Quote:
Originally Posted by pidgeon92
I really feel this is more of a perception problem than reality. I certainly don't feel compelled to stick with any one company for anything. I have brands that I like because I like the product(s), but I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a different brand if it would be comparable.
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The key phrase here is "if it would be comparable". You just described the economic concept of cross-price elasticity and substitute goods. If Coke is more expensive than Pepsi, you will buy Pepsi because it's a comparable good to Coke. For ebooks and ebook readers, the firms actively try to make their goods as unique as possible economically-speaking, meaning that a price increase in Nook or Kindle won't send existing Nook or Kindle owners to other sources because they've locked them in. A Kindle book cannot be read on a Nook, so it's not a substitute good even if it is the exact same underlying text.
From a pure economic point of view, the Nook is a better choice for consumers than the Kindle because it supports a wider range of DRM formats (you can read books from any Adobe ADEPT-based store), but the consumers who are already locked into Kindle are inaccessible without some sort of transfer program. Do that, and people will move.
Or they won't, because Amazon is the Apple of the eink-based ereader world, and they get people based on image rather than utility
