Your recommendations please

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What people FORGET is that Amazon has a KNOWN history of screwing people when it comes to eBooks. Amazon at one point sold eBooks. Amazon then decided to stop selling eBooks and everyone eBook library was emptied so if you needed to redownload due to updating the computer or what not, you were truly screwed. So Amazon has a big black mark against them as far as eBooks go. Way to go Amazon.

No argument. My point is simply that big outfits need big numbers to justify doing something. Management is essentially the custodian of Other People's Money, with a responsibility to invest funds where they will get the best return. Corporations fold underperforming divisions and exit lines of business that aren't producing the desired returns on a regular basis.

Given that, it's possible that Sony or Amazon might decide the ebook experiment wasn't working out, and decide to exit the business. I would class Sony as more likely to pull the plug, because they are approaching the business from a different direction than Amazon.

Sony makes consumer electronic devices. They are a B2B firm, normally selling to retailers who sell to users. They decided to make a dedicated ebook reader, and had to create the infrastructure to provide content for it and sell directly to the consumer, and arrange for content it could display.

Amazon distributes a wide variety of products to end users. They already had the infrastructure for selling directly to consumers. They were also already a major book seller, with existing contacts with publishers whose paper books they sold. They could design a dedicated ebook reader, contract the manufacture to an offshore vendor, sell it through their site, and use their publishing connections to arrange for content it could display. Publishers were reassured by DRM provisions, and Amazon would do the actual sales and distribution, relieving publishers of the need to set up to sell directly to consumers. They could deal with Amazon like any other wholesaler, distributor, or retail chain they dealt with, and they didn't face the prospect of returns.

I see Sony's motivation in creating the reader as having yet another consumer device to sell, which required obtaining content for the device. I see Amazon's motivation as being able to sell yet another variety of content, which required having a device to display it.

Essentially, for Sony, I think it's about the Reader, whereas for Amazon, I think it's about the ebooks. This makes me feel Amazon is more likely to be in for the long haul than Sony.

(And if the Kindle experiment and ebooks work out, I'd expect to see more along those lines. How about an Amazon branded video player, with movies available at better than elsewhere prices from Amazon if you have their player?)
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Dennis
Who actually hopes both the Kindle and the Sony Reader are sold/supported for a long time, even if he isn't interested in either.

[jerryleejr]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

No argument. My point is simply that big outfits need big numbers to justify doing something. Management is essentially the custodian of Other People's Money, with a responsibility to invest funds where they will get the best return. Corporations fold underperforming divisions and exit lines of business that aren't producing the desired returns on a regular basis.

Given that, it's possible that Sony or Amazon might decide the ebook experiment wasn't working out, and decide to exit the business. I would class Sony as more likely to pull the plug, because they are approaching the business from a different direction than Amazon.

Sony makes consumer electronic devices. They are a B2B firm, normally selling to retailers who sell to users. They decided to make a dedicated ebook reader, and had to create the infrastructure to provide content for it and sell directly to the consumer, and arrange for content it could display.

Amazon distributes a wide variety of products to end users. They already had the infrastructure for selling directly to consumers. They were also already a major book seller, with existing contacts with publishers whose paper books they sold. They could design a dedicated ebook reader, contract the manufacture to an offshore vendor, sell it through their site, and use their publishing connections to arrange for content it could display. Publishers were reassured by DRM provisions, and Amazon would do the actual sales and distribution, relieving publishers of the need to set up to sell directly to consumers. They could deal with Amazon like any other wholesaler, distributor, or retail chain they dealt with, and they didn't face the prospect of returns.

I see Sony's motivation in creating the reader as having yet another consumer device to sell, which required obtaining content for the device. I see Amazon's motivation as being able to sell yet another variety of content, which required having a device to display it.

Essentially, for Sony, I think it's about the Reader, whereas for Amazon, I think it's about the ebooks. This makes me feel Amazon is more likely to be in for the long haul than Sony.

(And if the Kindle experiment and ebooks work out, I'd expect to see more along those lines. How about an Amazon branded video player, with movies available at better than elsewhere prices from Amazon if you have their player?)
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Dennis
Who actually hopes both the Kindle and the Sony Reader are sold/supported for a long time, even if he isn't interested in either.

Yeah what he said!!

JJ

[Falbe Publishing]

Hi,

What an interesting discussion I sparked, mostly trashing Sony (which is fine). I'd just like say that I consider any consumer electronic purchase to be risky. I assume the device won't be supported in any way. I assume that it will become obsolete. I assume that once the company (Sony or otherwise) gets my money I'm on my own with my little techno toy.

I don't care if there's a Sony ebook store or not.

And to the person who did not quite see why I though Kindle's wireless shopping was a negative, it is just a negative for me. I wanted to avoid the temptation of being able to buy wirelessly. It's easier on my wallet if shopping is inconvenient or at least requires me firing up the desktop computer. Impulse buying of books/ebooks is a condition I work to control.

[Alisa]

With the Kindle, I impulse sample rather than impulse buy. At least it's free. By the time I've finished the sample, it's no longer an impulse decision. I get what you mean, though. I have always had a hard time saying no to books. I can resist just about any other kind of impulse spending aside from that. The "1-click" system on Amazon has been my downfall many times before.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Rita99

Hi guy,
That one seems really good.,but also you could search it on ebay,there would be so many for you!!

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Dennis