One Store to Rule Them All? or: Can Anyone Stop Amazon ?

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

These would be better points if: (1) 80% of the e-book market weren't in the US

Where on earth did you get that figure from?!

[MrTeatime]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

for PC crashes every time I open a book under wine

What version of Wine and Kindle4PC are you using? I've got Kindle un-drm'ing working flawlessly under Kubuntu 11.04 (which comes with Wine 1.2.2) using an old version of Kindle4PC ("v1.0 Beta 1 (23358)", apparently), if that helps.

[spindlegirl]

I can't remember - and I don't even like using wine unless I have to. It's an old version. I don't use Ubuntu, but rather Debian. At any rate, the material I have from amazon are their freebies, which are a great way for me to sample what formats I have to deal with. I'm cool putting up with it because it is free, but I'd be quite upset if this were materials I had to pay for. When it comes to stuff I pay for I have higher standards.

[MoodRing]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Amazon is not unstoppable. But they won't be stopped while their competition is playing catch-up, or while the competition is trying to just copy Amazon. They will be stopped when the competition comes up with a better plan and can execute it perfectly.

The execution is the hard part - anyone can come up with an idea, but actually putting it into practice is much much harder. See, e.g., Pottermore.

I agree here totally, you just need to do your research on other websites/ companies offer deals on ebooks and kindles etc. I didnt think you could save so much, only is you go through duty free but having a look at websites such as Theebookreader.com offer reviews for the whole market of ebook readers, searching all sites for reviews and anlaysing them. It means you have other otpions other than Amazon to choose an ebook reader. Another site is Group on, which offers daily deals and sometimes you can find huge amount sof ebook readers.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by MoodRing

websites such as Theebookreader.com offer reviews for the whole market of ebook readers

How diplomatic is that site, Nook, Kindle, Kobo & Sony all get a mention for 'best e-reader for......' in their top five ereaders

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

You prefer; Bitches?

I was thinking something less offensive, myself.

I'm sure I'm not the only male here, and I'm sure few/none of the women here want to be called "bitches".

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by scrapking

I was thinking something less offensive, myself.

I'm sure I'm not the only male here, and I'm sure few/none of the women here want to be called "bitches".

Which is why I used the polite "Ladies".

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Which is why I used the polite "Ladies".

Which isn't polite at all, because many of us don't self-identify as either women OR "ladies".

Kindly stop.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Which isn't polite at all, because many of us don't self-identify as either women OR "ladies".

Kindly stop.

I do, so I'm comfortable with it.

[spindlegirl]

To address a mixed group of people in the second person form, I generally use the term "folks".

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Where on earth did you get that figure from?!

You can find it here, among other places: http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknews...-in-2010_b5638

[Phogg]

Amazon stops itself. I bought two books today and picked up a freebie.
Twenty five dollars in all. By the luck of the draw all three turned out to be .azw.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Which isn't polite at all, because many of us don't self-identify as either women OR "ladies".

Kindly stop.

I would contend that the fact that some females do not self-identify as women or ladies does not make the terms rude or impolite. I'm not sure what connotation you associate with the terms, but I'm not aware of any.

Probably be better to say, "I prefer *** to ladies." Of course, if the person is not directly addressing you, it might be best to just move on to the next post and not make a mountain out of a mole hill.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Which isn't polite at all, because many of us don't self-identify as either women OR "ladies".

Kindly stop.

That's sad.

I am a woman and a lady who expects to be referred to as such!

[tonymcfadden]

Originally Posted by calibrated

I find this whole subject somewhat odd. Amazon's the market leader right now, but that doesn't mean it will always be so. B&N/Nook, Google Ebooks, Sony, and Kobo aren't going anywhere anytime soon, and there are large parts of the world where Amazon doesn't rule the roost.

There was a time when GM held 60% of the domestic auto market, now it's 22%. Back in the 90s, Apple went crawling to Microsoft to beg them to keep making software for the Mac; today Apple is worth more than Microsoft. Things change. Don't panic.

Agreed. Most of my sales are through B&N right now (Smashwords is nothing more than a distribution hub to the non-Amazons and a place to offer promo copies.) Amazon is picking up, and there are a larger number of Amazon devices in the world so I expect the Amazonians will catch up.

Maybe as an author I'm a bit more sanguine about the whole Amazon debate. I don't care where you buy my book, as long as you enjoy it.