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Originally Posted by sirbruce
You may be partly right here; Bezos is quick to point our Kindle's advantage by reducing "friction", thereby making it cheaper and easier to buy new books. It's the same philosophy behind Amazon itself, one-click buying, etc. Make it easier for people to buy, and more people will buy from you.
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I guess I'm one of those oddities because I do not find shopping at Amazon for books (pbooks, that is) either easy or friendly. I found it much better/easier in Amazon's early years, but the changes are what ultimately made me stop buying pbooks at Amazon (which was before Amazon became such a dominant part of the industry so that now it is a matter of principle). I personally prefer the experience at Barnes & Noble (talking online). I find it easier to find books of interest.
Of course, one of the big "advantages" to Amazon are the reader comments, but as I never look at them anyway, to me they are meaningless.
I do not like the Sony store for ebooks, although I occasionally (very occasionally) buy a book there, but even worse is the Fictionwise store, where I have been buying a lot of multiformat ebooks. Never having shopped for a Kindle book, I hope the Kindle shopping experience is better than either, but if it is like shopping for a pbook at Amazon (and by shopping, I mean you are browsing, you don't already have a book in mind), I can't imagine calling it a great experience.
I know people rave about the one-click shopping, but I haven't yet gotten to the point where I can't do 2-click shopping.
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However, what are these other eInk devices offering free wireless? All the ones I've seen announced are just cheaper or larger readers but without wireless. WiFi is not entirely the same; you need a hotspot. These small companies are going to have to team up with cell phone providers to provide a truly equivalent offering.
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First, the Whispernet experience is good only if you live in an area serviced by Sprint and receive a decent signal. At least in my area, that is pretty flighty. Second, I see this as a comment on how lazy we have all become when it is too much effort to transfer a book from one's computer to one's reading device. No wonder obesity reigns.
I don't begrudge anyone the wireless access but I have to admit that with 150 books on my reader, in 1.5 years I have yet to have run out of options for reading material that made me lust for wireless access.
As for the other eink devices offering wireless, I think you will see that withn the coming months.