Sony's competitive future with Kindle

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

Sadly, I can't help thinking Amazon are more likely, at present, to make that step-leap into reaching the real mass-market that I'm sure they're after.
Their whole approach to ereading seems to have been been so much more focused on the long-term than the electronic giants, and with more of a game-plan in mind..............

Let them have the mass market in America. They already sell more than 30% of all readers sold in Germany and Russia. And they aren't even selling officially in Russia.

Here Sony is THE brand. Everything else is virtually unknown with the exception of Pocketbook. Epub is the standard and we are not very fond of monopols.

That said have a look at the newly opened Amazon Kindle store Germany and let's imagine I buy a reader for my mom, who is 71 now. To buy a book you have to download it from Amazon.com. All the "Kindle is sooo easy to use" is gone with that additional step. My mom wouldn't be able to do so and the keyboard would give here the dreaded "computer" feeling.

OTOH she has had Sony stuff all her live. TV's, Walkmen, even her radio-alarm-clock back in the 80's was a Sony. She loves the design and never had any trouble with their products.

She will love the touchscreen. She will depend on me to upload books for a while and in the end she will learn to do it by herself. I am sure a cable would give her much more confidence than wireless, because wireless is a concept that is quiet stranger for her. Even the TVset needs a cable to get cable TV, so how do I explain wireless to her?

A wireless loading Kindle with a keyboard may not look threatening to senior citizen of Miami who whizzes around in a golf cart all day and has a computer at home. Here were the older generation snubbs sportswear, rarely has a computer and is not so fond of technology at all, I'd say Sony will be good for a while.

Or I could be all wrong

[astra]

Originally Posted by carld

Is library access a primary reason Sony users picked their reader? I'd always thought it was the touchscreen and the build quality, but I'm saying that as an outsider looking in.

You are absolutely right.
I don't care about libraries at all. I never cared about touch screen either.
I did care about overall build quality. I loved it from the first ebook reader with eInk screen, the grandfather of all current ones, PRS-500.
Something about holding Sony ebook readers pleases me. I enjoy the hardware.
I ignored 700 & 600 because of touch screen. It was a mess.
However, 650 has blown my mind. Search and build-in dictionary along infra-red touch screen are simply astonishing features.

However, I suspect I am a minority and we might loose Sony forever now Who will buy their expensive readers when there is cheap Kindle, taking half of the Amazon home page for years, with the best ebook buying/delivery method ever available? On top of that an ability to borrow library books? Sony lost it.

[astra]

Looks like I have a half empty glass and many of you have got a half full glass.
Let's hope you are right and I am wrong.

[mitsugi]

I am hoping that a lot of people will value build quality over cheaper products. It's interesting to note that, in the reviews I've read, most, if not all, highlight the library book capability of the Sony as one of THE reasons to buy it. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, one review even stated that the plastic housing of the Kindle (and I'm not sure if the reviewer mentioned the Nook, as well) felt "better" to him/her than Sony's housing, which surprised me.

However, based on people's posts here, although a number of people do value the library book capability of the Sony, it's nice to know that a lot of people like the other aspects of the products, as well.

In my country, ebook readers aren't popular, at least as far as I can see. I asked a friend what ebook reader he'd recommend and, without hesitation, he replied, "Kindle." Upon asking him why, he said that he was concerned with e-Ink and how other devices don't have them (so of course I had to tell him that other devices did as well, blah blah).

Also, looking at internet listings of locally sold readers, more people sell Kindles (and Nooks, actually) while, if Sony readers are sold, they're sold at exorbitant prices. (For example, a used PRS-500 is going for > 200USD, a brand new PRS-300 is around 265USD, and so on and so forth. Basically, a used Sony reader is more expensive than a brand new Kindle =/)

Sony doesn't sell readers here locally (or at least I can't find anything on their websites). If they do, it takes a looooong time for the recent readers to reach here. I mean, I can't even find any listings for BNEWIB PRS-x50. Importing would be too expensive, especially since eBay sellers jack up the prices, as well.

I guess what I'm saying is, is that I wouldn't be surprised if the presence of Sony readers here completely disappear. In this country where ebook readers aren't that popular, Kindles still take the number 1 place (I asked a couple of Kindle sellers and they said that they were always sold out of Kindles). That said, I hope Sony's ebook reader division survives because I like their products.

[mcrmama]

Here, you cannot see a kindle in a store so the ones buying are those purchasing online. You will see displays for Sony and kobo for the most part. I think library may come into play. I think a lot of people may start with Sony due to library access and then discover the other wonders it holds. I wanted ePub and touch screen so I could buy from Canadian websites more easily and have the option if borrowing books from the library. Most of the books I read are library books. I hope the libraries stay with ePub as that really is what you see here.

[Kore]

For me, library borrowing was a factor, but not as big as the design, touch screen or format compatibility, as well as free domain books from Google and many more bookstores than just Amazon.

[tubemonkey]

My primary ereader is a Kindle 3 WiFi. I needed a second ereader to handle ePub for library books and additional format options; and for use by visiting guests.

The only two I was considering were the Kobo ($60) and Sony 350 ($108), because both were being clearanced at a closing Borders store. I didn't like the way the Kobo handled; especially its 5-way navigation button, so I ruled it out. That left the Sony by default.

The 350 is a nice ereader and I love its touch screen and small size; still, it's lacking in features I'd make use of:

• WiFi & web browser for Wikipedia
• MP3 player for audiobooks
• SD card slot or 4GB of storage for audiobooks
• basic games

This is why the Kindle will remain my primary ereader and the Sony my secondary ereader.

[bumblesby]

Interesting replies so far. Of course being in the USA, many of us have isolated thinking. I am glad those in other world markets responded.

Publisher's Weekly had an article recently where a former executive of Amazon donated several thousand Kindles to areas in Africa - loaded with eBooks. Wonder if they were the ad-free versions?

In the USA Sony has a supply issue. Best Buy - a major electronics store does not even carry the 650 which I thought strange. I think many would like it at the mid-price level. The 950 is out of stock I think even on the web site. SonyStyle web store in the USA has been out of stock on the 650 for weeks - till recently. Seems people want to buy them but are having a difficult time doing so.

[elemenoP]

Hey bumblesby, did anyone ever tell you that you look like Charles Widmore from Lost? At least in that picture you do!

http://www.google.com/search?q=alan+...w=1584&bih=717

eP

[speakingtohe]

I have A Sony 600 which I am fond of and I got my 85 year old mother a kindle 3 when they first came out.
She was pretty scared of it at first and still lives in fear of breaking it, but it is now a prized possession.
I prefer the Sony but my mother prefers the Kindle 3. Go figure.

[Lirael]

Library access was one of the deciding factors for me in choosing a Sony. Since I read books multiple times over, I always prefer to read before buying, and since an ebook reader costs a hefty chunk of change I want to do as much reading in ebook form as I can! Most of my reading over the past year has been library books.

I do admit, the Kindle has become slightly more attractive to me over the years - mostly because I'm sick of mucking around with ADE and am too paranoid to strip DRM, and also because there are still a very few books that interest me that are only available for Kindle.

Library lending sounds great, though I wonder how many libraries will add books for Kindle in the near future, as it seems to me they're pretty slow to adopt new things, especially on their limited budgets. The concept of ad-supported Kindle also makes me a little nervous - I do wonder what else they might come up with, and I prefer any ads in my books to be at the back where I can easily ignore them.

If I had a lot more disposable income I'd keep multiple devices around, but since I don't, I think if I were to buy a new reader today I'd still go with Sony. I don't care about wifi, internet browsing, or music, I've always had great experiences with Sony products, and after having held various models in my hands I still like the Sony ones best.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Lirael

Library lending sounds great, though I wonder how many libraries will add books for Kindle in the near future, as it seems to me they're pretty slow to adopt new things, especially on their limited budgets.

They don't have to add them. All ePubs in their OverDrive collection will automatically be available in Kindle format. In other words, the library will just buy a license for an ebook and OverDrive will make it available in both ePub and Kindle formats. The borrower will choose which one they want at checkout.

[laughingdragons]

While having the library helped pick my first reader (the 300) my deciding on a Sony was because I liked to look and and feel of the Sony.

The thing that got me to go against the kindle was the keyboard. My BF just got a kindle for his bday and I got to finally play with a kindle for the first time and still prefer my Sony.

I tried to put the kindle in my purse and it wouldn't fit. those things are pretty big.

I got my 350 becuase I love the Sony readers so much and decided to try the touch screen and it holds a lot more books than the 300.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by laughingdragons

I got my 350 becuase I love the Sony readers so much and decided to try the touch screen and it holds a lot more books than the 300.

Love your avatar. Is your kitty a vampire?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

What is likely to happen is that libraries may split the number of licenses that they purchase for a particular book between EPUB and Amazon formats, which would result in longer wait-times for a best-selling book in EPUB format.

According to the press releases, there is not going to be any splitting between ePub and AZW. It's been said that this move to allowing Kindles library eBook access is not going to cost libraries anything more.

So what some of us are thinking is that any ePub your library has will also be available in AZW if Amazon has the same eBook and that Amazon will be serving that eBook to you via a request from Overdrive. So if your library has one copy of a given eBook in ePub, that eBook will be available in ePub or AZW but only one borrow at a time. And yes, they wait time will increase. They can't not increase when you add in all the Kindle users not already access eBooks at their local libraries.