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Old 09-01-2010, 10:08 AM   #56
Solicitous
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Posts: 1,434
Karma: 1525776
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: TAS, Australia
Device: Astak Pocket Pro (Black), 2 x Kindle WiFi (Graphite), iPod Touch 4G
Quote:
Originally Posted by bill_mchale View Post
I know Sony said they weren't going to compete on price... but what exactly are they competing on? If you are going to charge a premium over the best selling devices (Kindle and Nook in the US I presume), then it better have something going for it... and I am afraid for Sony that I just don't see a touch screen being that thing (I think wireless and ebook store integration is a bigger deal for people who want something more than a basic reader).

Ironically, the pocket edition again might be the star of the ball. While still a big step up in price from where the PRS-300 is selling, it still leaves it the cheapest 5" ereader with an e-Ink screen (I assume that this all means that the PRS-300 is being discontinued).

A few other questions.

1. Will they all have fixed epub formatting?
2. Will they still support LRF?

Final thought, Sony might think it is too early in the game for low pricing, but I disagree, Amazon and B&N both are competing on price. I think Sony's biggest problem is that they are essentially operating as a hardware company, not a media company.

--
Bill
I kind of agree with you, Sony appear (to me) to be a company to sell a product and fairly quickly drop any software support for it. The PS3 is an exception, but if you look at the PRS-300/600 I have yet to see a firmware update for, despite the number of issues/problems people would liked to get fixed. You're right, if Sony isn't competing on price what are they competing on? For $179US for the 5" they'd want to provide some form of firmware updates for the life of the product. If they just release it, sell it and forget about it, given the current ereader market it could be a short venture by Sony.

If Sony is listening, if you don't want to compete on price, compete on service. Many many people will pay extra for good service....oh and don't forget Australia, we are ebook readers too. Expanding geographically might help them too (I know articles are suggesting they will, but there has been ALOT of talk but no action from companies in the ereader/ebook market, I shall believe when I see).
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