Fox News: Kindle may not "dominate" digital book market for long

[jplumey]

From Fox News at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539781,00.html

First, I didn't realize that the Kindle "dominated" the ebook Market. Second, the article doesn't make any mention of the benefits of the electronic ink screen.

But I do agree that many more people are starting to use their phones for reading. The main reason for that, I think, is that people are able to get the content on the phones very easily. Contrast that to the comparatively more difficult process of getting books onto USB-based devices like the Sony Reader, and the exceedingly more difficult of walking into a store and buying a p-book.

[sircastor]

This article is really kind of misleading. It gives the impression that it's about eReader devices, but it's really about reading eBooks. I've begun to use my phone simply out of necessity. That said, the phone solution still suffers from all of the problems that the Reader is trying to avoid: Backlit screen, size, and in some cases, functionality. Phones (and other handhelds) are quickly becoming Do-everything devices, and the reality is that they don't (yet) do everything as well as we need/want them to.

My wife has asked me not to buy a reader simply because she wants to be able to get me something for Christmas. I can be a hard person to shop for sometimes, and I've been a bit eReader crazy over the past month or two.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by jplumey

From Fox News at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539781,00.html

First, I didn't realize that the Kindle "dominated" the ebook Market.

It does. I've been asked if my PRS-505 is a "red Kindle." Most people don't know any other kinds of dedicated ebook reader exist.

[GA Russell]

I think the existence of the article is great news.

Yesterday the Guardian published a column that said that eBooks in the US had reached their tipping point, and now today Fox News is talking about what people are doing (rather than what corporations are selling).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

It does. I've been asked if my PRS-505 is a "red Kindle." Most people don't know any other kinds of dedicated ebook reader exist.

In the UK Sony have a similar domination of the market. They are the only ones on open sale, the only ones that get public advertising, etc. Kindles are unknown to the public here.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

It does. I've been asked if my PRS-505 is a "red Kindle." Most people don't know any other kinds of dedicated ebook reader exist.

I get that all the time too. My usual response is, "No, it's an Astak EZ Reader." and then explain why I got it instead of a Kindle. But Elfwreck is right - a LOT of people in the US don't realize there's any other type of ebook reading device other than Kindle. Annoying, especially when the people who don't realize it are authors who self-publish to Kindle only.

I've been on a one-woman educational mission for authors via facebook and blogs - it *might* be working on a select few.

[Steve Jordan]

With all due consideration, Fox news is to actual news as a clown car is to a Cadillac. They don't report... they react. No noises that come out of their flapping gums, nor text from their flailing fingers, are worth seriously paying attention to.

[doreenjoy]

I think Kindle dominates in the US, but not everywhere (as others have pointed out).

I'm not sure how much of a threat the iPhone is to the dedicated E-reader market. A phone works well for casual reading, but not for "curl up with a long book" reading. Also, reading on a phone is impractical for most of us over 40 with fading eyesight, IMO.

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

With all due consideration, Fox news is to actual news as a clown car is to a Cadillac. They don't report... they react. No noises that come out of their flapping gums, nor text from their flailing fingers, are worth seriously paying attention to.

Not only that...most of what they "report" is cribbed from other sources. I suspect they read the same Guardian article we all read yesterday.

[slm]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I'm not sure how much of a threat the iPhone is to the dedicated E-reader market. A phone works well for casual reading, but not for "curl up with a long book" reading. Also, reading on a phone is impractical for most of us over 40 with fading eyesight, IMO.

Well, that matches my personal view, and what I actually do, but recent experience shows that there is a contrary view is that the phone is better. My wife has been spending most of the last two weeks reading a couple of new series I got her. She prefers that I copy ebooks to her phone (an old, old, old, Treo) rather than to one of (extra) e-ink readers.

(I'm of course deperate to convert her to a e-ink reader, so I can stop justifying the extra ones and just get another.)

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by sircastor

That said, the phone solution still suffers from all of the problems that the Reader is trying to avoid: Backlit screen,

Actually, when I get up in the morning and my eyes don't want to focus, they focus better on a backlit screen.

Most other times it doesn't matter either way for me.

[Madam Broshkina]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

With all due consideration, Fox news is to actual news as a clown car is to a Cadillac. They don't report... they react. No noises that come out of their flapping gums, nor text from their flailing fingers, are worth seriously paying attention to.

First of all when disparaging Fox News you are supposed to use the terms "Faux News" or "Fox Noise." I am surprised you did not get the memo. Secondly the article is from the Associated Press. Here is a link to the same article published by The Union.com. Please let us know if it is ok to get news from this site.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

With all due consideration, Fox news is to actual news as a clown car is to a Cadillac. They don't report... they react. No noises that come out of their flapping gums, nor text from their flailing fingers, are worth seriously paying attention to.

THANK YOU!! It's about freaking time a "real author" contributed SOMETHING here on MR....hehehehe.....

I truly needed the laugh and for someone to say exactly what I am thinking.

Please, please please....keep it up!!

[K-Thom]

I think Kindle dominates in the US, but not everywhere

Not quite correct: Kindle dominates in the US, but nowhere else. Because it isn't available anywhere else at the moment. And would it domniate other markets as well? I doubt this.

I'm not sure how much of a threat the iPhone is to the dedicated E-reader market. A phone works well for casual reading, but not for "curl up with a long book" reading.

Sales numbers for the iPhone & iPod Touch worldwide are much higher than for the Kindle in the US. True, the iPhone isn't a dedicated reading device, still a lot of people use it for reading.

And the "casual reading" is in my opinoin the real asset. Avid readers always will tend to buy a dedicated device (or stay with books). But for the number of people who read rather casually the iPhone is a more than fitting device.
Maybe we'll see the return of the short story (or at least shorter novels) on the iPhone for reading while commuting or waiting for an appointment, rather than these wooden bricks which paperbacks have become the last twenty years.

iPhone for causal readers, reading device for avid readers. Sounds like a nice combination to me. There's a place for Amazon in that, too. A place, not the place.

[hike_gc]

Kindle has brand recognition because they advertise like crazy. Just look at this site. Most of the ads I see are for the Kindle and sometime the Bebook. That's actually the reason I have not purchased a Kindle. I figured something better had to be out there without buying into their media frenzy. This site has been a great help in learning what other devices are available. But the general public that doesn't want to spend time researching e-reader devices? If they live in the US, they will probably buy a Kindle.

[volwrath]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

With all due consideration, Fox news is to actual news as a clown car is to a Cadillac. They don't report... they react. No noises that come out of their flapping gums, nor text from their flailing fingers, are worth seriously paying attention to.

Much like all the other newschannels, including the ones that Obama runs like MSNBC and ABC