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Originally Posted by Cthulhu
There have been comparisons, spurious or not, regarding the SONY Reader & the Kindle to the Apple iPod. I remember reading online somewhere to supposition that Apple created iTunes as a "loss leader" to sell their hardware. If this is true, how did Apple position itself so that it could tell content providers (i.e. record labels) "we're going to sell your songs, cheap."
Wonder if this was a Corleone non-refusal type offer, or was there a great deal of negociation?
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Lots of negotiation.
But iTunes is
not a loss leader. It's a significant source of revenue.
And there are ongoing battles with various record labels, over offering songs without DRM, and their desire for Apple to charge higher prices and give them a bigger cut. (Cue the old fable about the goose and the golden eggs...)
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More on topic, what can SONY & Amazon do to follow the example of strong hardware demand created by a plethora of content?
Steve, I think that the new generation of readers must function like a killer app for digital texts. I think that every step toward higher resolution, contrast, and colour aids in that goal.
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I'd call the available readers first generation, and in practice an extended pilot project to determine if there
is a market.
Sony and Amazon are in similar positions: they are big companies, who need big markets. They need to sell a boatload to justify doing it. Senior Management are custodians of Other People's Money, with a fiduciary responsibility to invest corporate funds where it will produce the best returns. I doubt anybody knows yet whether the market for dedicated ebook readers and content for it is big enough to be worth Sony and Amazon's while. We'll see.
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Dennis