Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilbo1967
It would appear that we have different requirements; with almost 400 books on my reader I am in no danger of running out of things to read. I just don't need the facility to add books on the fly. You obviously want that and, as it is available with some Sony competitors, it's not an unreasonable requirement.
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The battle is not about capacity. I am a Sony PRS-505 owner since last summer, but whenever someone notices my ebook reader and asks for a recommendation, I recommend they get a Kindle. Most people I know would appreciate the simplicity of pulling books down from Amazon via Whispernet over what I do connected to my PC using calibre. Convenience is what it's about.
The convenience factor for the Kindle is huge, and despite some folks saying they've found a better price for a book at places other than Amazon, whenever I read an interesting review of an book in the Sunday NY Times Book Review and then check prices, it's usually lower (at $9.99) on Amazon than elsewhere. So price of the media is a big factor too.
Since I don't have Whispernet (convenience) or access to Amazon pricing (value), when I do find something interesting in the NYTimes Book Review, I usually I just punch up a "hold" on a book at my local library and read the dead-tree version. My Sony reader just holds a motley collection of free, classic, or (heaven forfend!) a few DRM-stripped books.
If more libraries had Overdrive or other ePub lending facilities, then I'd gladly pay more for a non-Amazon reader and use it for library check-in/check-out. But that's not an economic model that makes publishers wealthy so adoption by libraries is moving at a snail's pace. There is no access to ebooks in my Austin, TX library system despite our high-tech reputation.
In summary - the market leader in sales of eBooks isn't just resting on its laurels; it's releasing the best product based on convenience, cost of the reader, cost of the media. Since it's also a product that has a more readable screen and faster page turns than their competitors, doesn't it seem obvious it's over for Sony?