Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Strnad
Amazon needs to get over its obsession with exclusivity. They've created "Kindle for PC" for every conceivable device except the thing you most want to read on...your non-Kindle reader.
|
Actually ages ago Bezos said he'd allow Kindle on other ereaders, as long as they were willing to hook into Whispernet.
Maybe he was sincere, maybe not; even if he was, a company like B&N would strangle their entire Nook department before allowing Amazon to run Whispernet on their devices. And regardless of DRM issues, Kindle without Whispernet is hamstrung.
Of course, all it will take is for someone to make, say, an Android-based e-ink or e-paper device with 3g, and voila, you're all set. It may happen, it may not, but it is quite conceivable.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by J. Strnad
If every reading device on the market could display Amazon books, they would sell more books.
|
If the Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android devices and Windows-enabled devices (including future tablets) wind up making, say, 75% of the market then they're pretty well covered.
I might add that as restricted as you view this situation, it's 100 times better than Apple's iTunes music for the first few years, where content purchased from the iTunes store
only worked on iPods and iTunes -- which didn't even run on Windows at first. A situation, I might add, which Apple is replicating with iBooks.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by J. Strnad
If the Kindle could read ePub files, they'd sell more Kindles. What does Amazon want to sell, Kindles or books?
|
Both, their strategy is to sell and profit off of the ebooks, Kindle devices and paper books.
They also want control over the experience. Spend a little time with an Android phone, and you'll see some of the issues inherent in a completely open system.....
Oh, by the way, for all two or three of you who are eschewing Amazon and the Big 5 et al, supposedly ebooks have leaped from ~3% of the market to closer to 8% this year. Stick to your guns if you prefer, but I'm guessing most people do not share your concerns.