Quote:
Originally Posted by forster01
As 99% of he book sales in USA is made on amazon, kindle accessibility made them buy one. i tend to think that 95% of buyers of the kindle don't even know that there are other manufacturers of the ebook readers.
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I think this is a pretty succinct observation/summation right here -- everybody uses and likes Kindles because everybody uses and likes Kindles!
I'm not mocking here -- Amazon's done a great job at making a reading device that works just fine for pretty much anybody who just wants to read a book, and then they (Amazon) make it easy to buy and read more and more books.
Sure there are minor technical differences between hardware manufacturers between e-ink and other display devices, but hey, we've had hardback vs. paperback readers since the dawn of publishing (well, paperback publishing, anyway) and you'll always find some subset of aficionados in any endeavor (e.g. audiophiles, camera nuts, etc.) who'll tell you why whatever they're using is the bee's knees.
My own situation: I love books, I love ereaders, I'll read on whatever format I can find, but one big thing -- I own and love a lot of "obsolete" technology and if you think some particular company and/or some particular brand of technology is gonna be around forever, I've got a stack of 8-track tapes to sell you.
Amazon's the 800-lb. gorilla at the moment, but I've got a couple of IBM Selectric typewriters that work great and cost $$$$ when new and were THE machine of choice for mission-critical typing back in the day ... I picked these up for free, somebody was junking them. They work just fine, nobody wanted to use them anymore. Sigh.
My current e-reader "platform" is mostly epub books (some "stock," some converted using Calibre, I'm not opposed to shopping whatever store/format has the book I'm looking for) using fb reader as my reader/app, this I can install on all my devices (rooted Nook devices running Android, including an old Nook Simple Touch that is now "obsolete," funny how that works), and my "library" gets synced across everything because fb reader can easily recognize any OPDS (Open Publication Distribution System) library and it's a snap to sync my Google Drive with fb reader's OPDS system, then I can find/sort/read any book on any device, anywhere I've got a network connection.
AND/OR, I can download all my books to all my devices via (micro)SD card, and if/when some device craps out or I leave it on the bus or airplane, I don't sweat it, everything's backed up where I can find it. P.S. Having all my books on Google Drive doesn't negate having them backed up on local hardware, of course.
So, theoretically, in the future, as whatever manufacturer comes up with yet another e-reader and/or reader app that's The Must Have Thing next year, I'm ready for it. Also -- and more importantly -- when somebody I know decides to toss their "obsolete" but still completely working e-reader so they can spend $$$ to buy a new one, I ask them to toss it my way and they're happy, I'm happy ... what's not to love?
P.S. Don't get me started on competing e-book "formats" (e.g azw3, mobi, epub, djvu, fb2, etc.) -- that's all marketing BS, not technical brilliance. Feh!