Some news about the new Kindle Reader from China

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

Your ipad is the entry level model. It goes pro > air > mini > ipad.

Entry level? Hardly. Top of the line, not entry level. I neglected to type Pro in my post. All 12.9" iPads are Pros.

[tomsem]

Citing number of posts on Reddit as ‘evidence’ is anecdotal as best. That’s a self selecting group and in no way statistically significant. People go there to discuss things they are interested in with people sharing those same interests. Just like here.

Another line of evidence is decline in number of books read in the general population. I think Pew also has surveys for that.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by tomsem

This article summarizes eReader sales (citing Statistica and Pew research):

https://justpublishingadvice.com/the...a-rapid-death/

2 quotes from that article:

"If you own a Kindle from 2009, you will know that it is almost the same as the current model.

In fact, I believe my old 2nd gen Kindle is better, as it came with an audio connector, which was removed from later models."

Not really correct. There is a vast difference in reading quality from the K2, which I owned, and the current Paperwhite and Oasis. Granted, the leaps forward have not been as quick and broad as some tech. But much of that, if I understand correctly, is a limitation of the hardware.

Newer Kindles offer Bluetooth, so the audio feature has changed, but hasn't been removed.

The K2 was heavy, large, slow, and lacked a front light. It was wonderful in 2009. The audio features are a non-starter for a user like me, who wants to read, not listen to books. Users who want to listen to audio books will use a cell phone or tablet, because they are more well suited to audio.

The market is changing, but the idea that e-readers are "dying a rapid death" is just a bit hyperbolic.

I don't see the need, for myself, to buy a new Kindle, because they haven't changed much in the last 3 years. But saying current Kindles are the same as what was offered in 2009 is just incorrect. I am one user who will never prefer reading on a backlit device in a dark bedroom. I just can't do that.

[tomsem]

I don’t agree with many of the opinions in the article. I should have just put in links to the 2 studies instead which suggest sales of eReaders are declining.

[JSWolf]

The Kindle at 800x600 is obsolete technology. Why would anyone buy one?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by tomsem

This article summarizes eReader sales (citing Statistica and Pew research):

https://justpublishingadvice.com/the...a-rapid-death/

Citing number of posts on Reddit as ‘evidence’ is anecdotal as best. That’s a self selecting group and in no way statistically significant. People go there to discuss things they are interested in with people sharing those same interests. Just like here.

Another line of evidence is decline in number of books read in the general population. I think Pew also has surveys for that.

It's true that Reddit is anecdotal and self selecting and that larger phones mean CASUAL readers read ebooks on phones. Also more than 1/2 of ebook readers use a phone or tablet.

But the big differences from 2009 are 167 dpi to 300 dpi. The frontlight is good. Touch is good. Audio is near irrelevant it you want to read.

The 167 dpi to 300 dpi (or 167 to 260 approx) is a huge difference on 6" to 10" ereaders.

Any phone does audio (music or audio books) better than any ereader. I have KK3 and DXG with 3.5mm audio sockets. It costs €6 to add USB audio to a PW3 (I 've tested it) and my son has a PW4 (BT Audio) and my Mars has audio jack and BT audio. I don't use audio on any of my ereaders. Hardly anyone uses an eInk for music or audio books, they use a phone and an App. Even a €20 feature phone does audio with a better GUI than an ereader and is more convenient.

The article is very poor and about five years out of date. Also does Amazon even release stats on real Kindle sales, vs app vs Fire (a tablet with an App)?

The cost is an issue. A decent 6" phone is about €100. A decent ereader is €150 to €220.

[Deskisamess]

You could buy 8-10 Kindles for the price of a new iPhone or Galaxy cell phone.

[tomsem]

Okay I see this thread has gone off the rails a bit, as is so often the case. I’ve already expressed my regret for linking the crappy article, okay? No need to pile on. I’m going to remove the reference.

And yes, only Amazon/Kobo/B&N/Pocketbook etc can give us real sales numbers. They never will. They’ll either keep shipping new models, because they see opportunity to sell them profitably, or they won’t.

Amazon hasn’t shipped a new model in a couple of years. Their Kindle device sales may even be stable. But the vast majority of their Lab 126 R&D budget is going to Echo devices and FireTV, not Kindle. That’s where they see opportunities for growth and also for getting more customer data and larger revenue streams. That’s not the case for Kindle.

Which is why (getting back to the OT) I am looking forward to learning if this rumor is true.

[AlaVander]

Originally Posted by tomsem

What is with ‘LED backlight’? Kindles do not have that. Assume something is lost in translation?

This is indeed a translation error. It should be a light guide plate - its function is to evenly distribute the light emitted by LEDs on the screen.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

I almost wonder if this is something along the lines of a Voyage 2 in that it might slot between the PW and the Oasis?

That's what I was thinking (hoping). A 6.8" Voyage with warm LEDs would be nice.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by rcentros

That's what I was thinking (hoping). A 6.8" Voyage with a warm color screen would be nice.

I’d like that too.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

You could buy 8-10 Kindles for the price of a new iPhone or Galaxy cell phone.

And you can buy more Kobos then Kindles as Kobos are less expensive then Kindles.

For $1,000 you can buy 4 Kindle Oasis and 5 Kobo Libra.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

You could buy 8-10 Kindles for the price of a new iPhone or Galaxy cell phone.

But you can buy more decent smart phones than decent Kindles or Kobos (decent = no adverts and 300 dpi, not basic 167 dpi with adverts) that aren't Apple or Samsung. The two most expensive well known brands.

[Josieb1]

Every now and again I try and read my books on a tablet using iBooks and Kindle apps. Neither are a good enough substitute for an even basic e-reader. It’s just not the same.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And you can buy more Kobos then Kindles as Kobos are less expensive then Kindles.

For $1,000 you can buy 4 Kindle Oasis and 5 Kobo Libra.

I had a Kobo Glo HD for a while, sold it on eBay. I used it for about a year. The only feature it had that I miss on a Kindle is the swipe up/down near the left bezel to adjust the front light.

But in day to day use, I found it more temperamental and glitchy than any Kindle I've ever had. It liked to lock up, usually in the middle of a reading session at night. It happened enough to really sour me on the device.