Quote:
Originally Posted by advocate2
I've owned the 505, 600, 900, 350, 650 and 950. Did I mention I love the Sony Readers? Borrowing library ebooks has always been a major draw for me. The lack thereof knocked Amazon out of the box. Touch navigation will always beat out keyboard and a button to move a cursor.
Amazon, on the other hand, could probably give readers away for free with all the money they make on ebook sales. B&N and Borders are trying hard to sell ebooks. Sony seems to me to be a laggard in sales of ebooks. Their devices are spectacular, but don't compete well on price. I don't know how much they make on ebook sales.
With the new Kobo and Nook, if I needed a new 6" reader with a touch screen, I'd opt for the Kobo rather than a Sony 50% more expensive.
Sorry Sony. You were the leader of the pack. I will always love your devices. Your business model just didn't work against others who didn't need to make money on the reader.
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I think that regular users do not have enough information yet to take a firm decision. But based on what's online, it looks like the basic touchscreen functionality has been successfully implemented on both; the difference is that the Kobo or B&N are way cheaper.
I would expect a serious drop in price from Sony. It does not matter how good a device is. If people believe or think they can get something cheaper and similar, they will and for sure will also affect Sony's sales. It happened to Amazon and Kindles as well.
In USA, I would expect a big "price war" between most important companies and devices, like Sony and Amazon. I also have the feeling, Amazon will release a new device soon, eink or LCD, but sounds like that's about to happen.