Quote:
Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
I'm with dmaul1114, I don't think it matters. The big draw for the Kindle is that you don't have to think about it -- just go to Amazon, one-click buy the book, and *poof* it's on your Kindle / iPhone. Very appealing and easy to use for someone who isn't technically inclined -- and barely cares about, let alone performs a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of, various formats. 
Or, if we look to recent history: Apple took a lot of grief over its refusal to open up Fairplay and thus limiting access to the iPod. AAC saw little (if any) use in portable devices prior to the iPod; MP3 and, to a lesser extent, WMV were dominant. Yet the iPod still slaughtered the competition despite using an almost unknown format.... |
Exactly.
As I've said before, today things sell out of hype and convenience to use.
I'll freely admit, convenience is one of the biggest factors in determining what I buy (and many other life decisions) since I'm busy as hell and want to save every second I can.
So the Kindle jumped right out at me with the WiFi and the store etc., and that's going to be a big selling point going forward regardless of formats which the average shopper won't know anything about when buying a device.
Just like people bought iPods and AACs and didn't know there was any difference from MP3 like you say. People just buy a device that's well hyped and easy to use and the Kindle fits that bill and it will take something that does that better to unseat it.
The world wide point is a fair one, but e-Readers are such a small niche (just being bought buy hardcore readers who are tech savvy) that the Kindle could easily take over the market when released in other places.
As could some other device--maybe a multifunction thing like the Apple Tablet if it comes out and takes off.