Quote:
Originally Posted by neilmarr
After over 200 joining in the poll so far, it's interesting to see Kindle just traling Sony. Taking into account the international Kindle hype and the high number of new Kindlers at MR this year when weighed against those threads suggesting Sony has had its day, this surprises me.
When we consider that the poll covers only purchases in 2010 when Kindle has gained such a high profile and Sony some pretty bad press (and is often ignored in major newspaper and TV pieces about ebooks), it gets curiouser and curiouser.
And, of course, when Kindle is counted against ALL other devices in this relatively small sampling, it's way behind, when the impression is so often given that it's king of the marketplace. I wonder if this might have anything to do with its exclusive use of the Mobi format while the standard elsewhere is fast becoming ePub.
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It is because this poll has zero value in determining which eBook readers have been selling in what quantities. The readers of MobileRead forums do not in any way represent the public at large. By definition they are the ones interested in the details of readers and formats, not just those who want to buy a device and read books.
The Kindle is targeted squarely at 'normal' people. It is designed from the ground up to be a simple to use, integrated system. I'd venture that most of the purchasers of a Kindle have no idea what eBook format it uses, or what the other formats are. They know that it comes from Amazon and buys books from Amazon, why should they care about more details than that? Why would most of them ever need to come to a forum to ask questions?
If you went to a car enthusiast forum and posted a question about which makes of cars they had bought, do you think the results would match the actual proportions of cars sold to the general public?
By this poll, of the 4 named readers, the Kindle has less than 33% market share of sales this year. Does that show:
a) The Kindle has actually only sold that proportion, or
b) This poll does not reflect reality
The poll may give interesting information about the MobileRead membership, but cannot be taken to represent anything outside that.