News Corp CEO Murdoch: Sony Reader Superior To Kindle

[sforce]

Just a headline for now, but it sounds like Rupert is getting ready to jump ship:

News Corp CEO Murdoch: Sony Reader Superior To Kindle

Last update: 9/15/2009 11:36:49 AM
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
September 15, 2009 11:36 ET (15:36 GMT)

[igorsk]

Some details:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-c...y-app-favors-/

As for the Kindle, Murdoch said it’s wonderful for books, but pretty terrible for newspapers. But he seemed glad and a bit surprised that over 25,000 users have decided to subscribe to the WSJ on the Kindle. He groused about the terms with Amazon, though he didn’t offer specifics, and said News Corp. will throw its support to Sony’s 3G wireless eReader, which is set to ship for the holiday season. He was otherwise unenthusiastic about Sony’s other two eReaders, which it unveiled last month.

[=X=]

WSJ readers on Blackberry and iPhone will be charged $2 per week, with print and online subscribers having to pay $1 per week

Wow the BB and iPhone folks are sure luck to pay twice as much for the same content.


@sforce, there is a huge difference between calling something superior to Favors . Obviously News Corp favors SONY because of prices and not technology.


=X=

[igorsk]

One interesting comment:

Originally Posted by Adiós

Only 25,000 WSJ subscribers using the Kindle ? Really ???

Given that the WSJ is the second "bestselling" newspaper available on the Kindle, I would call the newspaper business on the Kindle an out and out flop...

[sforce]

Originally Posted by =X=

@sforce, there is a huge difference between calling something superior to Favors .


=X=

No doubt there is a difference, but you'll have to take issue with the headline writer over at Dow Jones Newswires, not me...

[poohbear_nc]

"News Corp. will throw its support to Sony’s 3G wireless eReader, which is set to ship for the holiday season. "

He's declaring a Sony model superior to Kindle that doesn't even exist yet? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Sony press conference didn't have a working model of this reader to see how the screen would handle newspapers?

Or is it the monetary deal that is superior?

[igorsk]

Well, I'm sure he got access to all the details Sony didn't share with us. And likely by now they have a working prototype.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by sforce

No doubt there is a difference, but you'll have to take issue with the headline writer over at Dow Jones Newswires, not me...

fair enough

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

"News Corp. will throw its support to Sony’s 3G wireless eReader, which is set to ship for the holiday season. "

He's declaring a Sony model superior to Kindle that doesn't even exist yet? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Sony press conference didn't have a working model of this reader to see how the screen would handle newspapers?

Or is it the monetary deal that is superior?

This is Murdoch we're talking about. We've already heard him complain about Kindle's terms, so I'm going to go with the monetary deal being superior

[Tuna]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

"News Corp. will throw its support to Sony’s 3G wireless eReader, which is set to ship for the holiday season. "

He's declaring a Sony model superior to Kindle that doesn't even exist yet? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Sony press conference didn't have a working model of this reader to see how the screen would handle newspapers?

Or is it the monetary deal that is superior?

Well, what do you think? Is he known for his business empire or his excellent in detail reviews of technological devices?

I would expect that he would have had some indication of the planned 'user experience', and might even have seen a prototype by now, but the foremost concern will have been the publishing deal and the market reach of the device. As Amazon have failed to reach far beyond the US, the Sony is already compelling for targeting a worldwide audience.

Sony have also shown a (quite uncharacteristic) attitude to open formats that appears to have put the Amazon model on the back foot. In the long term that's going to have a big impact on the success of the respective readers.

[igorsk]

Some more quotes:

The media mogul said that, in the future, he expects consumers to read news on portable, electronic devices rather than on the printed page, but he reiterated his dissatisfaction with the company's distribution agreement with Amazon Inc.'s (AMZN) Kindle reading device.

"We're not altogether happy with it, and I don't think [the Kindle] a good experience for reading news," he said, citing navigation problems. "The Kindle is a wonderful machine for reading books."

Murdoch said the new version of Sony Corp.'s (SNE) reading device, which will be released soon, offers a better experience.

"That is good, and we have very good terms there," Murdoch said. "We'll do everything we can to drive that one."

Murdoch said he personally did not enjoy reading a newspaper on the Kindle but e-readers were the future of newspapers.

"Every high-tech company in the world -- from Fuji to Hewlett-Packard to Sony to whoever -- are working in their labs on trying to find e-readers for newspapers," he said, while pointing to problems with developing electronic inks and using lightweight, supple and non-breakable plastic.

"I don't think it's months away, I think it's years away," he said of completing a satisfactory e-reader.

[Sporadic]

Is this surprising?

Murdoch has been bad mouthing the Kindle and Amazon for months now.

Spoiler:

because he's a greedy, power-hungry douchebag with an agenda