Quote:
Originally Posted by daffy4u
The Kindle is way too light for a doorstop.  I would think (guess) that anyone receiving the Kindle who is not a reader would "re-gift" it to someone who is.
It sure would be nice if folks could look at this as a good thing for ebook readers and not as an opportunity to bash the Kindle.  |
Daffy, I do think it is a good thing and I'm not bashing the Kindle. It's the followthrough that worries me.
My concern is this: In 2 weeks the reports will be headlined everywhere -- Oprah sells 100,000 Kindles -- and Amazon will talk about how it is dominating the market for ebooks. Then Amazon will put additional pressure on publishers and authors to lower the price to Amazon and to sell exclusively to Amazon. And so the cycle goes.
I would rather learn that Oprah sold 100,000 Kindles and 90,000 recipients of those Kindles have become regular book buyers, buying and reading at least 1 book a month. In which case, I would swallow hard, let Bezos do his thing without (much) complaint, and be glad for the ebook world.
I fear that the Oprah revolution will fizzle when it comes time to actually buy and read books on the Kindle, especially as many of the purchases may be holiday gifts for children who aren't interested. That's why my interest in how many purchasers will become readers rather than turning their Kindles into doorstops.
BTW, FWIW the Kindle is the target because Amazon has chosen the route of publicizing the Kindle. Lots of Oprah folk buy Oprah recommendations because Oprah recommends it, not because they will use it or need it. In this case, it will tend to distort the ebook market picture. The problem would be the same if it were the Sony rather than the Kindle that Oprah pushed.