Amazon is destroying e-reader innovation

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I think speech recognition is certainly doable, I'm just not sure if it's practical from a usability perspective. Many people read on public transit, which would not only require discrimination circuits, but would probably annoy people around the reader.

My car sat nav has speech recognition, and I frequently find that when I yell invectives at idiot drivers, as I frequently do, it triggers the voice command interface of the sat nav . In particular, if I say "Come On!", when someone's sitting there not moving at a green light, it triggers the sat nav's command interface, which is the word "Command".

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Kobo need not worry about Apple getting into eink.
Apple already has the reading device they want: it's the iPad mini.
If Amazon doesn't believe eink is the end-all of reading devices, why would Apple?

You know what I meant. It was an example of how a product can be positioned into the high-end market without having to disclose huge spec lists to impress people.

Right now LCD is evolving way faster than eink and I'm starting to suspect LCD will match eink power use long before eink ever gets fast saturated color at a viable cost. The red flag is Amazon buying Luquavista. As eink's biggest customer, would they have done that if they saw good color eink on the horizon?

Probably, but will those devices, also be readable in bright light? That is the nr. 1 Achilles heel of an LCD-device as primairy reader. I could live with only 24 hours of battery power for example, but not with an unreadable display.

And remember, while outdoor readability is a great eink marketting point (Amazon exploits it nicely in their commercials) it really hasn't stopped zillions of folks from reading on tablets. It argues for nichedom more than a must have...

Yeah, and those zillions are just [....], [....] and [.... #$%@^@], who don't now what they are missing. Squinting at an almost unreadable display while reading feels a bit counterproductive to me.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

My car sat nav has speech recognition, and I frequently find that when I yell invectives at idiot drivers, as I frequently do, it triggers the voice command interface of the sat nav . In particular, if I say "Come On!", when someone's sitting there not moving at a green light, it triggers the sat nav's command interface, which is the word "Command".

LOL.

"Come on! Bastard!"
- "Recalculating route to Bastard, Tromsø Norway..."
- "In 100 meters, go left."
"Come on! Go to hell!"
- "Recalculating route to Hell, Michigan..."

Unusual place names

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

You just have to do a bit of research and be willing to run a bit of a risk. Which usually is no risk.

(On the other hand I would never buy any camera or audio gear from small outfits based in Brooklyn. That rarely ends well.)

My first Prs-650 died 2 months after the warranty ran out. Nothing is made to last these days.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Yeah, and those zillions are just [....], [....] and [.... #$%@^@], who don't now what they are missing. Squinting at an almost unreadable display while reading feels a bit counterproductive to me.

What on earth are you talking about?! People really need to stop projecting their personal preferences onto the public at large.

I find my LCD tablet infinitely "readable." Under any and all of my typical reading conditions. No squinting involved. Clearly I'm not alone. So why do you insist on suggesting that we're somehow "settling" for something inferior? I've owned (and still own) eink devices and simply don't prefer reading on them. Get over yourself.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

LOL.

"Come on! Go left!"
- "Recalculating route...."
- "In 100 meters, go left."
"#$%@#%# you!"
- "Input not recognized. Try again without swearing. Thank you."

It's one reason I'd be wary of a self-driving car with a voice interface. Imagine the damage that could result there!

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by 6charlong

There seem to be other ideas in this long thread but I believe the issue derives from the way capitalism and socialism are alike in that they both destroy the free enterprise sector, which is where innovation really takes place.

It would be best if there were 10 or 12 small ebook vendors, each innovating different ways to attract customers, but the way the ebook economy developed in the US no one has the capital to overcome Amazon's dominance, hence there seems to be little or no innovation available to the US consumer. (It happens because typically, large or small, companies are reluctant to innovate ideas that compete with their own product design.

I agree. The market has led to a dominant behemoth which is not interested in offering choice.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Rizla

That has not been my experience. The customs / import fees on top of the fee (often exorbitant and unjustified) of the courier makes for a big fat surcharge.

How much?

In Sweden when I bought my Gen3 it was 25% VAT plus courier cost or postage cost.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I agree. The market has led to a dominant behemoth which is not interested in offering choice.

Amazon are interested in selling content. The reading device is simply the way to do that, which is why it is sold at cost price and is as simple as possible a device. That leaves room in the market for other manufacturers to produce devices with premium features at premium prices. Whether or not such a market actually exists is for those manufacturers to determine, but it's not Amazon's "fault".

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

What on earth are you talking about?! People really need to stop projecting their personal preferences onto the public at large.

I find my LCD tablet infinitely "readable." Under any and all of my typical reading conditions. No squinting involved. Clearly I'm not alone. So why do you insist on suggesting that we're somehow "settling" for something inferior? I've owned (and still own) eink devices and simply don't prefer reading on them. Get over yourself.

Under any and all of *YOUR* typical reading conditions, which are, as you have stated numerous times, mostly at home, in the same chair.

*MY* typical reading conditions are that I don't know the conditions, and more often than not, especially in summer and when the sun shines in winter, they are very bright. They are often bright enough to make the display of my phone almost look like it's off, let alone my tablet, which is not as bright as the phone.

So what I was talking about are the people who choose a tablet to read on, *despite* this not being the best choice for the given condition.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I agree. The market has led to a dominant behemoth which is not interested in offering choice.

That simply isn't true. As Harry said, Amazon is primarily a content seller, not a device seller. Cutting down choice is the last thing they want to do because they want everyone to be able to buy their content.

As it is, I have more choice in devices on which to read Amazon content than any other competitor. There are Amazon choices for people with Windows, Android, and iOS portable devices; there are Amazon choices for Windows and Apple computers.

If anyone produced a standalone large e-ink tablet with app support, Amazon would probably put the Kindle app on it, too.

They want lots of devices, but they don't care which particular ones.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

So what I was talking about are the people who choose a tablet to read on, *despite* this not being the best choice for the given condition.

Oh, so you were only talking about the *zillions* of tablet readers who are clearly incompetent idiots, then? Well that's different.

I prefer to think that most people (especially readers) are perfectly capable of choosing the *best* device for their preferred reading conditions/habits all by themselves.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I prefer to think that most people (especially readers) are perfectly capable of choosing the *best* device for their preferred reading conditions/habits all by themselves.

One point which I think is valid here is that the overwhelming majority of people buy multi-purpose devices which can read, but also be used for email, web browsing, watching video, playing games, etc. The market for dedicated reading device is tiny by comparison.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Oh, so you were only talking about the *zillions* of tablet readers who are clearly incompetent idiots, then? Well that's different.

Yes.

I prefer to think that most people (especially readers) are perfectly capable of choosing the *best* device for their preferred reading conditions/habits all by themselves.

I beg to differ... When looking around in public transport, I see quite a lot of people reading on a 7 inch tablet (I assume they are reading because they often only touch the screen once in a while), while squinting and turning the tablet this way and that to keep glare off the screen.

Those are the people that seem to need an e-reader, but bought a tablet because it can do more, and now often use it in conditions it's not fit to handle well.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Yes.



I beg to differ... When looking around in public transport, I see quite a lot of people reading on a 7 inch tablet (I assume they are reading because they often only touch the screen once in a while), while squinting and turning the tablet this way and that to keep glare off the screen.

Those are the people that seem to need an e-reader, but bought a tablet because it can do more, and now often use it in conditions it's not fit to handle well.

Fair enough, I took my Kindle to the beach and left my tablet at home for that very reason. However, the question you have to ask yourself is what proportion of their tablet use time are you seeing? It may be that even though it's sub-optimal for reading in those conditions, that only makes up 10-15% of their total use time, and the benefits of having a single device (and the additional functions a tablet offers which they may take advantage of at other times) outweigh the reading issues they have while taking transit?