Quote:
Originally Posted by kezza
Sort of. The iPod didn't really take off until they opened the iTunes store. Before that it was very much a niche product. It's also worth noting that while the hype around the iTunes store helped propel sales of the Gen3 iPod, the selection was pretty crappy for the first 6 months or so. If Amazon or Sony can prove the desirability of their stores to consumers, hopefully the publishers will follow and generate the positive feedback loop that made the iPod so popular.
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The statistics are clear. On an average iPod the digital bought content is about 5% the rest is ripped from cd's or other sources. Personally I think that at 400$ price tag there is no way Amazon will sell more than the Sony ball park of 100k a year (maybe 5 times but not more) unless there will be a lot of free or very cheap current content. Maybe newspapers will do the trick, though people are reading them on laptops, and while free wi-fi is spotty now, who knows what will be in 2-3 years.
Anyway, Kindle is great news since it pushes e-books to the forefront, and even if does not sell milions, a respectable mid hundred k's a year will keep it in business for a while.