Quote:
Originally Posted by banjobama
I should restate that to say, if they sold ebooks with Adobe DRM, which many different devices can read, or no DRM at all. No doubt they would have sold many more ebooks.
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Sorry.
I had no great gripes with the frst statement but the second...
For Amazon to sell books with Adobe DRM they would have to *pay* Adobe for the "privilege" of supporting their competing ecosystem. DRM'ed ePub is a non-starter for Amazon just because their whole business is about squeezing unnecessary costs and paying Adobe for a "service" they can already perform in-house isn't in the cards.
Second, with the price-fix regime in place, Amazon is "forbidden" from competing on price on those ebooks so they have would have no competitive advantage on those reader devices. They'd have the same books at the same prices. It would be a "me-too" move.
But they *would* have to convert their whole catalog to ePub. Odds are the incremental sales might offset the cost but the "helping the enemy" aspect would likely outweigh any benefits. In business you don't go out of your way to help your enemy.
Now, supporting DRM-free ePub is a different story; that would cost them nothing (competion-wise) and might possibly be spun into a (minor) competitive advantage if they wanted to be nasty and highlight the emerging fork in ePub implementations between Adobe ePub and Apple ePub. But again, even there the (minimal) costs probably out-weigh the benefits.
The thing about Kindle is that its value as a reader comes from the bookstore, the wireless, the socal network effects; not its hardware or software features. Supporting other ebook formats buys them very little but would muddy the waters for their mainstream customers who *don't* care about ebook formats or DRM or standards; those folks just want to buy and read.
Amazon just wants them to buy.
(Which is why they don't support library-friendly Mobi-DRM though they own it.)
Kindle is a storefront, first and foremost.
It's a friendly, convenient store and they provide good service and good value. But Amazon is in this business to make money, not support standards efforts or to give aid and comfort to their enemies.
Everything they do is geared towards selling books as efficiently as possible.
And right now, adding commercial ePub support to Kindle would not justify (in their eyes) the added cost.
Now, last year, before the Price-fix scheme, ePub support would have had value as a way to undercut B&N and Borders and the rest of the Adobe gang. Strangle them in their cribs. Wouldn't have been good for consumers, might've attracted government action, but it would have led to much stronger ebook sales over time. But Amazon chose not to. They're not quite *that* evil.