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fjtorres · 08-01-2010, 02:58 PM

I'm not sure that's a given.

The environment *is* challenging for competitors but there is room for alternative readers built around something other than ebook storefronts. Competitors do need to understand that if the want to compete they *have* to compete; they have to establish retail presence, let consumers know what their value proposition is, and make sure they offer more than just a minimalist reading experience.
In the new regime it's not enough to announce a reader, put up a website, and sit back to wait and see if anybody nibbles. Online-only "Fly-fishing" marketing won't do when there's trawlers out there. And it would help if (some) vendors remembered that there is such a thing as post-sale support.

Not going to be easy but, if quoted numbers can be believed, there's still 30-million customers up for grabs in the US alone. There should be room for something besides the connected-storefront readers.
We can hope.

08-01-2010, 02:58 PM	#3
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	I'm not sure that's a given. The environment is challenging for competitors but there is room for alternative readers built around something other than ebook storefronts. Competitors do need to understand that if the want to compete they have to compete; they have to establish retail presence, let consumers know what their value proposition is, and make sure they offer more than just a minimalist reading experience. In the new regime it's not enough to announce a reader, put up a website, and sit back to wait and see if anybody nibbles. Online-only "Fly-fishing" marketing won't do when there's trawlers out there. And it would help if (some) vendors remembered that there is such a thing as post-sale support. Not going to be easy but, if quoted numbers can be believed, there's still 30-million customers up for grabs in the US alone. There should be room for something besides the connected-storefront readers. We can hope.