MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - New Kindles

danskmacabre · 09-30-2011, 05:15 AM

One huge thing in favour of the Kindle is simply brand recognition.
Most of the people I know don't know what an "ereader" is, but they've heard of the Kindle and know you can read books on it.
Of all the people I know who actually have an ereader, they ALL have a Kindle.

No-one I know has even heard of the Nook or Kobo (neither are available in the UK).

I met one person in a Cafe some weeks back who was using a Sony ereader, the first time I noticed someone NOT using a Kindle.

Regardless of whether the Kindle is or isn't better than the competition, many people will buy a Kindle because they think that's their only option or see everyone else using a Kindle and just get one because everyone else uses one.

I do try to explain the disadvantages of the Kindle, namely being the format restrictions, no external storage and so on, but until they actually experience the limitations it really has no effect on their decision process.

After saying that, Lately I haven't actually been recommending the KT, as the Firmware issues lately have been a real problem and I'm not willing to recommend a KT to friends (most of who are non-technical) who just want an ereader "that works".

09-30-2011, 05:15 AM	#24
danskmacabre Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 3593438 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Glo. Galaxy Tab S 8.4	One huge thing in favour of the Kindle is simply brand recognition. Most of the people I know don't know what an "ereader" is, but they've heard of the Kindle and know you can read books on it. Of all the people I know who actually have an ereader, they ALL have a Kindle. No-one I know has even heard of the Nook or Kobo (neither are available in the UK). I met one person in a Cafe some weeks back who was using a Sony ereader, the first time I noticed someone NOT using a Kindle. Regardless of whether the Kindle is or isn't better than the competition, many people will buy a Kindle because they think that's their only option or see everyone else using a Kindle and just get one because everyone else uses one. I do try to explain the disadvantages of the Kindle, namely being the format restrictions, no external storage and so on, but until they actually experience the limitations it really has no effect on their decision process. After saying that, Lately I haven't actually been recommending the KT, as the Firmware issues lately have been a real problem and I'm not willing to recommend a KT to friends (most of who are non-technical) who just want an ereader "that works". Last edited by danskmacabre; 09-30-2011 at 05:23 AM.