MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - I've never owned a Kindle. What about you?

ProfCrash · 11-08-2013, 11:33 AM

My K1 was used for 2 1/2 years before I boughtt a new device. It worked just fine and is still working today. My K3 is doing great and will be going home with my MIL this Thanksgiving. Her K2 is still trucking away but she wants access to my books without losing access to her books. So she is getting my K3 and using both the K2 and the K3. My DXG is with a friend in Afghanistan and doing great. I bought it before I bought the
K3.

My point? Kindles are pretty darn durable.

Without the Kindle, I doubt there would have been the Nook or the Kobo. Both came out two-three years after the Kindle. I would guess that BN and KOBO saw that e-readers were viable because of Amazons success.

Yes, Sony was there first but their devices were not selling all that well. They were expensive, poorly marketed, and had a crappy bookstore. Amazon launched the Kindle which was expensive, well marketed, and had a good bookstore, well priced books, excellent customer service, and took off pretty fast.

Sony didn't keep up. I think it was hurt more by the lack of WiFi then the materials it used. And its origianl attempt at a front lighting system was awful. So people who wanted an epub reader in the US bought a Nook, WiFi, epub, a better bookstore, and it was priced at the same as a Kindle.

I honestly think that Sony's biggest problem was that their bookstore was awful for so long. Most people are clueless about drag and drop and buying at other stores. This made the Sony less attractive to the average buyer. Another problem that Sony had was marketing. Outside of the ereader lovers, how many people actually knew about the Sony? Where was it being sold?

For a while Sony's were available at BN but that changed when BN decided to build the Nook. So you had to go to a Sony store. But there was no advertising so while the Kindle was front and center on Amazon's webpage, someone who was interested in an e-reader would have had to do a search on ereaders to even know about the Sony. When BN started selling the Nook, it was displayed front and center in its book stores. It was easy to find. Where was the Sony advertising?

So I don't buy that Amazon is responsible for the downfall of Sony's e-reader. Sony is responsible for that. The bookstore was awful and they didn't market the thing. No wonder it didn't do well in the US. Not selling the T3 in the US right now is flat out stupid.

From what I am reading, the Sony is not doing well in the UK. I would be interested to know what share of the market it has on Continental Europe and in Asia and Australia. I am going to guess that it is in third place, behind the Kindle and Kobo.

Sony has only themselves to blame.

11-08-2013, 11:33 AM	#89
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	My K1 was used for 2 1/2 years before I boughtt a new device. It worked just fine and is still working today. My K3 is doing great and will be going home with my MIL this Thanksgiving. Her K2 is still trucking away but she wants access to my books without losing access to her books. So she is getting my K3 and using both the K2 and the K3. My DXG is with a friend in Afghanistan and doing great. I bought it before I bought the K3. My point? Kindles are pretty darn durable. Without the Kindle, I doubt there would have been the Nook or the Kobo. Both came out two-three years after the Kindle. I would guess that BN and KOBO saw that e-readers were viable because of Amazons success. Yes, Sony was there first but their devices were not selling all that well. They were expensive, poorly marketed, and had a crappy bookstore. Amazon launched the Kindle which was expensive, well marketed, and had a good bookstore, well priced books, excellent customer service, and took off pretty fast. Sony didn't keep up. I think it was hurt more by the lack of WiFi then the materials it used. And its origianl attempt at a front lighting system was awful. So people who wanted an epub reader in the US bought a Nook, WiFi, epub, a better bookstore, and it was priced at the same as a Kindle. I honestly think that Sony's biggest problem was that their bookstore was awful for so long. Most people are clueless about drag and drop and buying at other stores. This made the Sony less attractive to the average buyer. Another problem that Sony had was marketing. Outside of the ereader lovers, how many people actually knew about the Sony? Where was it being sold? For a while Sony's were available at BN but that changed when BN decided to build the Nook. So you had to go to a Sony store. But there was no advertising so while the Kindle was front and center on Amazon's webpage, someone who was interested in an e-reader would have had to do a search on ereaders to even know about the Sony. When BN started selling the Nook, it was displayed front and center in its book stores. It was easy to find. Where was the Sony advertising? So I don't buy that Amazon is responsible for the downfall of Sony's e-reader. Sony is responsible for that. The bookstore was awful and they didn't market the thing. No wonder it didn't do well in the US. Not selling the T3 in the US right now is flat out stupid. From what I am reading, the Sony is not doing well in the UK. I would be interested to know what share of the market it has on Continental Europe and in Asia and Australia. I am going to guess that it is in third place, behind the Kindle and Kobo. Sony has only themselves to blame.