Quote:
Originally Posted by Latch
Well, not really. This is the natural leapfrogging that occurs in a healthy, competitive market. The new Kobos that come out next year will top these new Kindles, just as the new Kindles 1.5 years from now will top next year's Kobos, etc etc ad infinitum.
As much as we don't like seeing negative market pressure on the horse we all picked, it's definitely good for consumers to have such an active, dynamic ereader ecosystem. We will get better and better offerings for a fair price, with improvements coming quickly as innovators strive for the upper-hand.
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I don't totally agree with ya
. When the kobo touch was released, the only notable thing they added. compared to kindle, was the touch screen; the rest of the hardware was brought up to kindle 3 specs, rather than surpass, and the software features, while improved, were still lacking when compared to the kindle.
with the new release of the kindle, they've brought out the touch screen, but all they had to do is refine the rest of the hardware because their competitors didn't really do anything to force them to do any better. Because of this refinement, I'm sure their costs have gone down to make the device, yet they are still selling at the same price point (not including the ads versions). and then when you look at their software, they've refined that too and still have more overall features that people have been asking of Kobo since they started to be sold, and have added other features that had been kobo/epub exclusives (library borrowing for example).
don't get me wrong, I love my kobo, but sometimes they are just a little slow implementing features. I understand they are a small company, but they need to show real innovation else they are not going to catch on as big as kindle or nook. But who knows, that may be what they want *Shrug*