Kindle vs Sony Reader

[Cookie Monster]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Amazon seems to be in bed with some publishers which is not a good thing for eBooks in general. It then means you are forced to get a Kindle if you want one of Amazon's exclusive eBooks. This to me strikes of bad business for eBooks. Amazon needs to learn that not everyone has or wants a Kindle and if they cannot get content because it's locked away by Amazon, then eBook sales won't increase. We have enough issues with the tower of eBable that it is not fair for any company to may exclusive deals for any content.

Don't forget the US only crap you get with Kindle.

There is a world outside America and their wages are similar or, shock horror, a lot higher than the USA.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Cookie Monster

Don't forget the US only crap you get with Kindle.

There is a world outside America and their wages are similar or, shock horror, a lot higher than the USA.

Now come on. Sony, until recently was U.S. only as well. It has taken them 2 years to go international from what I understand.

[Cookie Monster]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Now come on. Sony, until recently was U.S. only as well. It has taken them 2 years to go international from what I understand.

True, but Sony haven't signed up authors to exclusive contracts like Amazon

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Cookie Monster

True, but Sony haven't signed up authors to exclusive contracts like Amazon

For all we know, they may be trying. And the one exclusive everyone was upset about is for a limited amount of time.

[Lord KiRon]

Aren't you forgetting main difference - you can put DRM free files on Sony but not on Kindle !

[igorsk]

Actually Kindle reads DRM-free Mobi files just fine. And TXT.

[kezza]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Now come on. Sony, until recently was U.S. only as well. It has taken them 2 years to go international from what I understand.

Actually, the Sony Reader became international as soon as it was released in the US. Before that it was the Librie in Japan, in a slightly different form.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

To a great extent I agree with that, and quite honestly I think that Amazon is ill served by it. On the other hand, I would not be surprised to see Amazon start to provide content on other platforms at some point over the next couple of years. Amazon is in the content business, not the hardware business. They should sale on as many platforms as possible so they can sale as many books as possible. They have the capability of being the iTunes of the eBook industry simply by doing what they do best, making it easy to buy books and pushing the customer in the direction of books they might like but not know about. In the end, I suspect this is what will happen as publishers start to drop DRM. We shall see.

Amazon did sell eBooks before the Kindle. They sold PDF, eReader, Mobipocket, & MS Reader. They only allowed redownloads for a year. Also, when they stopped selling eBooks, even if your year was not up, you could not redownload if needed. It didn't go over well.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Cookie Monster

Don't forget the US only crap you get with Kindle.

There is a world outside America and their wages are similar or, shock horror, a lot higher than the USA.

Please, watch the language.

Maybe Amazon was using the US to see who well the Kindle would do before bothering to try it outside the USA. We just don't know Amazon's reasoning.

It's taken Sony almost a year to get the 505 outside the USA. So if you are going to yell at Amazon for not having th Kindle outside the USA, you can also yell at Sony.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by kezza

Actually, the Sony Reader became international as soon as it was released in the US. Before that it was the Librie in Japan, in a slightly different form.

That makes perfect sense. I do recall seeing a picture of a Libire.

Can you share what the time line was for Sony's release in the U.S.? Was is simultaneous or was there a delay? I'm trying to show that even Sony didn't try to hit everyone at once. They took their time until they were ready before they began the current program of opening up to more countries (maybe they had to wait for the ebook market to mature). I don't understand why folks are upset if Amazon has to wait until they are ready (maybe they should be glad the U.S. is the guinea pig so they'll have a much better Kindle when it comes to their respective countries).


Edit: I think I found my answer in the wiki.

Libire - 2003 (officially only sold in Japan)
PRS-500 - September 2006 (English version, so I would guess this is when it went international by officially selling in the U.S.)
PRS-505 - October 2007 but as of September 2007 becoming officially available in more countries

So 5 years from the introduction of the first Sony reader to it's official availability in Europe.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Lord KiRon

Aren't you forgetting main difference - you can put DRM free files on Sony but not on Kindle !

You are NOT correct sir. I have alot of nonDRMed ebooks on my Kindle. As a matter of fact I've only read 1 DRMed Kindle ebook, the only eBook I've bought from Amazon thus far. Actually, I have only bought two ebooks with DRM on them, one from Fictionwise and one from Amazon. Yet, I have read over half a dozen ebooks on my kindle.

BOb

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lord KiRon

Aren't you forgetting main difference - you can put DRM free files on Sony but not on Kindle !

I beg your pardon, but that is completely untrue. The Kindle will read any DRM-free MobiPocket file.

[JayCeeEll]

I wonder if the reason for the slow international releases is due to a lack of screens, from a business perspective it would seem a huge waste to attempt to create a market that you are unable to supply.

I know some people think Amazon intentionally sold out of Kindles on first release, but if they didn't and just underestimated the initial size of the market, this would add weight to my argument.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by dordale

GatorDeb--

Just a clarification--the prc (Mobipocket) books that libraries have are DRM'ed and I don't believe they will work on the Kindle--unless the DRM has been removed. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.)

dordale

Igorsk has made a program that will convert the DRM format on the book to a form that Kindle will accept. This does not remove the DRM but allows Kindle to read library books. You simply register your Kindle as if it were a mobipocket device and then make a minor change to the document. The wiki entry on Library Books has the details on this modification.

Again: The DRM is not removed, Jon

Dale

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JayCeeEll

I know some people think Amazon intentionally sold out of Kindles on first release, but if they didn't and just underestimated the initial size of the market, this would add weight to my argument.

At the end of last year and early this year, every eInk book reader was in short supply, so either:

1. There was a global conspiracy to deceive customers.

or:

2. The screen manufacturer, PVI in Taiwan, which they all use, couldn't cope with demand.

I leave it to the reader to determine which is more likely, with the additional note that:

3. Since PVI massively increased their manufacturing capacity, the shortages have stopped.

Spooky!