Apple... Potential Kindle Killer?

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by Harmon

And not a Kindle Killer. That's the thread topic, & the more I think on it, the more I see the Kindle and this hypothetical iTablet co-existing, not really competing.

Yeah, if anything it would enlarge the market for dedicated readers.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Harmon

And not a Kindle Killer. That's the thread topic, & the more I think on it, the more I see the Kindle and this hypothetical iTablet co-existing, not really competing.

Agreed. The thread title was dumb, but the discussion has long since conceded that point and moved on to talking about what impact such a device can have on expanding the ebook market etc.

Originally Posted by taosaur

Yeah, if anything it would enlarge the market for dedicated readers.

Possibly. But it's main benefit will just be getting more people into e-books, which is good for us e-reader fans as well as it gives publishes more incentive to put out more e-books, put more care into formatting etc. etc. as the market for them expands.

I don't see it spurring dedicated reader sales greatly, as for most people who don't read all that much an LCD tablet screen would be fine to read on. But there will no doubt be a few who start reading a lot and eventually want something easier on the eyes with longer battery life etc. But I wouldn't expect any real noticeable uptick in sales or anything.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Harmon

And not a Kindle Killer. That's the thread topic, & the more I think on it, the more I see the Kindle and this hypothetical iTablet co-existing, not really competing.

What would be a Kindle killer is a 9.7 or 10 inch screened eink device that does what the DX is meant to do but better.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Harmon

That said, there is one little doubtling at the edge of my mind - why don't Apps run on Macs? What if the iTablet is MacOS oriented rather than iPhone/Touch OS oriented?

I believe it's because the iphone and Macs use different CPUs (Arm & x86).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Harmon

But what you are overlooking is that Amazon shows no sign of producing a Windows version of the Kindle App.

So the choice will be:

(1) iTablet with no MobiPocket or
(2) Windows tablet with no Kindle App.

All other things being equal, (1) wins, I think.

I must respectfully disagree with you. Perhaps you're looking at things from a US perspective, but don't forget that Apple are a world wide company, and the Kindle is an irrelevence to people outside the US.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I must respectfully disagree with you. Perhaps you're looking at things from a US perspective, but don't forget that Apple are a world wide company, and the Kindle is an irrelevence to people outside the US.

Odd, since one of the most common questions I hear about the Kindle are people from outside of the US who want one. Either they are unaware of the alternative ereaders on the market, or simply view the Kindle as superior.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Odd, since one of the most common questions I hear about the Kindle are people from outside of the US who want one. Either they are unaware of the alternative ereaders on the market, or simply view the Kindle as superior.

Do they want Kindle as a piece of (superior) hardware, or access to the Amazon store and prices?

[SalvaG]

There are good alternatives to 6" e-readers, though Kindle is aesthetically one step higher, and some people prefer it.
But, for instance, now the only alternative to 10" ereaders is dr1000s. Here in Spain, it costs 700€ (980$). Kindle DX costs $489.00, so as soon as it is released, many people will use services like myus.com to buy one. So I think price is the first reason.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Odd, since one of the most common questions I hear about the Kindle are people from outside of the US who want one. Either they are unaware of the alternative ereaders on the market, or simply view the Kindle as superior.

That's down to the power of Amazon's advertising, I suspect. No matter how many people might like a Kindle, I really don't think that many people outside North America actually buy one. The Sony Reader, for example, is what dominates the European market, hence my comment that I don't personally believe that "Kindle compatibility" is a particular (or even minor) "issue" for the success of a world-wide device such as Apple are likely to produce, given that the overwhelming majority of the potential customers for such a device have no access to the Kindle.

[Alphapheemail]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I'm with Harry on this one. Jobs has said "people don't read." It doesn't really matter if he's right. What does matter is that he's saying "Apple's market target is not people who read."
~
But the people who will gravitate to the Apple device will not go there for the reading experience. They will go there for the interactive experience - movies, games, mobile communications. The people who will gravitate to the Kindle will go there to read, and do their interactive stuff on laptops.

That is not true. The majority of the people who have readers now are older people who can afford $400-700 on the spot. A 20 something year old will think about it a lot before maxing a credit card for a kindle. But I can see that same person not thinking about it so much if Apple makes a device that can appeal more to the masses i.e. a multifunctional reader. And there is no denying that Apple has youth appeal, battery life or no battery life.

I agree with you on the multimedia appeal of the Apple products but, their ipods mainly sell for music, net books mainly sell for surfing the net on the go, ect. The "Apple reader" would sell for reading books and the additional functions would be pluses that would simply seal the deal to the person.

Originally Posted by Harmon

All the posts on this topic seem to be centered around whether Apple's new device will compete with the Kindle. But another way to look at the question is whether Apple's target consumer is the same person as the Kindle target consumer.

It is and it isn't. Some people are on the fence about the kindle. A lot of the people who come up to me to ask me about my reader are always "interested in buying one." Apple would just pull in the "fence crowd," and convert some Kindle users that may not be happy with it.
Plus, the majority of the consumers never research what they are buying, so with an appropriate ad campaign Apple could gobble up the market of reader, wanna be readers, and the trendsters.

Originally Posted by Harmon

There is, however, one big factor that might make the Apple tablet the eReader of choice for some. That is that the Apple tablet has the potential to be the only truly open eReader, because it will be able to run Apps to read any filetype from any eBook provider, DRMed or not. But how many people will be interested in paying Apple prices for the marginal ability to get ebooks from other providers?

If the "hit" of the reader is big enough, someone will figure out how to "open" it so people could buy books from other providers.

Originally Posted by Harmon

And not a Kindle Killer. That's the thread topic, & the more I think on it, the more I see the Kindle and this hypothetical iTablet co-existing, not really competing.

I agree, but it would definitely affect the sales of future Kindle VersionX.X.
If my reader (which I l<3ve) expired and I had the choice between a "tablet" that can be a good reader and do other things aside that and my "dedicated" reader... i'm not picking my old reader, just like no one now would pick a dedicated mp3 player.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What would be a Kindle killer is a 9.7 or 10 inch screened eink device that does what the DX is meant to do but better.

This is not so. This KindleDX IS more for the educational crowd, which is a large market as is; but wouldn't bum rush apple stores to get the newest apple gadget. After much thought, The kindle killer would be a multipurpose reader that has style and "buzz." And I know a lot of people think the youth don't read anymore, but you would be surprised. It might not be done out in the open or might not be the Nietzsche, but it is Harry Potter and it is Twilight. So add the latest novel out there with the ability to see Beyonce live in Concert, while i'm downloading the new Green Day album; and you have the "dedicated" reader killer.

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's down to the power of Amazon's advertising, I suspect. No matter how many people might like a Kindle, I really don't think that many people outside North America actually buy one. The Sony Reader, for example, is what dominates the European market, hence my comment that I don't personally believe that "Kindle compatibility" is a particular (or even minor) "issue" for the success of a world-wide device such as Apple are likely to produce, given that the overwhelming majority of the potential customers for such a device have no access to the Kindle.

I second.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by Ankh

Do they want Kindle as a piece of (superior) hardware, or access to the Amazon store and prices?

Well the store and prices are part of the strong selling point. If Sony could match Amazon's store and prices, I'd be happy to shop from them more often. But I'm also quite happy with the Kindle hardware.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's down to the power of Amazon's advertising, I suspect. No matter how many people might like a Kindle, I really don't think that many people outside North America actually buy one. The Sony Reader, for example, is what dominates the European market, hence my comment that I don't personally believe that "Kindle compatibility" is a particular (or even minor) "issue" for the success of a world-wide device such as Apple are likely to produce, given that the overwhelming majority of the potential customers for such a device have no access to the Kindle.

But it dominates the European market because they can't *get* the Kindle easily. How many potential European customers are simply *not buying* an ereader because it's not a Kindle or Kindle-compatible, either due to preference or ignorance? (It's a rhetorical question; I don't expect anyone knows the answer.)

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Well the store and prices are part of the strong selling point.

They are, if you are comparing Kindle vs. any_other_eInk_device. However, iPhone/iTouch (iTablet?) owners do have access to the Amazon store, content and prices.

As a non-US resident, I couldn't care less for Kindle and Whispernet, if Amazon store was open for iPhone/iTouch/iTablet Canadian owners. "$75 1st generation iTouch from eBay" is not bad deal for second ebook reader.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

But it dominates the European market because they can't *get* the Kindle easily. How many potential European customers are simply *not buying* an ereader because it's not a Kindle or Kindle-compatible, either due to preference or ignorance? (It's a rhetorical question; I don't expect anyone knows the answer.)

I think it depends what country people are in.

If you're in a country with a country specific Amazon site - eg the UK, France, Germany, etc - then you won't be exposed to the "Amazon.com marketing machine" and, unless you read a site like this, probbly will have heard little or nothing about the Kindle. Naturally, sites like amazon.uk, amazon.fr, etc, do not advertise it, since they don't sell it. On the contrary, if you live in the UK and you're a regular book buyer, you will probably go into your local "Waterstones" (the bookstore chain which dominates the UK - virtually every town has one) and be bombarded with posters pushing the Sony Reader, so that's the device you'll be "aware" of.

If, on the other hand, you live a country without its own Amazon site - eg Australia - then you'll probably use "amazon.com" and hence be very aware of the Kindle. Australians are probably much more "exposed" to it than Britons are.

[cheese bogart]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

But it dominates the European market because they can't *get* the Kindle easily. How many potential European customers are simply *not buying* an ereader because it's not a Kindle or Kindle-compatible, either due to preference or ignorance? (It's a rhetorical question; I don't expect anyone knows the answer.)

There are many reasons why I wouldn't consider even buying a Kindle if it was released in Europe. But the main two are:

1: It is so ugly (obviously a personal opinion, as beauty is the eye of the beholder)

2: They are soon to be releasing there third gen (?) device the DX and they still ignore the rest of the world. Why should we be bothered with them (if they did release here) if we are only an after thought?