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I have considered getting a Sony over the years, and even as recently as a couple of nights ago had to think several minutes before deciding not to buy a discounted PRS-350 (love the form factor, touch interface). I think the build quality may well be 'better' than my Kindles, but in the end am not willing to pay more for it (does it need to last 10 years, or even 5? I think not, particularly with Amazon's liberal, efficient, and - in my experience, cheerful - exchange policy in the event of defect). In terms of the user interface and reader features, I'd say they are about equally capable and equally annoying, but clearly superior to Nook or Kobo and the rest.
But when I considers the entirety of the ecosystem in which each device resides, it is not even close: Amazon understands publishing, readers, and retail, they have a vision and they deliver on it. They have great customer service. You can read your content anywhere on virtually anything with a screen on it. There's all this social networking stuff, interesting and informative reviews of books you are considering buying, etc. They are going to have the most seamless library ebook borrowing feature out there (apart from Overdrive's iOS/Android apps). I doubt they'll even be making Kindles 3 years from now, but they'll be selling gazillions of ebooks. Kindle platform is not perfect, but it continues to improve and evolve and adjust to competitive reality.
Sony, not so much. It took Sony a couple of years to develop an app for Mac OS, which you need to buy books from Sony. What's that all about? Can't they build a web storefront like everybody else? Don't they want to be able to sell books to owners of other devices? Apparently not, and that's why their iOS reading app was rejected, they still have no 'multiscreen' strategy, and they don't sell a lot of books and have to make their profit on the hardware. But if they aren't going to make a go of their own storefront, why not at least update the RMSDK firmware so you can read B&N ebooks on the device (as most other RMSDK-enabled systems will at this point), and then sell in B&N as well as Borders? Sony's current line of ereaders are capable, and they sell well in some geographies (Japan, Russia), but they don't seem to have the focus to innovate and succeed in the long run as a player in this market.
Which is too bad, since it is still very early in the digital reading 'revolution' and only continued, strong competition can allow space for the kind of innovation that can explore its full potential.
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