Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
If enough people in the US ordered these "innovative" devices from overseas, perhaps that would prompt US companies to make/sell them (or at least encourage those overseas sellers to have an american presence). Prove there's a demand.
I find it a little silly to blame a lack of innovation in the US eink device market on US consumers wanting everything they want at the cheapest possible prices -- and then balking at possibly having to pay high prices to get the exact device you want from an overseas supplier.
If you don't put your money where your heart is, you're part of the "problem."
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It's not as simple as just the price. It's a combination of price and ecosystem lockdown. A natural consequence of a company leveraging it's uniquely dominant ebook store.
I buy my books from Amazon, and am also capable of putting in the time and effort of using calibre. Hence I've gone to great lengths to procure a Kobo model that isn't even available in my country. I've voted with my wallet.
However If I were to recommend an e-reader to my parents or friends, I'd suggest the kindle every time to spare them the effort, even though I do not consider it the best
* e-reading device. I simply do not want to recommend a kobo to them and be that guy whose poor advice resulted in them either buying books from the more expenive kobo store or forced them to be tethered to a computer with calibre to convert all their Amazon store purchases. I
will recommend the kobo to my computer savvy friends, but they're not typically representative of the book lovers in my circle. The net result is a plus for Amazon and their kindles.
If my Kobo conks out now, I'll have to cut my losses instead of returning the kobo under warranty because the shipping and customs and lost time would not be worth it. I'd just buy a kindle locally to replace it. That's a risk i've taken. Most people won't accept that risk. It's just safer to buy a kindle here.
I do not blame the US market for the dominance of the kindle. The combination of device and ecosystem that Amazon offers is hard to beat by just making better devices, which is what makes it tougher for other companies even if we assume that they are more innovative device-wise.
India is the third largest market world-wide for English books, and considering how Amazon is quickly settling into the marketplace here while the other companies drag their feet, I have no doubt that we will see an almost exact replication of the US market share here too over the next few years. First mover advantage is a huge thing in the context of ecosystem lockdown as well as brand recognition (person sees me reading on my Kobo and decides to buy himself "
one of those kindle devices" because kindles are synonymous with e-readers now and most easily visible and available at the nearest electronics store).
The American market might be sown up by Amazon and the other companies could be excused for not moving in fast enough, but those other companies do not seem to have taken that lesson to heart in emerging markets for whatever reasons. Maybe it's management myopia or just a plain lack of funds to compete at Amazon's scale.
At the pace Amazon are growing, they do not need to innovate drastically. All they need to do is innovate
just enough to not lag far too behind the competition. If the e-reader marketshare were less dominated by Amazon, they might perhaps have been more innovative, of course subject to the pace of developments in the technology (which is also an important factor and possibly more restrictive than the other factors combined to be fair).
Sorry if it seems I've rambled on.
* personal opinion, not meant to be an absolute statement of fact.