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Kingston · 01-05-2008, 05:52 AM

Sony is a huge electronics company and produces hundreds if not thousands of electronic devices. They have a history of entering a new market and then pulling out or downsizing a division so that there is minimal support once the niche market matures and Sonys place in a niche market becomes clear.

I have a couple of old Sony TiVos gathering dust. I bought ReplayTV after the Sony TiVo and it still works great after all these years. Neither company has made a DVR in several years.

Sony originated the minidisc format, and I got into it about 6-7 years ago. At that time there were around 12 or so Sony minidisc recorder/players to choose from. Now, at least in the American market, a buyer is limited to one model only.

Anyone remember WebTV? I am looking at a Sony WebTV gathering dust on top of my old Sony 32 inch console.

The point of all this blather is that you folk supporting Sony ereader products are doomed by history. Amazon has the muscle and the wherewithall to make their product a success. Not to mention the much greater variety of books to choose from. And the ultimate 'killer app'..much lower book prices.

Sony just can't provide the content that Amazon can, and they will eventually bow out due to market pressures. Sony is like RCA or any other huge company. They just want to see profits in the bottom line.With Amazon gobbling their market share the Sony reader will be gathering dust in 10 years or less along with my Sony TiVo and Sony WebTV.

Yes they will continue to support the old readers, but you can bet your booties that Sony will be a fond memory in the ereader sweepstakes within 5-7 years.

I am a Kindle owner and was only vaguely familiar with the Sony reader before entering the ebook world. It seems to be a great product from what I have read and has a few features the version 1 Kindle lacks such as enhanced grayscale and formatting capabilities not to mention the ever-commented-upon PDF capability. I might even have bought one if the software were Mac compatible (why it's not is beyond me).

Bottom line: Sony's ereader division is a tiny portion of this great companies revenue. Bezos and Amazon have a much greater stake in making the Kindle a long term winner. Sony can bow out gracefully in a few years, just as they did with their TiVo and WebTV. They will probably offer a Reader for years to come, but don't expect them to fight a losing battle against Amazon when it is not in Sony's best financial interest to do so.

I have been on the wrong side of format wars before. Remember Sony Betamax? Yup, I used it for years and have hundreds of tapes stored away. Maybe Kindle is not the "best" reader out there ( I am a Kindle owner and think so!) but the format which makes the most noise in publicity and ease of use will just naturally survive. Darwin's Natural Selection.

I hope you Sony owners don't take post as an insult. Just an historical review. I got plenty upset when it became apparent that my beloved Betamax was not going to survive against the more popular VHS format. It's still a "better" VCR, for what it's worth. But it is a museum piece, whereas VHS is still around almost 30 years later.

01-05-2008, 05:52 AM	#1
Kingston Addict Posts: 238 Karma: 834 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: SW Tennessee Device: Kindle, Iliad v2 & v1,Gen 3 from NAEB, Sony PRS-505, Jetbook	Sony: Will History Repeat? Sony is a huge electronics company and produces hundreds if not thousands of electronic devices. They have a history of entering a new market and then pulling out or downsizing a division so that there is minimal support once the niche market matures and Sonys place in a niche market becomes clear. I have a couple of old Sony TiVos gathering dust. I bought ReplayTV after the Sony TiVo and it still works great after all these years. Neither company has made a DVR in several years. Sony originated the minidisc format, and I got into it about 6-7 years ago. At that time there were around 12 or so Sony minidisc recorder/players to choose from. Now, at least in the American market, a buyer is limited to one model only. Anyone remember WebTV? I am looking at a Sony WebTV gathering dust on top of my old Sony 32 inch console. The point of all this blather is that you folk supporting Sony ereader products are doomed by history. Amazon has the muscle and the wherewithall to make their product a success. Not to mention the much greater variety of books to choose from. And the ultimate 'killer app'..much lower book prices. Sony just can't provide the content that Amazon can, and they will eventually bow out due to market pressures. Sony is like RCA or any other huge company. They just want to see profits in the bottom line.With Amazon gobbling their market share the Sony reader will be gathering dust in 10 years or less along with my Sony TiVo and Sony WebTV. Yes they will continue to support the old readers, but you can bet your booties that Sony will be a fond memory in the ereader sweepstakes within 5-7 years. I am a Kindle owner and was only vaguely familiar with the Sony reader before entering the ebook world. It seems to be a great product from what I have read and has a few features the version 1 Kindle lacks such as enhanced grayscale and formatting capabilities not to mention the ever-commented-upon PDF capability. I might even have bought one if the software were Mac compatible (why it's not is beyond me). Bottom line: Sony's ereader division is a tiny portion of this great companies revenue. Bezos and Amazon have a much greater stake in making the Kindle a long term winner. Sony can bow out gracefully in a few years, just as they did with their TiVo and WebTV. They will probably offer a Reader for years to come, but don't expect them to fight a losing battle against Amazon when it is not in Sony's best financial interest to do so. I have been on the wrong side of format wars before. Remember Sony Betamax? Yup, I used it for years and have hundreds of tapes stored away. Maybe Kindle is not the "best" reader out there ( I am a Kindle owner and think so!) but the format which makes the most noise in publicity and ease of use will just naturally survive. Darwin's Natural Selection. I hope you Sony owners don't take post as an insult. Just an historical review. I got plenty upset when it became apparent that my beloved Betamax was not going to survive against the more popular VHS format. It's still a "better" VCR, for what it's worth. But it is a museum piece, whereas VHS is still around almost 30 years later.