Apple... Potential Kindle Killer?

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by Gideon

This rumor comes out before every Apple event.

Personally, if such a thing were true, I'd give my right arm for it!

And yes, I think it'd destroy the Kindle and like devices. I'm a big proponent of eInk and I love it and hate reading on an LCD like my laptop or my iphone, but if Apple came out with a tablet like that... most people are going to go for it. And I can't blame them, if it had a long enough battery life I'd probably switch too! Just the sheer of convenience of one device would overshadow the eInk aspect.

But aside from me... I think it would be a 'kindle killer' as most people would prefer an integrated device that isn't as good over a 400 dedicated eReader.

Dedicated eReaders are an endangered species from the getgo. Once tech comes out that can do a good job doing that and other things, it'll be over. And it's not THAT far off.

Dear Gideon:

Yes, with most tech devices almost all of the Early Adopters are 20 something.

BUT... there is an anomoly with the eBook Reader. People aged 18-29 are less than 10% of the eBook Reader market. Perhaps they read less or have better things to do.

But, what is a bit shocking is that 51% of all eBook Reader sales are by the Baby Boomers at 50 and up. They are not seen as looking for convergence and the latest tech wizardry. They are looking for DEDICATED eBook Readers that are rather basic. Touch, Phone Convergence, PC support, Bluetooth, 3G is not a major plus for these people. Then you consider that tiny screens are not a plus for those with older eyes.

People have been crying "End of the Dedicated eBook Reader" for five years.
They are not going away and in fact are HOT now as older prople aren't as ready to drive to the book store, have a starbucks and hook up. In fact, audio books dropped 29% in 2008 and print books were down 31%. eBooks were up 171%.

I do not see eBook Readers going away. I see them mushrooming in sales though. You cannot make judgements without understanding the composition of the early adopters... and they are almost ALL older and still having a blast just enjoying life and counting on books as the great escape.

By the way, all statistics courtesy of Amazon and the IDPF.

[All4Fun]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If it's from Apple, the battery life will be awful. Apple blew that big time with the iPod Touch and iPhone. Apple makes good looking hardware with poor performance in the real world.

Ipod Touch's and iPhone's may not have the best battery life but they continue to sell in droves vs. their comparable competition. Why? Likely because of the "coolness" factor of owning an Apple product and because they are indeed designed very well.

Heck, I'm even interested in the rumoured "tablet" or "media pad". Why? Because I expect Apple will come out with something that is designed very well, multifunctional and that the "cool" folks will want (as superficial as it sounds, it does play a role when buying Apple products).

Audiophiles may not want the ipod and avid ebook readers may not want the new Apple "tablet or media pad" but that's a very small percentage of the people vs. the casual user who buys ipods and iphones. It's those same casual users that will considering buying the Apple "tablet or media pad", not care about e-ink, not care if the battery dies after 4 hours (or whatever) but have the ability to read on a decent size, aesthetically pleasing, multifunctional device and will pay the Apple tax for it.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by Alphapheemail

Hello.

A lot of the members may know already that apple is whispering about coming out with its own e-reader. The news "will" come out in this year's World Wide Developer's Conference (June 8th). Usually when apple does this pre-launch launch is because of the "gossip factor" it creates beforehand.

Rrrrrriiiiight,

except it's usually not Apple but largely clueless bloggers and forums who create these rumors solely to get more clicks and in 99.9% of all cases these turn out to be dead wrong.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by All4Fun

Ipod Touch's and iPhone's may not have the best battery life but they continue to sell in droves vs. their comparable competition. Why? Likely because of the "coolness" factor of owning an Apple product and because they are indeed designed very well.

Heck, I'm even interested in the rumoured "tablet" or "media pad". Why? Because I expect Apple will come out with something that is designed very well, multifunctional and that the "cool" folks will want (as superficial as it sounds, it does play a role when buying Apple products).

Audiophiles may not want the ipod and avid ebook readers may not want the new Apple "tablet or media pad" but that's a very small percentage of the people vs. the casual user who buys ipods and iphones. It's those same casual users that will considering buying the Apple "tablet or media pad", not care about e-ink, not care if the battery dies after 4 hours (or whatever) but have the ability to read on a decent size, aesthetically pleasing, multifunctional device and will pay the Apple tax for it.

Apple said that 'we cannot make a device for $500 that's not a piece of junk' or something similarly laughable idiotic BS when asked about the crazy success netbooks (eg ASUS' eeePC) enojoy - clearly a bitter answer from a company that, short on competitive product to sell, jealously watching from the sideline as others sell by the pund, making money hand over fist.

So far their usual snobbery only helped Apple to plateau with their sales - PC sales are up, Mac sales are slightly down so it would make sense if they would bring out something more exciting than - also rumored - price cuts and yet-another-cat-named version of OS X...

[mores]

Must agree with Gideon. Great battery life on my Macbook Pro.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by kamm

Apple said that 'we cannot make a device for $500 that's not a piece of junk' or something similarly laughable idiotic BS....

So far their usual snobbery....

Did you short their stock, or something?

Apple has a great brand, generally good, well-designed products, and generally good business sense. The battery life of their products is usually on par with, or better than, comparable competing devices.

I don't understand the vitriol spouted on it. If they come out with a great tablet, it would be a good thing for this market: it would spur more competition, and innovation.

Then you can buy whatever you decide best suits your needs.

[Gideon]

They are older, but I'm not sure that means anything in this particular situation. It's true that simple unitaskers are more attractive to older crowds, but Apple has done an excellent job making their devices that do everything seem simple (and are simple.)

Imagine if Apple puts out a product like 'the big ipod touch' and they have an ebook store (or just use Amazon's!) and they market it? You really think the nuance of eInk will go up against some sort of überdevice that is super easy to use and marketed properly?

This is anecdotal... but my dad, who can't even use a computer (really, at all) and for a phone used an old Nokia with tape keeping the battery on for years, was seduced into getting an iPhone and he absolutely loves it. My Mom, who is slightly more tech savy was the same way. My 70 year old professor had me come in and set hers up!

Most of them haven't even HEARD of the Kindle, and if they had, it was just on the periphery.

So it's too early to tell... but I can't imagine even Amazon able to withstand it should Apple TRY to get into this market, especially after the success of the iPhone/iPod touch. A few years ago it'd be anyone's game, of course, but... I dunno. We'll just have to see. I have no vested interest whatsoever... I'm a mercenary with tech, I have no loyalties... whoever gets the job done gets my dollar.

And if Apple produces a device like that with a store/prices like Amazon's... I'll be there. Until then, I love my Kindle and have ordered a DX already (even though I'm ticked it came out so soon, being able to read my PDF's wins.)

[Gideon]

But I'll cancel that order in a heartbeat if Apple announces that device!

[SalvaG]

... with a PixelQi display, nice!

[Jaime_Astorga]

Like most apple products, this would probably be an oversexified and overpriced device which would rely on syncing to get books into it, so I am not remotely interested in one for personal use. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see what effect, if any, it could have on the market.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Robertb

I do not see eBook Readers going away. I see them mushrooming in sales though. You cannot make judgements without understanding the composition of the early adopters... and they are almost ALL older and still having a blast just enjoying life and counting on books as the great escape.

No one's saying dedicated ereaders will go away. I think there will probably always be some around in some form for a very long time.

People are just saying that avid readers who read enough to even consider buying one are a finite niche, and will eventually be tapped and sells will level out.

The real way to expand the ebook market is in multifunction devices that appeal to more people (especially younger people who will be around longer and buying devices and content for longer) rather than just avid readers.

Multifunction devices are a boon for content providers as through one device they can sell people music, movies, videos, games, apps etc.

But dedicated readers should stick around for a long time to appeal to people (especially the older, less tech inclined set) who just want a simple, easy to use device to read on and couldn't care less about internet, movies, tv, music, games etc.

[vampmiller]

Originally Posted by Gideon

This rumor comes out before every Apple event.

Personally, if such a thing were true, I'd give my right arm for it!

Gideon, that's going to make it hard to turn pages, even on an ereader. Sacrifice a toe instead.

[pking36330]

Originally Posted by Robertb

But, what is a bit shocking is that 51% of all eBook Reader sales are by the Baby Boomers at 50 and up. They are not seen as looking for convergence and the latest tech wizardry. They are looking for DEDICATED eBook Readers that are rather basic.

Uh...Robert, I'm in that demographic and I'll thank you kindly not to generalize that all Baby Boomers want dedicated devices instead of multi-function devices. Geeks grow old too and we want the latest and greatest even though we're often lumped together with the Luddites of our age.

Personally, I can't wait for the Apple Netbook and think it will be the convergence device to settle my craving for an ebook reader, recliner web-surfer, and garage media center.


I'm hoping CRAVE is correct on their Apple rumor.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by pking36330

Uh...Robert, I'm in that demographic and I'll thank you kindly not to generalize that all Baby Boomers want dedicated devices instead of multi-function devices. Geeks grow old too and we want the latest and greatest even though we're often lumped together with the Luddites of our age.

Personally, I can't wait for the Apple Netbook and think it will be the convergence device to settle my craving for an ebook reader, recliner web-surfer, and garage media center.


I'm hoping CRAVE is correct on their Apple rumor.

This was beaten to death zillion times last year, when it surfaced - it's a fake pic.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by Gideon

Their laptops are also very efficient.

No, they are not.

My Macbook gets almost 4 hours per charge, and that's a lot less than the new one coming out that gets something like 8 or so.

Ummmm...
...my wife's Macbook is the last Blackbook (2008) and it barely gets over 2 hrs. I also happen to be in charge of a company's entire IT/tech dept and never encountered any Mac laptop with 4 hours per charge (we do not throttle these machines any way.)