrug:

I'm new here, but if you don't mind, I'll add my two cents worth. I am a voracious reader (kinda goes with the territory--I'm a librarian). While I read anything that's handy, I am one of those readers mentioned in this thread who also reads genre fiction--SF/Fantasy, and mysteries, mostly. But on the other hand, I also love gadgets and for years I looked into getting an eBook reader but never quite found one that grabbed me enough to buy. Then I heard about eInk technology. Now THAT grabbed me and I was all set to buy the Sony reader as soon as it became available.

And then Sony itself turned me off to its reader. I emailed the Sony store five times trying to get info on price, the earliest date I could place an order, etc. etc....and got absolutely no reply. Crappy customer service is no way to sell your product.

So I waited, and I'm glad I did. I have a Kindle on order. Lots of info around about the Kindle--Amazon knows the importance of marketing. Lots of content available, too. And here again Sony shoots itself in the foot, just as they did with their old Betamax machines: great machine, but a competitor does a superior job rounding up content and rights. Amazon actually answers emails...what a concept: customer service.

The Kindle holds more books. Yes, I am one of those people who like to have their "comfort" books (those they re-read frequently) available when the yen strikes. Not only that, but I think ergonomically, its wedge shape is superior. Yes, it is a bit larger that the Sony, but will fit more comfortable in one's hand.

And that wireless access is a huge selling point. Near instantaneous access to what you want. Computers didn't hit the home market until I was in college, so I'm not one who was raised with them as a fixture of life--but I have certainly been spoiled by them! I like instantaneous.

I didn't think the wireless delivery would be such a big deal to me when I ordered the Kindle, but it really is huge. Now that I've experienced it, I realize that this changes the game. I'm a geek. I'm very comfortable with the process of downloading and transferring content but having it just show up is brilliant! If I was a bit less techie, it would be even more attractive. I went for the Kindle for the greater variety of content and the features I felt were necessary to improve reading beyond the paper book (search, dictionary). I thought it was a bit of a step up just looking at these sorts of bullet points, but putting it all together as an experience I saw that it was something really rather special. I hope you enjoy it and welcome to Mobileread!

I hope you enjoy it and welcome to Mobileread!

Thanks for the welcome. :) I can hardly wait to get my hands on mine. I am already buying content & downloading free stuff for it. Have a ton of stuff all ready for it so I can hit the ground running, so to speak.

And, yes, the wireless connectivity is what will really sell it.

And then Sony itself turned me off to its reader. I emailed the Sony store five times trying to get info on price, the earliest date I could place an order, etc. etc....and got absolutely no reply. Crappy customer service is no way to sell your product.

So I waited, and I'm glad I did. I have a Kindle on order. Lots of info around about the Kindle--Amazon knows the importance of marketing.


Have you emailed amazon before they actually announced and started to sell Kindle with the same type of questions?
I bet you didn't because if you did you would have gotten exactly the same response as you got from Sony.

Personally, if Sony stopped their support of the Reader tomorrow, it wouldn't bother me one whit, since I so far haven't purchased any content from them. Fictionwise has been my source for E-Books for years, and I expect they will continue to produce Sony format books for multiformat books even after Sony drops it. I also tend to pick up a lot of free books from various sources.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens when Adobe gets into the market and what kind of support they get. If they do things right, they could very well create a standard themselves, and maybe make some of these formats obsolete. It could be a boon for Sony owners, especially since they seem to be working with Adobe.

Jason

Have you emailed amazon before they actually announced and started to sell Kindle with the same type of questions?
I bet you didn't because if you did you would have gotten exactly the same response as you got from Sony.

The great thing was that I didn't HAVE to. Because Amazon made sure that all the info you needed was out there. You didn't have to email them or go digging around for info because they made sure that their info was out there. And in mainstream areas, not just techie places that the average person might not know about or visit.

But I can say that every time I have ever emailed Amazon about anything, they have answered me, so I'd say that if I'd needed to email about the Kindle, I'd have gotten some kind of an answer even if only a "don't know at the moment"--not dead silence.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens when Adobe gets into the market and what kind of support they get. If they do things right, they could very well create a standard themselves, and maybe make some of these formats obsolete. It could be a boon for Sony owners, especially since they seem to be working with Adobe.

Jason

Adobe are already heavily into the eBook market. I wouldn't called PDF a "boon" for anyone. It's pretty much the worst possible eBook format.

The great thing was that I didn't HAVE to. Because Amazon made sure that all the info you needed was out there. You didn't have to email them or go digging around for info because they made sure that their info was out there.

No. It was not out there. It appeared only when they actually started to sell the gadget. The same is applicable to Sony. From the moment they announced the reader and started to sell it all the info was out there.

Don't tell me I am going to have my Sony Mini Disc experience all over again...:eek:

I guess that is why I try to avoid DRM'd content from Sony, for books or music.
Why is it most of you seem to FORGET that Amazon has caused a BAD EXPERIENCE with eBooks in the past. They screwed over untold number of people when they dropped eBooks from their sales and no longer allowed redownloading of purchased content. Sony has no bad reputation for eBooks. But Amazon SURE DOES!

Why is it most of you seem to FORGET that Amazon has caused a BAD EXPERIENCE with eBooks in the past. They screwed over untold number of people when they dropped eBooks from their sales and no longer allowed redownloading of purchased content. Sony has no bad reputation for eBooks. But Amazon SURE DOES!

Valid point. Even given that, I do trust Amazon more than Sony and have had better dealings with them through the years.

The real lesson for me is only to buy DRM'd books in formats that allow its removal.

Why is it most of you seem to FORGET that Amazon has caused a BAD EXPERIENCE with eBooks in the past. They screwed over untold number of people when they dropped eBooks from their sales and no longer allowed redownloading of purchased content. Sony has no bad reputation for eBooks. But Amazon SURE DOES!

Just to be Devil's Advocate for a sec. Yes, Amazon had a bad experience with ebooks in the past. So maybe they have re-entered the market because they are sure it will work this time. I'm thinking Amazon remembers their bad experience much more clearly than we do, since they probably lost money on the deal.

Seems like they they might have figured out a way to do it right this time. :chinscratch:

Why is it most of you seem to FORGET that Amazon has caused a BAD EXPERIENCE with eBooks in the past. They screwed over untold number of people when they dropped eBooks from their sales and no longer allowed redownloading of purchased content. Sony has no bad reputation for eBooks. But Amazon SURE DOES!

I haven't forgotten which is why I didn't buy anything with the idea I'd keep it permanently. Of course if I can remove the DRM then I'm happier to spend even more money on books because then it's up to me how long I keep them.

I actually got screwed myself.... that being said, this is a pretty different situation and I've DEFINITELY been screwed by Sony many times so... eh.

Adobe are already heavily into the eBook market. I wouldn't called PDF a "boon" for anyone. It's pretty much the worst possible eBook format.

If you call shoehorning a document publishing format into the eBook realm being "heavily into" the market. Fact is, PDF has always been a poor fit for eBooks, and everyone knows it.

When they make a real effort there, it could be big.

Jason