MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What do you think the Amazon Kindle means for the Sony Readers?

jay.greenwald · 11-19-2007, 01:19 PM

I just received my Sony PRS-505 36 days ago as a gift. Though the Sony hardware is clearly more elegant and nice to the touch, the Kindle having newspapers and magazines with regular updates is the killer app for me. Books at $9.99 instead of $26 for Sony (look at the new Patricia Cornwell novel) is nice, too.

If I could return my Sony (6 days late for this), I would do this in 1 second, but now being stuck with a $450 investment in the Sony, I'm wondering when Sony will get off it's butt and get magazine and newspapers. Though having the instant "buy" option with Wi-Fi is nice, I'll take daily updates for my magazines and newspapers using my computer and downloading to my Sony.

2 questions:
1. anyone know how we communicate with someone important at Sony to ask them to get magazines / newspaper subscriptions on the Sony? Obviously the publishers will do it, as they've done with Amazon.
2. Considering how unlikely a request for new features will be to Sony, anyone out there want to buy a mint PRS-505 with a black leather cover and AC adapter for a good price, so I can buy a clunky Kindle and get my newspapers? I'm serious if anyone wants to buy my Sony stuff. They can have all my digital books, too.

My opinion is that the model that has the best end-to-end user experience for the content and the "player" will win. Even if the hardware is not quite as nice, the Kindle seems far ahead. It seems to be Sony had the chance to be the Apple of the eBook industry with its elegant hardware, but blew it as Amazon jumps way ahead with inferior hardware. How could you do this to us, Sony?

11-19-2007, 01:19 PM	#27
jay.greenwald Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505	Kindle vs. PRS-505 I just received my Sony PRS-505 36 days ago as a gift. Though the Sony hardware is clearly more elegant and nice to the touch, the Kindle having newspapers and magazines with regular updates is the killer app for me. Books at $9.99 instead of $26 for Sony (look at the new Patricia Cornwell novel) is nice, too. If I could return my Sony (6 days late for this), I would do this in 1 second, but now being stuck with a $450 investment in the Sony, I'm wondering when Sony will get off it's butt and get magazine and newspapers. Though having the instant "buy" option with Wi-Fi is nice, I'll take daily updates for my magazines and newspapers using my computer and downloading to my Sony. 2 questions: 1. anyone know how we communicate with someone important at Sony to ask them to get magazines / newspaper subscriptions on the Sony? Obviously the publishers will do it, as they've done with Amazon. 2. Considering how unlikely a request for new features will be to Sony, anyone out there want to buy a mint PRS-505 with a black leather cover and AC adapter for a good price, so I can buy a clunky Kindle and get my newspapers? I'm serious if anyone wants to buy my Sony stuff. They can have all my digital books, too. My opinion is that the model that has the best end-to-end user experience for the content and the "player" will win. Even if the hardware is not quite as nice, the Kindle seems far ahead. It seems to be Sony had the chance to be the Apple of the eBook industry with its elegant hardware, but blew it as Amazon jumps way ahead with inferior hardware. How could you do this to us, Sony?