First ever Harry Potter e-books tied to new Sony reader

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I think it's a brilliant move on Sony's part. What could Kindle do to counter, I wonder? Maybe offer different genre editions with a selection of mysteries, a science fiction edition, a western edition, a romance edition, etc. Picking the books would be a chore, but magazines are fond of doing "100 best" lists so those lists could be a start.

Sony have done a number of "special editions" with themed content in the past.

[anamardoll]

If they release a PRS-350 with an SD card slot, I'll buy it. But that true regardless of the HP content that may or may not be on the device.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I don't need a new e-reader and I don't need to re-read Harry Potter that soon. I'm sure some people will be excited about it. I don't really get how releasing one's books on a single device is revolutionary. The Gutenberg press, now that was revolutionary.

Rowling's probably making a ton of money for the charity which is a good thing.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I don't see the fad with Google Books myself. But I'd love to see/hear more about those readers....

It's not a 'fad' for me - I do a lot of historical research, and Google Books is one of the best places to find contemporaneous sources.

Nothing like reading about the Civil War or slavery by the folks who were there.

(That, and I just like old books, and GB has a TON. For free. Kid. Candy store. You get the picture.)

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I think it's a brilliant move on Sony's part.

I do agree it's a brilliant move for Sony. Just the custom cover alone would sell oodles of the Sony Reader bundles to collectors who have no plans of ever reading ebook versions. I just think it's not a very nice move on Rowling's part to further add an artificial wait time for fans who have been wanting to purchase Harry Potter in ebook format for quite a while.

Of course, there's still a chance that the article may be wrong about having to wait until 2012 if you don't plan on getting the reader.

[anamardoll]

I'm wondering if the books will be made available on Overdrive for libraries.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I do agree it's a brilliant move for Sony. Just the custom cover alone would sell oodles of the Sony Reader bundles to collectors who have no plans of ever reading ebook versions. I just think it's not a very nice move on Rowling's part to further add an artificial wait time for fans who have been wanting to purchase Harry Potter in ebook format for quite a while.

Of course, there's still a chance that the article may be wrong about having to wait until 2012 if you don't plan on getting the reader.

The article is confusing - first it says the ebooks will be available on Pottermore in October, but if you wait a month you can get the bundle with the Sony reader.

Then it says you have to wait until 2012 to get the ebooks without the Sony reader.

So color me confused.

Which also implies that the new Sony(s) won't be out until November, either. Sigh.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by khalleron

The article is confusing - first it says the ebooks will be available on Pottermore in October, but if you wait a month you can get the bundle with the Sony reader.

Then it says you have to wait until 2012 to get the ebooks without the Sony reader.

So color me confused.

Which also implies that the new Sony(s) won't be out until November, either. Sigh.

The article is pretty poorly written. I *think* what they are saying is that: (1) in October, you will be able to read HP on the Pottermore site - but nowhere else. IOW, it will be online only. (2) In November, you will be able to buy a Sony bundled with the HP books. This will be the only way to read HP other than online. (Presumably the books are preloaded and you are not buying them from Pottermore or elsewhere). (3) In 2012, Pottermore will begin selling the books for download and you will be able to read the books on all other readers (including current Sony readers).

This does seem like a coup for Sony, although I really wonder about pricing. If Sony's new reader is priced like its current readers - $350 for a 6" model - and it can sell the bundled HP books for $10 each ($70), buying a new HP Sony will run $420 - over $300 more than a K3 wifi costs now. I think that's a pretty hard sell.

Of course, if Sony's new readers are much less expensive than their current models, this won't be an issue...I think a lot more people would be tempted if they could get a new sony + the complete HP oeuvre for, say, $200.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by khalleron

It's not a 'fad' for me - I do a lot of historical research, and Google Books is one of the best places to find contemporaneous sources.

Nothing like reading about the Civil War or slavery by the folks who were there.

(That, and I just like old books, and GB has a TON. For free. Kid. Candy store. You get the picture.)

Well, maybe it's because I'm not US based. For me, Google Books is just a stack of a few pages of a few books and mostly just reviews...

[EowynCarter]

I just think it's not a very nice move on Rowling's part to further add an artificial wait time for fans who have been wanting to purchase Harry Potter in ebook format for quite a while.

Yeap. It won't help e-reader's sales (Yeah, I've already waited that long, what a few more months). But will eventually alienate some meaning to buy the books.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

This does seem like a coup for Sony, although I really wonder about pricing. If Sony's new reader is priced like its current readers - $350 for a 6" model - and it can sell the bundled HP books for $10 each ($70), buying a new HP Sony will run $420 - over $300 more than a K3 wifi costs now. I think that's a pretty hard sell.

Of course, if Sony's new readers are much less expensive than their current models, this won't be an issue...I think a lot more people would be tempted if they could get a new sony + the complete HP oeuvre for, say, $200.

I don't care about the books at all (not a HP fan), but a top of the line Sony pre-loaded with something like 7 tome sized books for $200 catches my attention.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Well, maybe it's because I'm not US based. For me, Google Books is just a stack of a few pages of a few books and mostly just reviews...

That's too bad - you really don't know what you're missing.

[Scott Nicholson]

Definitely interesting--even with this one significant exclusive, though, the Sony store is sorely lacking and primitive. While it will certainly grab some of the Potterheads who have been mulling the leap to digital, I don't see it instantly making Sony a significant player int he device wars--the hardcore audience has already made their decisions for Kindle and Nook, for the most part.

Still, this is ultimately a content war, not a device war. And score one for Sony, but Amazon is rapidly expanding its roster of exclusives--certainly nothing on the order of Rowling, but they are coming, and the stack is growing. Sony gets a boost for Christmas but in all the stores I enter, it's the Kindle and Nook for sale, not the Sony--so unless they have a big Walmart push planned, I don't see a significant shift in the landscape.

But I'm out of the predictions game because it's all Wild Wild West.

[anamardoll]

Sony really does need to redo their store. I'm fairly certain that most Sony Reader owners on Mobile Reads buy from other stores -- am I wrong? Does anyone use the Sony store?

I dislike having to use their Reader app to buy and download to my computer. B&N and Kobo let me download directly from the internet store, and Amazon apparently does that too (I'm not quite sure how, but I'm assured you can), so why can't Sony get onboard?

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Sony really does need to redo their store. I'm fairly certain that most Sony Reader owners on Mobile Reads buy from other stores -- am I wrong? Does anyone use the Sony store? ........

Well, nobody in UK does - we don't have a choice, 'cos we havent got it !

(Is it available elsewhere in Europe ?)