Amazon Kindle e-book downloads outsell paperbacks

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by Piper_

I think they should do both.

When consumers share their thoughts with the public, it allows them and everyone else to get a feel for how much public support there is for the idea.

Easy enough. When B&N introduced its iPad app, a few of us here noted that it lacked an easy brightness setting. So I contacted B&N and asked whom such requests should go to. Then I posted the e-mail address so others could contact 'em, too. Shortly after, they added that feature.

Who knows how many contacts it took, but it was quick and easy.

Basically, I suggest that people tell companies they have money to spend, and X is keeping them from spending it. Companies still might choose otherwise, but money is a good motivator.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Easy enough. When B&N introduced its iPad app, a few of us here noted that it lacked an easy brightness setting. So I contacted B&N and asked whom such requests should go to. Then I posted the e-mail address so others could contact 'em, too. Shortly after, they added that feature.

Who knows how many contacts it took, but it was quick and easy.

Basically, I suggest that people tell companies they have money to spend, and X is keeping them from spending it. Companies still might choose otherwise, but money is a good motivator.

Seems a good place to post the email addresses Amazon gives us for Kindle feedback:

kindle-feedback@amazon.com (U. S. and other countries)

kindle-feedback-uk@amazon.co.uk (UK residents)

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Whole Foods doesn't sell any of those brands. I don't walk into Whole Foods and demand that they sell me Coke because I know that Whole Foods doesn't sell Coke. I go to Giant or Safeway or Vons or Kroger.

When BN, Sony, Kobo and the other EPub only brands start selling Mobi then I will happily say that Amazon needs to sell EPub. To demand that one store change its policy without demanding that the others do the same is just silly. And a bit unfair.

If you want to buy the occasional book from Amazon and you don't want to strip away the DRM, then use one of the many apps that they have made available to the world for free.

This is indeed getting silly. Where have I DEMANDED anything from Amazon? Shall I repeat that I DON'T CARE what Amazon sells? I think I've said it at least four times just today, but it doesn't seem to be getting through.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

You are free to post the same thing over and over and say that you really are happy and we should let you be happy all you want. I fail to see the point of it because you then follow that up with "Amazon should sell EPUb so on the rare occasions that I cannot find books I want (ie not happy or at least minorly displeased) I can buy the book from Amazon.

I don't know who you're quoting, but it's not me. I said no such thing.

I do believe that a person can be Kindle free and happy. I know many people people here, beppe, astra, bowsd (sp), Scion, to name a few. I don't think that they have posted that they want Amazon to change its business practices so that they can buy books from Amazon.

Neither have posted any such thing. Please stop making things up.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

I think it's useful to contact companies about products I want, rather than to post on a forum that they probably don't monitor. Not that posters aren't free to complain all over the place, of course, lol.

If I really cared what Amazon decides to sell, I would contact them. But I don't care. Since they don't want my business, I have gone elsewhere. Still, I am allowed to have an opinion about it.

[elcreative]

No, no, you misunderstand... I am allowed to have an opinion, you may express an opinion and they don't have opinions, they're just dogmatic (and haven't read Asterix)...

Originally Posted by Catlady

If I really cared what Amazon decides to sell, I would contact them. But I don't care. Since they don't want my business, I have gone elsewhere. Still, I am allowed to have an opinion about it.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

I'm not picking on this comment; it just neatly sums up the fallacy.

Amazon is not in the business of "refusing to sell books" to anyone: in fact, what they sell are books that speak the Kindle platform language. Most (not all, but most) e-books from Amazon are available from other vendors, typically in ADE ePub. No one is deprived. You want to buy Pepsi, they sell Coke: that's the way it is.

25% of Amazon's Kindle ebook buyers don't have a Kindle -- most are not pirating the DRM, most are reading on devices that aren't Kindles -- like an iPad, a Galaxy Tab, a Blackberry, a PC, a Mac etc ... and every one of those devices is "agnostic" when it comes to e-books, offering apps from ePub and Kindle formats.

Amazon would make a HUGE error supporting ePub on a Kindle: one of the best things about the purchase flow is that it is so simple -- all files are in just one format. Anyone who has ever bought from Smashwords, Fictionwise, BooksOnBoard, etc., have been faced with several hoops when all you wanted was Slaughterhouse Five. (And no one is "forced" to buy from them, either.)

It's not a fallacy at all. Kindle does not offer the features that I want, therefore I do not own a kindle. I have no desire to "go read a kindle book on my computer, my phone, or any other device." If I wanted to do that I would not have purchased a dedicated ereader. Under my icon is a list of devices I read books on. Please notice that there is only one device listed.

I don't care what is supported on a kindle because I do not own a kindle. I wanted Amazon to sell books that could be used on the device that I purchased that has the features that I want.

Originally Posted by Catlady

OK, from now on, please assume that the statement "I can't buy from Amazon" means: "I can't buy from Amazon without violating their TOS and possibly violating copyright law by stripping DRM and converting the format to one my reader can handle, and why would I want to do that...

By not allowing me to read a book I chose on the device I chose, Amazon is refusing to sell me books (unless I'm willing to break the law). That is Amazon’s decision – and I’m sure the Amazon army will be screaming this from the rafters – and Amazon’s right. I was annoyed at first, now I could care less. But it is my right as a consumer and customer to comment on it.

And before the Amazon army rushes in to defend, let me say this – for years Amazon has built a customer base by selling a lot more than books - of course I wanted to buy ebooks from Amazon! I’m an Amazon customer for God’s sakes! Does anyone else here understand that Amazon is more than a bookseller? The reason I wanted to buy books from Amazon is because I used to buy everything else from Amazon. It would have been easier for me to continue that purchasing pattern. I no longer shop at Amazon as frequently as I used to because I now have different shopping patterns. That’s Amazon’s loss, not mine.
It is not like complaining that BN or Sony doesn’t sell books to me – it’s like complaining that my local Target doesn’t carry my favorite brand of conditioner. Which I did and now they do. If they did not, I would shop at Wal-Mart to get my conditioner - and now I have no real reason to go to Target anymore, do I?

[cathyshiying]

Here's an interesting factoid dropped by Amazon during their quarterly call: since the beginning of the year, Amazon has sold 115 Kindle eBooks for every 100 paperback books purchases on its site. Are we finally witnessing a momentum shift here?
Last summer it was reported that Kindle eBooks were already outselling hardcovers on Amazon (143 to 100), and now even that figure has roughly doubled since last July (~300 to 100). I wouldn't be surprise if the tablet boom helpt play a big role in this, as Amazon has Kindle stores on the iOS and Android platforms.
But the Kindle is no slouch either. Amazon mentioned that the third-generation Kindle had become their best selling product ever, outgunning previous sales champ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
- Gizmodo

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I don't care what is supported on a kindle because I do not own a kindle. I wanted Amazon to sell books that could be used on the device that I purchased that has the features that I want.

Not so long ago, the primary ebook stores in the US sold all the available formats with all the available DRM. These stores (e.g. FictionWise and Books on Board) have been marginalized by walled-garden ebook infrastructures. Amazon perfected the walled-garden approach to ebooks, but B&N and Kobo are following the same pattern. Amazon and B&N own their DRM schemes, which is essential to lowering cost. Kobo pays a tax to Adobe, but only on ebooks that are downloaded to its dedicated Readers. These devices are loss leaders to get you to buy into their closed app-based infrastructure - which has much higher walls than B&N or Amazon. Sony started out using their own format, but switched to Adobe ePub and now has the most open widely-sold devices in the US (and even more so in Europe).

These gardens only exist because of DRM, and seem to be the logical consequence of DRM in a free market. Note that if there was no DRM, then anyone could buy from Amazon (or B&N or Kobo) because DRM-free reflowable formats are more or less interchangeable. Amazon would still crush all others, because they have the best infrastructure by a mile and this infrastructure is paid for by all Amazon sales - not just ebooks. However, in a DRM-free world Amazon would already have switched to ePub because MOBI would be at a moderate disadvantage vs ePub.

Anyone who embraces DRM-stripping tools, is already in that DRM-free world and can buy from anyone. I can buy from whoever I like, and at one time I bought most of my ebooks from FictionWise because they had the best service and support. Now I buy mostly from Amazon, because they are now the best. I wish they supported ePub, but for most fiction MOBI/AZW, or even TOPAZ, is ok as a starting point for conversion to ePub.

[mdmorrissey]

Originally Posted by queentess

Because people want to buy ebooks from Amazon, but they don't want a Kindle, and they don't want to admit they like Amazon's convenience and price and customer service, so they're angry.

I want to buy books from Amazon, used if I can find them, but not ebooks because they are much too expensive. When they get into the lending business, as I predict, I will borrow.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

snip
By not allowing me to read a book I chose on the device I chose, Amazon is refusing to sell me books (unless I'm willing to break the law).
snip

Just so that I'm clear, this is no different than having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from B&N, Borders, Sony, etc. Correct?

[DMB]

I haven't done that much shopping around since I got my Kindle 3, but my CC billing address is in the UK so I did a quick comparison shop for some chosen ebooks on amazon.co.uk and Waterstones. Waterstones sells in ePub format. I found that Amazon were noticeably cheaper every time. Is this the norm? Is it a UK thing?

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Just so that I'm clear, this is no different than having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from B&N, Borders, Sony, etc. Correct?

Not correct.

Amazon is not a bookseller or a specialty store. Amazon is a Target, a Wal-Mart, a discount mega-mart that also happens to sell books. Amazon makes their money by catering to the masses - so of course people expect them to continue to do so. That is how they reached market dominance.

I can't go on to B&N's website and purchase food. I can buy food at Amazon.

You guys with the whole "Amazon can do whatever they want" line are killing me here. If Amazon wants my money, then they do what I want - I'm the customer. If they don't, I take my money elsewhere.

Let's get something straight - this is a forum that specializes in discussing mobile reading technology, right? Just making sure.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Just so that I'm clear, this is no different than having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from B&N, Borders, Sony, etc. Correct?

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Not correct.

Amazon is not a bookseller or a specialty store. Amazon is a Target, a Wal-Mart, a discount mega-mart that also happens to sell books. Amazon makes their money by catering to the masses - so of course people expect them to continue to do so. That is how they reached market dominance.

I can't go on to B&N's website and purchase food. I can buy food at Amazon.

Presumably, it is the same as having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from Tesco? Tesco is a supermarket here in the UK. You can buy all sorts of things from them, including food, paper books and e-books. According to their help page, their e-books have ADE DRM. So, I have a Kindle, and I can't buy e-books from Tesco. Surely that's the same as someone with a Nook not being able to buy e-books from Amazon?

[ProfCrash]

By not allowing me to read a book I chose on the device I chose, Amazon is refusing to sell me books (unless I'm willing to break the law). That is Amazon’s decision – and I’m sure the Amazon army will be screaming this from the rafters – and Amazon’s right. I was annoyed at first, now I could care less. But it is my right as a consumer and customer to comment on it.

No buy making the decision to not buy a Kindle and buy another device you chose to not be able to easily buy Amazon books to put on your device. If you wanted access to Amazon books you should have bought a Kindle.

Just like if I wanted to easily download BN books I should have bought a Nook.

Just because you used to buy dtb from Amazon does not mean that they have to make ebooks available for every device. You bought something they don't support. The consequence is not being able to easily buy ebooks from Amazon.