Quote:
Originally Posted by hidari
I would disagree. For me and others the huge range of formats, adaptability, and DRM free reading trump Amazon by a long shot. Fine, The mainstream can enjoy being part of the Kindle Empire, but I will happily buy products from smaller companies willing to market decent 5 inch, 6 inch and larger devices. That is what the market is all about; choice.
Most people own an ipod. I would not touch that mp3 player with a claw of a dead crow. I prefer my Cowon i7 that can drag and drop WITHOUT a software program and handles many formats.
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The problem is that this could be a pie-in-the-sky intellectual justification at odds with market reality. People want to justify their own desire for something by inferring that there MUST be enough other people who feel the same way to keep a product alive. But the reality is, it doesn't always work out that way. It will be great if Astak stays alive--I'd love that. But they aren't even in the position of lets say... RC Cola compared to Pepsi and Coke. They're in a position where the big players (Amazon and B&N at least) can actually take a LOSS to drive the prices down, because they have other revenue streams to support them. Where the competition can also get quantity discounts on parts far beyond their capability. Where the competition has infinitely better distribution and marketing.
Now coming back from those arguments that there's still GOT to be a niche to sell to people who favor open formats is certainly the truth. The question is whether or not that niche is big enough to keep a product line viable. Companies like Astak are in the unfortunate position that they have to lower their prices, thereby cutting their margins, thereby subsisting on very little per unit, and they have to hope that the number of people who seek them out instead of the big boys is large enough to give them an overall profit.