Arstechnica: Whatever happened to the e-reader tsunami of 2010?

[kjk]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

This bit I quoted is actually one of my worries as a retailer. With the push to get devices below $300 then $200 and now $100 there is rush to produce the one that lowers the price and get some press out of it.

What has happened though is that it has produced a large number of, imho, inferior devices. Some people- early adopters on this forum for instance- try them out and say "oh well maybe the next one will be better". But many people try it, have a horrible experience and then think " wow these things suck, never buying another one" and will just skip the whole category.

If we see a $50 ereader this year that sells alot but has horrible hardware or firmware it could really hurt the smaller brands overall.

The race to the bottom rarely ends up well-especially when a market hasn't even matured enough to hold a race

[kjk]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

I think it's amazing how so many companies have worked so hard for so long to not build a good reader, including the big shots (might even say especially the big shots). Makes me wonder how crippled and disconnected their reader R&D departments are in the first place, without having resources diverted to copycat tablet development.

I don't know if companies, even the "big shots", have been confident in the viability/profitability of the eBook market to a)devote the necessary resources and b)take the necessary risks/investments on new technologies to make a good reader.

I read that Apple was placing orders for over a million iPads/month, and possibly 2 million iPhone 4s/month...that definitely makes a 326ppi IPS screen a worthwhile investment/gamble. But, that is for a general purpose device.

The question is, what investments/risks are other companies going to make in promising tech like PixelQ, or even color e-Ink, which has a more specific usage model?

[mdovell]

The problem with the flood argument to drive prices down is unlike the video game crash of '83 and to a degree the .com crash in 2000-2002 is that the general public is more aware of brands and features.

In other words....if someone releases a generic crap ebook reader they know it's the companies crap ebook reader and that it isn't indicative of ALL ebook readers.

What might bring some prices down is if some company(ies) decides to get some exclusive textbook rights...or exclusive author (fat chance with today's economy)..

[Fbone]

I think the $499 iPad will affect the next generation e-readers. Both in capabilities and price range. And we were missing the low end devices before the Kobo, Libre, JB lite came to market. Although I still think the Kobo should be priced at $99. Now consumers have a choice of options and prices.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

... What has happened though is that it has produced a large number of, imho, inferior devices....

Yep. It's happening both in the dedicated ereader market, and in the tablet market.

Everyone and their dog is bringing out a repackaged 6" eink screen, or a 7" crap LCD screen.

But they are all garbage.

With the iPad, Apple didn't invent the tablet, they just made the first good one. Similarly to what they did with the iPhone.

I've been waiting for something better to come along, but all I see is a flood of sub-8" garbage clones. Race to the bottom, which just ensures that in comparison, the iPad looks like the only one to have.

Very disappointing

[BVLarson]

What I don't get about the original quote is that a deadtree book weighs about the same as a kindle anyway... I can't see ditching your kindle for weight then buying a print book!

[BenLee]

Originally Posted by kjk

The race to the bottom rarely ends up well-especially when a market hasn't even matured enough to hold a race

Agreed. While the cheapest device possible appeals to consumers, it means struggling to pull a profit for those in business. In the end, that'll just hurt the market because we will not see additional company investments and further innovative products by these same companies. I'm all for paying a fair amount to support the companies that are giving us better and better devices.

[corona]

This is getting pretty free-form, so here goes: I think it's all about colour, and pictures. Until e-readers do this, the market will be limited.

It's also about reading; I have a really nice laptop, thank you very much, but I don't use it very much for reading text, because you've got to sit in front of it, or prop it up somehow, etc. I do curl up on the sofa with my e-reader. In some ways it's better than a book, by being easier to physically hold onto. Yes it's a slightly different experience but who cares. In contrast to an iPad or similar, the e-reader has a book's passivity and, praise God, mine is so dumb it can't connect to the internet. I would not do this with an iPad, period. (Anyone remember how in Calvin and Hobbes a television set would always be pictured as if it were jumping about and emitting terrible sparks? That's your iPad.)

Oh, the other thing is contrast. In spite of what's said, the background on eInk is grey, not white. Fix that, too, and you're way ahead. If it really, really looked like paper -- that would help for sure.

But as long as people want something really zingy, that glows and does bright colours, and connects you to the internet for streaming UFC when you're tired of trying to figure out Derrida, the eInk e-reader is going to have a limited market. Sad; I'm so sick of the iPad hype.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by Sonist

I've been waiting for something better to come along, but all I see is a flood of sub-8" garbage clones. Race to the bottom, which just ensures that in comparison, the iPad looks like the only one to have.

Uh-huh. There's a reason that the major companies are waiting for the Tegra 2. And ASUS have said they are putting a LOT of effort into the EeePad UI.

[SensualPoet]

Whatever happened to the e-reader tsunami of 2010?

It was a wash-out ...

[sabredog]

The release of the Kobo here in Australia has been very successful for Borders. It is difficult at this stage to be able to walk into a Borders or Angus and Robinson and buy one off the shelf.

Now it remains to be seen if Borders can follow through with a competitive ebook pricing and availability regime to support and fuel the huge popularity of the Kobo ereader.

[fishface]

Because it's a new technology, I think vendors tend to overpromise and underdeliver, in the hope that customers will think stuff like, "oh I'll hold off on getting the Kindle DX since the QUE looks so nice." I think this is a PR mistake, it's causing a serious backlash in terms of widespread customer cynicism about the feasibility of the entire class of non conventional readers (anything more than 8" or with more than basic capabilities, e.g. annotation support or color).

[SensualPoet]

I do find it striking that eight months ago the press was writing Kindle's epitaph in the face of an expected crippling onslaught from the Nook. A similar frenzy took place reporting the inevitable death of Kindle after the release of the iPad. No doubt we will hear later this summer or early fall how the Kindle will close its doors due to the latest expected Android tablet.

I'm not convinced the sustainable market for a CE device like an e-reader is with CE manufacturers -- this is the missing piece. Apple is not so foolish to position the $800 iPad as an "e-reader"; it's a multimedia playback device that allows you to take content anywhere -- and, in particular, video content. It also happens to be an e-reader and to the extent that Apple can leverage its iTunes infrastructure so much the better for shareholders.

Until Amazon entered the market with a dedicated device tied to a robust supply of content, e-readers were going nowhere. We tend to forget that Sony was first to market and with devices which have advanced features and the cachet of the Sony brand. Yet it took Amazon's presence to legitimize the category.

Over-promise and under-deliver is, of course, the theme of the industry roll-out to date. Kobo is only the second device to emerge that seems to have re-thought how to get and hold a significant longer term share: strip down to the basics, including the price to the consumer; tie the device to a credible source of content; and ensure distribution to a wide audience (Chapters, Borders, Whitecoulls, Wal-mart, online). Barnes and Noble's Nook, in contrast, is only available in the US six months after launch and its e-books cannot be sold outside of that market either, losing opportunities to feed non-Nook devices.

In the meantime, while iPad frenzy has taken the wind out of the sales of the e-reader wannabes -- before and after launch -- Amazon has not sat back waiting to have a stake driven through its Kindle. It has aggressively expanded into non-US markets; broadened distribution of the hardware into bricks and mortar stores (think of that: a remarkable move for Bezos whose empire is built on online only); built out support for non-English texts; broadened and sweetened its indie deals; increased the capabilities of Kindles already in customers' hands (like turning on web access outside of the US); embracing social networking and leveraging the Amazon bookstore community by enabling some interaction from device to store in shared comments and highlights; and apparently preparing for a Kindle 3.

Just as remarkable in this same time period is the utter lack of response from Sony -- no new models, no new partnerships, complete quiet during the "Agency Model" fiasco, and no hints of anything head turning on the horizon.

It does make one wonder what the e-reader landscape will look like after the dust settles following December 2010 holiday sales.

[DawnFalcon]

Sony are a hardware company, and eReaders are one tiny part of their business - and not an especially profitable one. They're also quite aware that the agency cartel means that profits in the eBook sector have plummeted, and will stay low for a few years. Amazon has overextended itself nastily, and will be paying the price this year.

In a few years, IF publishers have released their death grip (and the suggestion is that they're going to go for more control, not less) and the eBook market has recovered? That's the time to put out a new design, not now.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Format C:

Kindle: it lets you comfortably read books.
iPad: it lets you (not so) comfortably read books and watch hi-res porn videoclips.

And the winner is................

No, that is not true. The iPad is fine for using to read eBooks with. If that's your opinion and not fact, please make it clear.