What DOES Kindle Store Have That Sony Reader formats don't?

Zero9 · 06-02-2009, 06:56 PM

I know there are over twice as many books available for Kindle than there are for Sony Readers. But whenever I see an eBook I'd be interested in that's available for the Kindle, it's also available for Sony Reader. I see there's a sparse KINDLE EXCLUSIVES page on Amazon, but that obviously can't be it. Isn't Amazon's reported lead something like 100,000 more books?

UPDATE: Ok, Books On Board says they "have approximately 200,000 ebook titles available in [Adobe ePub and Adobe Digital Editions] formats" which are supported by all but the first Sony Reader (PRS-500). Not counting Sony eBook Store titles that aren't available as Adobe formats at Books On Board, and not counting DRM-free books at Books On Board, this still puts Amazon's claimed lead at under 70k titles. That's getting more believable.

kelly1010 · 06-02-2009, 07:13 PM

I'm curious to find this out too.

Renaldo · 06-02-2009, 10:22 PM

One thing to keep in mind about the Kindle store at Amazon is that anyone can publish anything they want there. You can put up hundreds of public domain texts and sell them for whatever price you want. You can write your own novel and self publish it. And so on. On Sony, Fictionwise, BoB, etc. you cannot do that. This doesn't account for ALL of the difference, but I wonder how much it does account for.

Elsi · 06-02-2009, 11:02 PM

Amazon sells a significant number of books by independent authors. Some of these books are very good and others could benefit by several more re-writes and strict editing. Also, if you'll view the Kindle books sorted by price -- low to high -- you'll find many, many pornographic books priced at $0.25 each. Actually, I think a lot of these are short stories rather than novel-length "books".

Gideon · 06-02-2009, 11:39 PM

There are tons and tons and tons of books on the Kindle not available elsewhere that are not independent, too.

Exclusives are just that, exclusives. Plenty of ebooks are only on the Kindle, but they don't HAVE to be only on the kindle.

If you read a certain type of book, almost any store will take care of you. I, for one, can pretty much only be served by the Kindle store as no one else has hardly anything I'd buy.

F1Wild · 06-03-2009, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elsi

Amazon sells...many, many pornographic books priced at $0.25 each. Actually, I think a lot of these are short stories rather than novel-length "books".

You mean that sells? The long-winded Penthouse forum-type stuff? Crap, I could be making a fortune in my spare time.

Zero9 · 06-03-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gideon

There are tons and tons and tons of books on the Kindle not available elsewhere that are not independent, too.

Exclusives are just that, exclusives. Plenty of ebooks are only on the Kindle, but they don't HAVE to be only on the kindle.

If you read a certain type of book, almost any store will take care of you. I, for one, can pretty much only be served by the Kindle store as no one else has hardly anything I'd buy.

Of your three CURRENTLY READING books on Goodreads, only one is on the Kindle Store (Just After Sunset), and it's also at Sony's eBook Store. The first book I could find in your recently marked as to-read list that was on the Kindle Store (Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography) was also available at the Sony store. Same thing goes for the next (Who's Afraid of Postmodernism). I do see that The Resurrection of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan And N.T. Wright in Dialogue is available for Kindle but isn't available at any other eBook Store.

I have no problem accepting that the Kindle Store has a wider selection of published books than non-Kindle eBook stores. I'm just trying to see what these "tons and tons and tons of [non-independent] books" that you mentioned might be. I still don't see how that can be more than a small fraction of the 100k more books Amazon claims.

Zero9 · 06-03-2009, 08:54 AM

Well, I just learned that ebookprice.info isn't of much use to me. I had used it to see who sold eBook editions of Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin. It only shows the Kindle store. But when I searched for it at the Sony eBook Store, they sell it too!

And here I thought I was going to have to admit another point against my theory.

tlrowley · 06-03-2009, 09:19 AM

I've been filling in back catalog mystery titles, lately. Amazon has 8 older Elizabeth Peters titles that Sony doesn't

Quote:

Summer of the Dragon
Devil May Care
Dead Sea Cipher
Love Talker
Camelot Caper
Jackel's Head
Night of Four Hundred Rabbits
Copenhagen Connection

Amazon recently added 8 Josephine Tey novels (including one of my all time favorites "Daughter of Time". Those are not currently available in the Sony store, but some are PD (but not DoT).

Small sample, but there's 16 of your 100k

Zero9 · 06-03-2009, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlrowley

I've been filling in back catalog mystery titles, lately. Amazon has 8 older Elizabeth Peters titles that Sony doesn't

Amazon recently added 8 Josephine Tey novels (including one of my all time favorites "Daughter of Time". Those are not currently available in the Sony store, but some are PD (but not DoT).

Small sample, but there's 16 of your 100k

Thanks tlrowley! Although, for the record, all of those books are available at Books On Board in the Adobe ePub format, which works on all but the oldest Sony Reader model.

Sony should open their eBook store to sell Adobe ePub files too. Their hardware already supports it, and they could honestly claim a larger catalog.

tlrowley · 06-03-2009, 10:08 AM

Well you didn't say I had to look everywhere

I'm just glad I didn't miss them in the Sony store leading to an embarrassing correction!

Zero9 · 06-03-2009, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlrowley

Well you didn't say I had to look everywhere

I'm just glad I didn't miss them in the Sony store leading to an embarrassing correction!

I didn't realize there were so many Sony Reader supported titles not at the Sony eBook Store myself! I've edited the original post of this thread to reflect my new findings. Thanks!

tlrowley · 06-03-2009, 10:15 AM

Oh no - as a Kindle owner it's my sworn duty to never help the enemy or to do anything that reflects well upon them. I've failed at my mission - what shall I do?

For me to enjoy my Kindle, Sony must fail, right? No, wait......

Gosh, I'm sick of all the "mine is better than yours" (not that I think this thread falls into that category - just in general.)

Zero9 · 06-03-2009, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlrowley

Oh no - as a Kindle owner it's my sworn duty to never help the enemy or to do anything that reflects well upon them. I've failed at my mission - what shall I do?

For me to enjoy my Kindle, Sony must fail, right? No, wait......

Gosh, I'm sick of all the "mine is better than yours" (not that I think this thread falls into that category - just in general.)

Thanks for specifying that you don't think this thread falls into that category! I was worried for a second there.

Choosing a Sony Reader over Kindle wasn't easy for me (it came down to finding a really good Sony Credit card deal and deciding I don't need a keyboard making my device bigger). As a Sony owner, I clearly wouldn't want to start a fight over who has the bigger catalog, but it didn't seem logical that there could be such a vast amount of Kindle exclusives from actual publishers. Assuming Amazon someday makes a Kindle with less space around its 6" screen (and they either get cheaper or I get richer) I wouldn't be surprised if I own one in the future.

grooks · 06-03-2009, 10:34 AM

The Sony store does lack in certain content, but they make up for it in formats supported so owners aren't forced to only buy from Sony. I believe Sony has and always will be a hardware company. They've made a decent effort to provide content for their readers but really isn't their forte.

06-02-2009, 06:56 PM	#1
Zero9 Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 550 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Kindle Touch	What DOES Kindle Store Have That Sony Reader formats don't? I know there are over twice as many books available for Kindle than there are for Sony Readers. But whenever I see an eBook I'd be interested in that's available for the Kindle, it's also available for Sony Reader. I see there's a sparse KINDLE EXCLUSIVES page on Amazon, but that obviously can't be it. Isn't Amazon's reported lead something like 100,000 more books? UPDATE: Ok, Books On Board says they "have approximately 200,000 ebook titles available in [Adobe ePub and Adobe Digital Editions] formats" which are supported by all but the first Sony Reader (PRS-500). Not counting Sony eBook Store titles that aren't available as Adobe formats at Books On Board, and not counting DRM-free books at Books On Board, this still puts Amazon's claimed lead at under 70k titles. That's getting more believable. Last edited by Zero9; 06-03-2009 at 10:08 AM. Reason: Updated with new info.

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06-02-2009, 07:13 PM	#2
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	I'm curious to find this out too.

06-02-2009, 10:22 PM	#3
Renaldo Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 250590 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Great Pacific Northwest Device: Kindle 3G + WiFi	One thing to keep in mind about the Kindle store at Amazon is that anyone can publish anything they want there. You can put up hundreds of public domain texts and sell them for whatever price you want. You can write your own novel and self publish it. And so on. On Sony, Fictionwise, BoB, etc. you cannot do that. This doesn't account for ALL of the difference, but I wonder how much it does account for.

06-02-2009, 11:02 PM	#4
Elsi Wizard Posts: 2,366 Karma: 12000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas, USA Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C	Amazon sells a significant number of books by independent authors. Some of these books are very good and others could benefit by several more re-writes and strict editing. Also, if you'll view the Kindle books sorted by price -- low to high -- you'll find many, many pornographic books priced at $0.25 each. Actually, I think a lot of these are short stories rather than novel-length "books".

06-02-2009, 11:39 PM	#5
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	There are tons and tons and tons of books on the Kindle not available elsewhere that are not independent, too. Exclusives are just that, exclusives. Plenty of ebooks are only on the Kindle, but they don't HAVE to be only on the kindle. If you read a certain type of book, almost any store will take care of you. I, for one, can pretty much only be served by the Kindle store as no one else has hardly anything I'd buy.

06-03-2009, 08:54 AM	#8
Zero9 Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 550 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Kindle Touch	Well, I just learned that ebookprice.info isn't of much use to me. I had used it to see who sold eBook editions of Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin. It only shows the Kindle store. But when I searched for it at the Sony eBook Store, they sell it too! And here I thought I was going to have to admit another point against my theory.

06-03-2009, 10:08 AM	#11
tlrowley Quilt Geek Posts: 472 Karma: 91775 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lancaster, PA Device: Kindle	Well you didn't say I had to look everywhere I'm just glad I didn't miss them in the Sony store leading to an embarrassing correction!

06-03-2009, 10:15 AM	#13
tlrowley Quilt Geek Posts: 472 Karma: 91775 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lancaster, PA Device: Kindle	Oh no - as a Kindle owner it's my sworn duty to never help the enemy or to do anything that reflects well upon them. I've failed at my mission - what shall I do? For me to enjoy my Kindle, Sony must fail, right? No, wait...... Gosh, I'm sick of all the "mine is better than yours" (not that I think this thread falls into that category - just in general.)

06-03-2009, 10:34 AM	#15
grooks Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 30250 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Device: Pocketbook Era, Kobo Forma	The Sony store does lack in certain content, but they make up for it in formats supported so owners aren't forced to only buy from Sony. I believe Sony has and always will be a hardware company. They've made a decent effort to provide content for their readers but really isn't their forte.