About the glut of devices on the ebook reader market

[HarryT]

Covers which just protect the screen are pretty common on other devices - the Pocketbook 360 has a "clip on" screen cover, for example, and they used to be common on Pocket PCs, too. I think they're a good idea.

[kennyc]

Looks like it's kinda like my Clie' cover which clips on the edge and covers the screen.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

One thing we should hope to see with so many devices is a wide variation of features that (at first) set one device apart from another. As popular features rise to the top, we should eventually see more capable readers taking advantage of these features, some handling them better than others, and eventually, most or all of them will be fairly feature-rich.

Unfortunately, the multi-format market (with multi-DRMs) won't help the process... it will only slow the progression to workable and fairly interchangeable devices.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by kjk

Their iPods own a majority share of the market.
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune....g-ipod-market/

An achievement produced by pretending that neither mp3 players that were part of cell phones, nor units in foreign places are part of the market.

Period.

Misleading at best and an intentional lie at worst.
You can prove anything you want if you can get away with removing all the data which disproves what you wish to infer.

I owned a long series of chip players begining in 1998, but I left music only devices for phones with MP3 capacity in 2005. And why would I not? they have a lithium Ion battery that was superior to many of my previous devices, fit into my pocket, and I had to cary a phone for business purposes anyway. Many others have done the same.

If you claim that phone in my pocket is not an MP3 player (as Apple does) what is your basis for doing so? Pardon me for being direct, but you don't get to put that out there as a given, and if you wish to use it in debate you will have to ba able to succesfully defend it (good luck with that)

Spend some time in Asia. Do they have music players? Africa? South America? How many of them are made by Apple?

Hype is hype. It is a term regarded with disdain justifiably.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by Phogg

An achievement produced by pretending that neither mp3 players that were part of cell phones, nor units in foreign places are part of the market.

Period.

Misleading at best and an intentional lie at worst.
You can prove anything you want if you can get away with removing all the data which disproves what you wish to infer.

I owned a long series of chip players begining in 1998, but I left music only devices for phones with MP3 capacity in 2005. And why would I not? they have a lithium Ion battery that was superior to many of my previous devices, fit into my pocket, and I had to cary a phone for business purposes anyway. Many others have done the same.

If you claim that phone in my pocket is not an MP3 player (as Apple does) what is your basis for doing so? Pardon me for being direct, but you don't get to put that out there as a given, and if you wish to use it in debate you will have to ba able to succesfully defend it (good luck with that)

Spend some time in Asia. Do they have music players? Africa? South America? How many of them are made by Apple?

Hype is hype. It is a term regarded with disdain justifiably.

Yes, hype is hype, on this we agree.
Would love to see your data that shows which company does have global MP3 market share, if not Apple.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by kjk

Yes, hype is hype, on this we agree.
Would love to see your data that shows which company does have global MP3 market share, if not Apple.

I am not a person who contends that the digital music player market is unfragmented enough to have a dominant force. No post I have ever made here or anywhere else would indicate that I think there is one.

It is a competative market, and lots of companies have a profitable share of the pie. No one company even attempts to be competative across the whole market, and really, that is good for the consumer.

I don't think anyone today makes "The best player" because there are different people with incompatible needs. I have no need or desire to participate in mindless corporate jingoism.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by Phogg

I don't think anyone today makes "The best player" because there are different people with incompatible needs. I have no need or desire to participate in mindless corporate jingoism.

Market share has nothing to do with which device is the "best," no one is even discussing that topic at all.

The iPod has around 70% market share in the US, and also holds over 70% of the legal digital music sales in the US. The iPod was even beating Sony in Japan for years, and only recently lost share in Japan mostly because so many Japanese are buying iPhones, which are counted as smartphones rather than digital audio players. I'd be surprised if anyone other than Sony comes close in terms of global market share for audio players.

By the way, Apple doesn't compile these types of figures; that's the job of companies like NPD Group or Gartner. There is no reason for those companies to manipulate the figures.

At any rate, it's quite clear the current situation with ebooks and ebook readers is highly analogous to digital music and portable music players, and well worth treating as a potential (though not perfect) blueprint for the ebook transitional period.

If you have evidence or figures to support your assertions, let's hear 'em.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by gr8npwrfl

Almost all the ebook readers function under some sort of embedded linux operating system. I think the first company that opens up their operating system so that programmers can build applications will be a big winner.

I will be first in line to buy my next reader that is an open platform. The article that was posted here about a new ebook reader that runs Android interests me immensely.

PocketBook and Onyx are both open to developers There have been application already written for them and on the PocketBook 360 features have been added by users (page turn using the accelerometer) not included in PocketBook's firmware. It will be included in an upcoming release.

[emonti8384]

Okay, I'll give this a go, as I usually don't get involved with the politics, er, whatever you call them of um, whatever we're talking about

Honestly, I can see the appeal of having certain things-online access, ability to rule the world with a 6'' device, reading, music, email, movies-but for those of us who just want to read all this (hand gestures, you know the word!!!)stuff does is complicate matters until...you decide to buy a Sony

It makes it very hard to find the device you're looking for when a lot of no-name brands come crawling out of the woodwork like greedy relatives trying for a loan from their rich twice removed uncle. It gets to the point where it's like okay, do I want to pay an extra $40-60 for a brand I know is going to perform well or go cheaper and take the risk that if the company's sold out or goes bust in 2 years I might still be able to access my purchases and tech support? It's getting harder, not easier, to choose a device that is going to perform the way you want it to for the money you're going to spend.

And don't even get me started on the format/DRM/proprietary war-there's not really much to start on my end but if there was this post would go on for forever! Fact of the matter is you can't please everyone, but that's better than not pleasing anyone.

But for me (and I'm not trying to force my opinion upon anyone, nor am I trying to say why what I think is the best way to go) I love love looooooove my Sony. It has everyhing I need and I think is perfect the way it is. I know, I know, people aren't happy with the glare, or the battery life, or the Sony store, or the blank blank blank but hey, everyone has their own niche, and for me that's my Sony.

Lo siento, do not skewer me like a shish kabob for liking my reader por favor! I have kids to feed!

Well, cats, but they're like kids

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Nate, it doesn't matter, it IS a feature.

Wireless does not by any stretch of the imagination imply full internet access. That's never been the case with ebook readers.

Just like the touch-screen is a feature. Doesn't matter that you can't do digital art with it.

Wireless is not a feature; it is a component like the case, buttons, battery, etc. Features are what you can do with the components. The only feature that you can use with the wireless is to access the store.

My cell phone has wireless, but I bought it because it has the feature of making calls. To look at it any other way is to deceive oneself with marketing hype.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Wireless is not a feature; it is a component like the case, buttons, battery, etc. Features are what you can do with the components. The only feature that you can use with the wireless is to access the store.

Are you suggesting that this is not a useful feature? That's also "all" you can use the wireless features of the Kindle for, outside the US (other than a text-only version of Wikipedia) - it doesn't stop it from being useful.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are you suggesting that this is not a useful feature? That's also "all" you can use the wireless features of the Kindle for, outside the US (other than a text-only version of Wikipedia) - it doesn't stop it from being useful.

I'm not commenting on the usefulness of the feature; I'm commenting on kennyc's insistence in referring to it in a confusing manner.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

By the way, Apple doesn't compile these types of figures; that's the job of companies like NPD Group or Gartner. There is no reason for those companies to manipulate the figures.

Who pays them to compile the figures? I'm not saying that they aren't independent, but just because they aren't Apple doesn't mean that they are either. (I consider Gartner one of the worst as far as providing results tailored to whoever pays them to gather the data.)

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I'm not commenting on the usefulness of the feature; I'm commenting on kennyc's insistence in referring to it in a confusing manner.

I'm sorry but you are wrong. Please look at any of the devices and their specs.

For example from the Sony 900 Features Page:

Download Books and Periodicals Wirelessly

Experience the freedom to wirelessly browse, purchase and download books and periodicals from the Reader™ Store with free 3G wireless access11. Measuring just 0.6" thin8 and weighing only 12.75 ounces, the Reader Daily Edition™ also features a 7" paper-like display and touch screen navigation. With six adjustable font levels you can be sure to read easy in either portrait or landscape format. Plus, the Reader supports multiple formats including ePub and PDF while giving you access to over one million free public domain titles from Google Books. The Daily Edition is the premier digital reader for The Wall Street Journal, allowing the added freedom of subscribing to exclusive content and daily updates.

please note the first item mentioned.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I'm not commenting on the usefulness of the feature; I'm commenting on kennyc's insistence in referring to it in a confusing manner.

The only confusion seems to be yours Nate.