Quote:
Originally Posted by daffy4u
So here's my question. Since some of you say the Kindle is (still) overpriced, what about the 505? I don't recall seeing complaints about it's high price. Shouldn't it be $100-150?
|
I think the Sony 505 is overpriced by $50; its suggested retail price should be $249. People readily spend $200 to $250 for music players and I think that is an acceptable price for an ebook reading device.
As far as I am concerned, the Kindle should be the same price, that is, $249. Its advantage is Whispernet (BTW, Sprint/Nextel is still bleeding customers and so is now plans to outsource network management to save some money.), but that is only an advantage to those who care about the Amazon bookstore and wireless access to it.
OTOH, Sony's ergonomics are better (in my opinion) and the device itself is more attractive (again, in my opinion; I really dislike the Kindle's keyboard). In addition, Sony offers a better format choice with the relowable PDF (even if it doesn't work perfectly) and the ability to read ePub, both DRMed and DRM-free.
So I think the 2 devices -- Kindle 2 and Sony 505 -- both should be at $249.
BUT, what I would really like to see is more competition among retailers to sell both devices at various prices. I suspect that Sony greatly restricts the amount of discounting retailers can do; it shouldn't. If a retailer wants to sell the device at $5 over cost, the retailer should be able to do so. similarly, Amazon restricts the price by simply not letting anyone else sell the Kindle. I think if Amazon wants to be a manufacturer, it should manufacture the Kindle and let anyone who wants to sell it at whatever price point the retailer wants do so. Then prices would settle where the market really thinks they should be.