Why the Kindle is the best ereader and will win....

[markbot]

1) Amazon.com is the best book seller and online retailer. They have the lowest prices and best selection. I am confident that Amazon.com will continue to be in existence longer than any other retailer (especially book retailer) currently in operation. I do not believe Barnes and Noble will continue as a going concern for more than 10 more years. As ebooks pick up in volume, Barnes and Nobles' bricks and mortar stores will become obsolete. Look at Blockbuster as an example. The writing is on the wall.

The most important aspect of an ereader is the ebook store.

Google books in its current form is useless for ereaders. There are far too many mistakes in the character recognition.

Sony sucks. It is not committed to this business in the way Amazon is.

2) Amazon's customer service is the best there is. I consider the entire customer experience and relationship when buying an ereader...not just the function of the device.

3) I believe in Jeff Bezos. He is a great CEO and the Kindle is his pet project. No one can foretell the future, but great execution in the present is a good indicator of execution in the future.

4) While the hardware is not the best, the Kindle device will have the lowest cost in the future. I say this because of the superior economies of scale that the Kindle has over rivals. It is by far the most popular reader. The lower per unit hardware costs should translate into lower prices and/or better features.


Room for improvement
1) Hardware design lags Sony in several respects
2) Amazon's ebook pricing is getting less competitive, especially on older books.
3) I'm not entirely sure about the margin structure...but I would think that at some time in the future the Kindle needs to be in physical retail locations. They don't want to end up like Dell. Early adopters are more comfortable with buying over the net.....more mainstream buyers prefer to touch and feel. As prices decline, you want casual consumers to make impulse buys while at the store.

[phenomshel]

But there is no such thing as the "best" for everyone. Everyone has different personal preferences. No one device will be the perfect device for all people.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by markbot

1) Sony sucks. It is not committed to this business in the way Amazon is.

That's a pretty brazen statement. Several analysts think Amazon will drop out of the hardware end in the next 2-4 years. So since you have made the claim, what data do you have to back it up? If it is just a wild claim, then it is as vaild as saying that within 2 years Amazon will go bankrupt and B&N will buy Amazon's assets for 1 cent on the dollar from the bankruptcy court.

Originally Posted by markbot

2) Amazon's customer service is the best there is. I consider the entire customer experience and relationship when buying an ereader...not just the function of the device.

Then why aren't you buying from B&N? I find there customer service much better than Amazon's; in fact, my personal experience with Amazon's customer service was so bad years ago that I stopped buying from Amazon altogether. So what data do you have that Amazon's cs is the best there is? It may well be, but I really hate such broad unsupported claims touted as fact. Reminds me of too many politicians.

Originally Posted by markbot

3) I believe in Jeff Bezos. He is a great CEO and the Kindle is his pet project. No one can foretell the future, but great execution in the present is a good indicator of execution in the future.

Here you got me. Although I find it hard to say that Bezos is a good CEO, everyone is entitled to their opinion and even to have the wool pulled over their eyes. It would be helpful if you would list the criteria against which you measure Bezos' performance so we know the basis for the judgment.

Originally Posted by markbot

4) While the hardware is not the best, the Kindle device will have the lowest cost in the future. I say this because of the superior economies of scale that the Kindle has over rivals. It is by far the most popular reader. The lower per unit hardware costs should translate into lower prices and/or better features.

Lots of wild guesses here. If economy of scale is the driver, Sony should win hands down. Considering that no one knows how many Kindles or any other devices have been sold, it seems pretty difficult to conclude that Kindle is the number 1 seller worldwide or that Bezos will lower prices even if Amazon does get economy of scale. What data do you have that backs up your pronouncements?

Originally Posted by markbot

Room for improvement
1) Hardware design lags Sony in several respects
2) Amazon's ebook pricing is getting less competitive, especially on older books.
3) I'm not entirely sure about the margin structure...but I would think that at some time in the future the Kindle needs to be in physical retail locations. They don't want to end up like Dell. Early adopters are more comfortable with buying over the net.....more mainstream buyers prefer to touch and feel. As prices decline, you want casual consumers to make impulse buys while at the store.

Seems to me that many of these points negate your earlier pronouncements. Are you, perchance, a politician?

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

But there is no such thing as the "best" for everyone. Everyone has different personal preferences. No one device will be the perfect device for all people.

I totally, totally agree.

[Superlucky]

Amazon screws its customers with its proprietary format. With the Sony store and B&N both going to epub, I can't see Amazon keeping its lead. I don't like the idea of not being able to shop around for books.

[Sporadic]

rhadin is a no name calling. is it really so difficult to understand?

[Ervserver]

seems like someone starts this very same subject/post once every couple a weeks. It's all nonsense

[kennyc]

Why are we rehashing this. We just went through an entire thread of this nonsense.

Maybe we've got some plants....

[Slow_hand]

It's sounds like, unfortunately the Kindle is developing fan-boys just like the unpleasant fan-boys with other interests. One has to filter out fan-boy commentary to get at facts rather than opinion.

[Lilly]

I have both a Kindle 2 and Sony PRS-505 and think both have something to offer. I hope both succeed because as consumers, the more competition the better for us. We know that Amazon is working to outdo B&N and Sony and vice versa, so we will all reap the rewards. So battle on Amazon, Sony, B&N, and all the others!

[Propheous]

I think Amazon is trying to be the Apple of the E-book world, but I feel that they lack the longevity that Apple does through both their aesthetics and marketing. It took along time for people to wake up to the open format for music, but that revolution is just reaching its victory march and other industries are going to fall much quicker because of the ground that has all ready been paved.

While I absolutely love amazon, I have never felt anything less then dirty when I think of buying a kindle. This comes from the restrictions and big bother nature of amazons hold of their device. Amazon will all ways control a sizable share of the market, but I think that other people in this thread are right in that Amazon will eventually open their doors and it wouldn't surprise me to see the kindle become one of the pack when it comes to e-readers.

[WookieReader]

I went to my local electronics store, Best Buy, this afternoon. They had the PRS-300 and the PRS-600 or better known as the 'Touch'. I had previously owned a Sony 505 and have also the new Kindle-DX.

FWIW, the Sony 300 was not any faster than the 505 and both seemed easier to read than the 600. The 'glare' is not that big a deal, but I would prefer a more 'non-glare' screen. I was coming up on my 30 days with Amazon on the Kindle-DX, but think I am going to keep it and pass on the Sonys. (Further the books are 20-25% cheaper.....for now). The 600 is very fast, with buttons or finger, (actually wicked fast), but with the latest upgrade on the Kindle-DX and the improved PDF flow w/ font adjustment and wireless, it is just a good package. Yes it costs more, but it will be just $89 more than the new 900 coming out and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about the 'touch screen' and 'glare' since the 900 will have both.

Many will be very happy with the speed of the 600 and I assume the 900 will be fast as well. 'Glare' will bother some and not others, but I just did not want to fool with it. I guess, after more thought, I have never before had to think about 'glare' since everything else, (Iliad, Sony 505, and Kindle-DX), is all matte surfaces. The more I tried the 900, the more I thought about it and did not want to be preoccupied with the angle of the reader. Having said that, the speed of the Sony 600 smokes everything else I've seen. Other than speed, the Kindle-DX firmware upgrade really sold me that they are committed to improving, not just selling.

[Sheikspeare]

markbot, with respect I think you've given the notion of 'brand loyalty' a whole new dimension and meaning!

Yes, the Kindle has been a fantastic project, but customer support has been frankly abysmal! As for Sony, I happen to believe the PRS-505 is perhaps one of the best ereaders around. A larger screen version of it would in my view leave the competition way behind.

[markbot]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

But there is no such thing as the "best" for everyone. Everyone has different personal preferences. No one device will be the perfect device for all people.

in best, i am using the term to denote the best on average

[markbot]

i made this post to counteract the anti-amazon kindle forces on this forum. their negativity seeps into the headers. I think it is beneficial to have some pro-amazon headers...to sway the easily influenced emotionally oriented people.