Quote:
Originally Posted by Robotech_Master
If Steve Pendergrast of Fictionwise coming out and saying, "Over 300,000 ebooks have been downloaded onto the iPhone/iTouch platforms from our store," isn't enough "proof" for you, what kind of proof would you require? Auditing their books?
|
Downloaded, not sold. Everyone who had an account (me included) re-downloaded their entire libraries (in ereader format only), just to try it out. It pretty much overwhelmed the servers the first day or two.
The question is - how many will buy new books to read that way? I have mobipocket on my phone - but haven't bothered to download a single book (or even much music - it kills the battery life to use your phone that way, has lousy speakers and is somewhat one-tracked in what it can do. Although at least attempting to type in an email or web address isn't the total frustration of using the iphone (unless you have the hands of a pre-teen girl).
But, I guess the better question is why you feel the need to try to attack a person who has tried both (and has used various other ereaders for over a decade) and offered their honest and unbiased opinion (not that it's unheard of for company shills to hang out in forums like this, being paid to spread their message; in fact, it's pretty much the norm in any forum that discusses any technology these days). EInk simply wins, hands down, as a reading experience. Sony is cheaper, prettier and probably easier to carry around, but the integration with EVDO is a huge plus that "maybe adding wireless" won't overcome (really, wireless works at home and your office, but requires a lot of time or money to find when traveling, especially when physically in a vehicle). Ease of use is probably a push - easy to bump by accident vs. harder to use lying in bed or for those with mobility issues (those same big buttons are a plus in some circumstances - apparently many with parkinson's or other problems are reading again now that they can "hold the book" and "turn the pages", since that only means to leave it propped up and bump that button now and then).
It seems the other contenders in the field share Sony's shortsightedness on connectivity and believe that people with ereaders won't mind always planning ahead on their purchases and at Sony's pricing, I tend to agree that impulse shopping when at the airport isn't something they want to encourage: case in point, the 103 short stories of Arthur Clark, being sold at 1.99 EACH (according the today's post). Somehow, $206 for the collection seems a bit high.
As it is, you could add "semi-wireless" capability to some of the ereaders out there by using an eye-fi (a wireless SD) card, but you still have to push from the PC side (but it could work from any internet cafe, provided you are enough of a computer geek to install figure it out) and it would affect battery life. But with the Kindle (and I expect eventually many more like it, from other companies), you only NEED a computer for two purposes: first, to buy it (do that at the library or get it as a gift) and if you want to cancel a subscription (theoretically possible using the experimental browser, but easier to hit the library again). You won't even miss out on any of the non-copyrighted works that way (but will miss a number of the deals highlighted here). All the rest of the time, your Kindle IS a book, just one that always weighs only 10.3 oz, keeps itself propped open and can be read anywhere that a paper book can be read (but using only one hand, even for turning pages).