Sony's competitive future with Kindle

[astra]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

my 85 year old mother a kindle 3 {snip} but my mother prefers the Kindle 3

85 and she uses ebook reader?
WOW!
Kudos to your mother!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

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.

My mom is in her 80s and she has a Sony Reader and really enjoys using it. But she'd be able to handle a Kindle just fine. The idea of wireless is not new to her. Ever since I was able to get her off dial-up, she'd been wireless with her laptop. So really, it's not a difficult concept to teach someone who is elderly as long as the teacher is a good teacher. Sure, a lot of elderly people can be set in their way, but that does not mean they are unable to learn something new.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by 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.

But did you get her the K3 or did she request the K3?

I had my Mom go with a reader that was compatible with mine so the eBooks I have she can also take advantage of without my having to deal with a different format.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

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.

Thanks for the details. That's good to know. Hopefully libraries don't increase quantities of best-sellers at the sacrifice of a more diverse selection in order to balance increased demand with limited budgets.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by astra

85 and she uses ebook reader?
WOW!
Kudos to your mother!

Not so far fetched really... senior citizens are just glomming on to this technology as far as I can tell! Our library had a reader play day this winter. Most of the people there were new reader users. (The librarian took a hand vote to see how long people had had their readers, the vast majority had gotten 'em for Xmas.) Of the people there, I felt QUITE young at 53... I think barring one of the librarians, there was only one person younger than myself!

Seriously, everyone looked to be at *least* 10 years older than me, and one little old lady, who could've been 85 easy, had the sole NOOKcolor in the room, LOL!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Thanks for the details. That's good to know. Hopefully libraries don't increase quantities of best-sellers at the sacrifice of a more diverse selection in order to balance increased demand with limited budgets.

Other options to decrease wait times would include shorter lending periods for popular/ new releases and decreasing the number of titles you can checkout and place on hold.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My mom is in her 80s and she has a Sony Reader and really enjoys using it. But she'd be able to handle a Kindle just fine. The idea of wireless is not new to her. Ever since I was able to get her off dial-up, she'd been wireless with her laptop. So really, it's not a difficult concept to teach someone who is elderly as long as the teacher is a good teacher. Sure, a lot of elderly people can be set in their way, but that does not mean they are unable to learn something new.

Wheter the teacher is good or not is not important when the pupil just stares at their hands or out of the window because they are technophobic.

My mum hates technic. Period. She had a secretary all her life so she never even learned to handle an electric typewriter. The housekeeper managed the battery changes and the likes. She just refuses to learn the simplest things. And I can't blame her. There is no need for her to surf the internet or record, download anything. She does not like computers or anything that reminds her of a computer and does not want to learn about them.

Also I have not said elderly people can't learn anything new. I just said the way Amazon Kindle Germany works now, is nothing my mom could handle and I assume there a lots of older folks like her. None of her girlfriends would be able to do so at the moment and none of them would care to learn it.

If it comes already loaded with the books it will be ok. But loading something themselves and browsing an online store that says, please go to our American site to order something, will be asking too much.

[angpsi]

Hello all,

Although I have no experience whatsoever with ebook readers, I'm looking to buy one for my girlfriend as a birthday present. After a week's thorough research I've decided against the Kindle 3, and for the Sony readers, especially the 350 which looks really nice and cute (in pink!). My main concern then is the size factor, since it seems the mainstream goes for 6'': would you advise me against the 5'' of the 350? I'd easily go for the 650, it's still within my price range if it really makes a difference. Otherwise I'll probably go for the 350 because of the cute'n'pink aesthetics!

Btw, if anyone has an actual experience and thinks that pink is hideous please tell me so! It seems cute in pics, but I haven't seen it live yet! :-D

[Pomtroll]

Originally Posted by angpsi

Hello all,

Although I have no experience whatsoever with ebook readers, I'm looking to buy one for my girlfriend as a birthday present. After a week's thorough research I've decided against the Kindle 3, and for the Sony readers, especially the 350 which looks really nice and cute (in pink!). My main concern then is the size factor, since it seems the mainstream goes for 6'': would you advise me against the 5'' of the 350? I'd easily go for the 650, it's still within my price range if it really makes a difference. Otherwise I'll probably go for the 350 because of the cute'n'pink aesthetics!

Btw, if anyone has an actual experience and thinks that pink is hideous please tell me so! It seems cute in pics, but I haven't seen it live yet! :-D

I my pink Sony 350. But the pink is not a pink pink but more the color of deep raspberry/pink. Very attractive. I have larger e-readers but pretty much read on my 350 now. It is easy to read with & easier & lighter to carry around. Even with the cover on which I highly recommend you get.

[randyflycaster]

I bought a Sony because I wanted to take books out of the library. Also, I liked that the 350 was the smallest, lightest ereader I could find.

Once I started using my Sony I loved the touch screen.

Having said that, on the NYC subways I've only seen one other person with a Sony. Most have Kindles. Some have Nooks; so I too wonder if the Sony reader will survive.

I certainly hope it does.

[astra]

Originally Posted by angpsi

My main concern then is the size factor, since it seems the mainstream goes for 6''

For me anything smaller than 6" would not work. 5" is too small. I would love to have 8" but Sony doesn't it. So, 6" is a bare minimum.

[Miss Understood]

Originally Posted by angpsi

Hello all,

Although I have no experience whatsoever with ebook readers, I'm looking to buy one for my girlfriend as a birthday present. After a week's thorough research I've decided against the Kindle 3, and for the Sony readers, especially the 350 which looks really nice and cute (in pink!). My main concern then is the size factor, since it seems the mainstream goes for 6'': would you advise me against the 5'' of the 350? I'd easily go for the 650, it's still within my price range if it really makes a difference. Otherwise I'll probably go for the 350 because of the cute'n'pink aesthetics!

Btw, if anyone has an actual experience and thinks that pink is hideous please tell me so! It seems cute in pics, but I haven't seen it live yet! :-D

I am completely with my pink PRS350. I don't have any issue with the size, as a matter of fact the smaller form factor appealed to me so that it would be easy to carry in my smallest purse. I highly recommend the 350 - I also got the Sony 350 cover for my reader so that I didn't have to worry about the screen being damaged in my purse.

[Kore]

Originally Posted by angpsi

Hello all,

Although I have no experience whatsoever with ebook readers, I'm looking to buy one for my girlfriend as a birthday present. After a week's thorough research I've decided against the Kindle 3, and for the Sony readers, especially the 350 which looks really nice and cute (in pink!). My main concern then is the size factor, since it seems the mainstream goes for 6'': would you advise me against the 5'' of the 350? I'd easily go for the 650, it's still within my price range if it really makes a difference. Otherwise I'll probably go for the 350 because of the cute'n'pink aesthetics!

Btw, if anyone has an actual experience and thinks that pink is hideous please tell me so! It seems cute in pics, but I haven't seen it live yet! :-D

Your girlfriend will love the 350's size. I know I love mine!

[Poppaea]

I like the 350 better than the 650. It is easier to hold with one hand and fits in every purse or pocket.

[carpetmojo]

Sony's competitive future ?

Well, to be honest, not desperately helped by the news that 77 million Playstation customer's details, credit card & personal, have been hacked.

That's worldwide - only 3 million here in the UK.

To be fair, they have apologised.


That's Sony have apologised, not the hackers.


'Cos that would be silly, wouldn't it...............