08-16-2010, 12:12 AM | #16 | |
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08-16-2010, 12:16 AM | #17 |
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Only insignificant because they are new to the market. But they were causing a stir with their $149 reader, when everyone else was over $200... the others had to respond quickly before Kobo became a real player (I think they're already too late - there's a lot of Kobos out there now).
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08-16-2010, 02:31 AM | #18 |
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08-16-2010, 05:57 AM | #19 | |
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Will there be nowhere to purchase a dedicated reader in 5 years? I'm sure that you're right that the category will survive if only as a niche market. My point really was that the market to sell millions of Kindles is a time-limited one which will disappear once, for most, reading is not a function that merits a dedicated device. I think that Amazon are doing the right thing in marketing a reader at the same time as making their software available on other devices, so that this transition will be as painless for them (and their customers) as possible. For me, and I suspect most people, I like to read on the best (i.e. most comfortable for reading) screen that I have, and I suspect that this screen will be on a general-purpose device. The market for putting an expensive state-of-the-art screen on to a dedicated reader will be limited. Right now, there is a market because screen technology is such that the best reading screen is not the best web/video/gaming screen, but I can't see that situation lasting long. |
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08-16-2010, 06:19 AM | #20 | |
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their is more competition here for screen technology to processors etc so the prices will likely go down quicker compared to computers |
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08-16-2010, 06:02 PM | #21 |
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I'm guessing that as long as ePUB continues to be widely used, there will be a market for inexpensive readers for people who prefer to not be tied into a proprietary format and want the freedom to look for competitive prices. Whether there is a market for more fully featured non-proprietary ePub readers (with features like the Kindle) remains to be seen.
I have Kobo, which is 58% owned by Chapters-Indigo, a very big player in Canada. Last quarter they spun Kobo off (used to be Shortcovers) and took on other investors, internationally (Indigo, Borders, Australia's REDgroup Retail and China's Cheung Kong Holdings). Chapters-Indigo had to "go big or go home". They are not big enough internationally to be successful with a proprietary format and they sure did not want their Canadian customers deserting them for Amazon, which recently won a big court case allowing them to have their own warehousing in Canada (a first for a foreign owned book biz). I love my Kobo, but if it were to disappear, I'd be OK with another reader that supported ePUB files, using Adobe ADE and with the ability to sideload with software like Calibre. Will Kindle make this possible some day? Mebbe. Will Google books be a factor going forward? Mebbe. Let's not forget, we're at the beginning of this ride. PS: Interesting article from July 10 on Kobo: http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-50020720100709 Last edited by taming; 08-16-2010 at 06:19 PM. Reason: misc additions |
08-16-2010, 06:53 PM | #22 |
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I'm not sure what features people want, but Kindle is very limited in how it can render books and until they adopt EPUB they'll remain quite limited. MOBI is great for nothing but text, but any advanced formatting, especially involving verse, images, tables, etc., is completely out of the question.
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