When will the press get it right?

pilotbob · 01-21-2010, 10:00 AM

I was reading an article on PC Week's website about the Kindle development quote and right at the beginning of the article we find:

"The success of the Amazon Kindle has legitimized the concept of an electronic book-reading gadget and led to an explosion of competing devices like the Barnes and Noble Nook, and the Sony Reader."

I'm sorry, but the Sony Reader came out will before the Kindle. After reading a sentence like this I have to question anything else said in the article.

Does anyone fact check this stuff any more?

BTW: Here is the link to the article: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...n_gadgets.html

BOb

rhadin · 01-21-2010, 10:03 AM

Bob,

The short answer is no, no one checks anymore. Fact checking is an editorial process (and when done, it is done by a special editor) that has joined developmental editing and copyediting in the publisher discard pile. People don't realize the bad editing until they have bought/read an article or book, that is, after the publisher has already gotten your "money," so when trying to increase profits, they decrease editorial.

jaxx6166 · 01-21-2010, 10:20 AM

What rhadin said.

The problem is that the kindle is now becoming synonymous with the digital reader. Ugh. Therefore, everything must come after the kindle!

Tom2112 · 01-21-2010, 10:31 AM

Bob, I think you're reading that wrong. They didn't say the Kindle came first. They only said that the popularity of the Kindle has sparked interest and acceptance of e-readers in general, thus increasing sales of other brands of readers. Sure they could have stated it better, but I did not get what you're sensing from the article.

It is much like saying the the iPhone led to an explosion of smart phones. It did. Does that mean the iPhone was first or best? No. It just means the iPhone was so popular people accepted the idea that they wanted/needed a smart phone.

pilotbob · 01-21-2010, 10:34 AM

I think the word "led" means came before.

But, if it means and explosion of "sales" then you are correct. But, it sounds to me that they said...

Kindle LED to "new" readers like the nook and Sony Reader. That's the way I read it.

BOb

Crusader · 01-21-2010, 10:36 AM

What I get from the qoute is that the Kindle sparked the development of competing devices - implying that Sony developed their Reader after the Kindle in order to compete with the Kindle. Which is of course not true!

mattgb · 01-21-2010, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom2112

It is much like saying the the iPhone led to an explosion of smart phones. It did.

Amazing from something that (still) isn`t very smart

Cue flames ...

ac4lt · 01-21-2010, 10:41 AM

In my limited experience in dealing with the press (mostly as members of two small non-profit groups) there has always been at least one serious factual error in the article. It's admittedly a small number of data points, but the rate is 100%.

mores · 01-21-2010, 11:15 AM

It would be interesting to see the sales numbers for the Sony Reader. Maybe the Kindle sparked (huh huh) an awareness and resulted in an explosion of sales for Sony, too.

The sencence that irks you is well written. It implies that the Sony came after the Kindle, but it does not actually say it.

Penforhire · 01-21-2010, 12:18 PM

I'd also like to see Sony's historical sales numbers. I have no doubt the Kindle raised e-reader awareness but I'm curious if it was a win-win for both Amazon & Sony or just for Bezos.

jswinden · 01-21-2010, 12:44 PM

Way back in the early or middle 1990's Sony introduced a small, clamshell book reader that used the Sony MD (mini-disc) as the media type. You could buy a book on a MD and play it in the Bookreader (or whatever it was called). It had a non-backlit, monochrome display that displayed the book's text. This far outdates any eBook readers that I know of. Unfortunately, it was expensive, as were the books, and since sales never took off those of us who bought one wound up with a device that only had a few hundred books available for it initially and no new ones after a short period of time. it was typical Sony: cutting edge technology way ahead of its time, but too expensive to be successful. The screens back then were horrible and that helped to kill it as well.

On another note, it is nice to see another ham in this thread. Hi ac4lt de w5jck.

spideog · 01-21-2010, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom2112

It is much like saying the the iPhone led to an explosion of smart phones. It did. Does that mean the iPhone was first or best? No. It just means the iPhone was so popular people accepted the idea that they wanted/needed a smart phone.

Next you'll try and tell me that Apple didn't invent the mp3 player either.

exreader · 01-21-2010, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spideog

Next you'll try and tell me that Apple didn't invent the mp3 player either.

you know they didn't

now, the question is, who did... and who made the first commercial product? there's a good trivia question for the classroom

better yet, the first hard-drive based product.

ex

mores · 01-21-2010, 01:18 PM

Oh wow ... I have fond memories of the first iPod I bought. It was the 20Gb model and it was my present for my girlfriend (now wife). I also spent a lot of time digitizing ALL the CDs she had so as not to give her an empty device.
Hard drive based

It actually made quite some noise when it was in use.

So you're saying that was not the first MP3 player? Didn't Apple invent MP3 too?

exreader · 01-21-2010, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mores

Oh wow ... I have fond memories of the first iPod I bought. It was the 20Gb model and it was my present for my girlfriend (now wife). I also spent a lot of time digitizing ALL the CDs she had so as not to give her an empty device.
Hard drive based

It actually made quite some noise when it was in use.

So you're saying that was not the first MP3 player? Didn't Apple invent MP3 too?

gosh, i hope you're kidding!

point of fact, apple rarely [1] invents anythings. they innovate

which is a fancy way of saying "late to market, but more polished" - they stand on the shoulders of the inventing types.

[1] i said rarely, not never. i'm an apple fanboy too, just sip the kookaid, not guzzle it.

ex

01-21-2010, 10:00 AM	#1
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	When will the press get it right? I was reading an article on PC Week's website about the Kindle development quote and right at the beginning of the article we find: "The success of the Amazon Kindle has legitimized the concept of an electronic book-reading gadget and led to an explosion of competing devices like the Barnes and Noble Nook, and the Sony Reader." I'm sorry, but the Sony Reader came out will before the Kindle. After reading a sentence like this I have to question anything else said in the article. Does anyone fact check this stuff any more? BTW: Here is the link to the article: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...n_gadgets.html BOb

01-21-2010, 12:44 PM	#11
jswinden Nameless Being	remember the Sony Bookreader Way back in the early or middle 1990's Sony introduced a small, clamshell book reader that used the Sony MD (mini-disc) as the media type. You could buy a book on a MD and play it in the Bookreader (or whatever it was called). It had a non-backlit, monochrome display that displayed the book's text. This far outdates any eBook readers that I know of. Unfortunately, it was expensive, as were the books, and since sales never took off those of us who bought one wound up with a device that only had a few hundred books available for it initially and no new ones after a short period of time. it was typical Sony: cutting edge technology way ahead of its time, but too expensive to be successful. The screens back then were horrible and that helped to kill it as well. On another note, it is nice to see another ham in this thread. Hi ac4lt de w5jck.

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01-21-2010, 10:03 AM	#2
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	Bob, The short answer is no, no one checks anymore. Fact checking is an editorial process (and when done, it is done by a special editor) that has joined developmental editing and copyediting in the publisher discard pile. People don't realize the bad editing until they have bought/read an article or book, that is, after the publisher has already gotten your "money," so when trying to increase profits, they decrease editorial.

01-21-2010, 10:20 AM	#3
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	What rhadin said. The problem is that the kindle is now becoming synonymous with the digital reader. Ugh. Therefore, everything must come after the kindle!

01-21-2010, 10:31 AM	#4
Tom2112 Tablet eReader Posts: 45 Karma: 12620 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Western PA Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab 7, iPad, Dell Streak 7, Moto RAZR MAXX	Bob, I think you're reading that wrong. They didn't say the Kindle came first. They only said that the popularity of the Kindle has sparked interest and acceptance of e-readers in general, thus increasing sales of other brands of readers. Sure they could have stated it better, but I did not get what you're sensing from the article. It is much like saying the the iPhone led to an explosion of smart phones. It did. Does that mean the iPhone was first or best? No. It just means the iPhone was so popular people accepted the idea that they wanted/needed a smart phone.

01-21-2010, 10:34 AM	#5
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	I think the word "led" means came before. But, if it means and explosion of "sales" then you are correct. But, it sounds to me that they said... Kindle LED to "new" readers like the nook and Sony Reader. That's the way I read it. BOb

01-21-2010, 10:36 AM	#6
Crusader Space Cadet Posts: 1,180 Karma: 4030536 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: South Africa Device: Sony PRS-T1, Cybook Opus, Kobo Glo	What I get from the qoute is that the Kindle sparked the development of competing devices - implying that Sony developed their Reader after the Kindle in order to compete with the Kindle. Which is of course not true!

01-21-2010, 10:41 AM	#8
ac4lt Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 36 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Reston, Virginia, US Device: ipad	In my limited experience in dealing with the press (mostly as members of two small non-profit groups) there has always been at least one serious factual error in the article. It's admittedly a small number of data points, but the rate is 100%.

01-21-2010, 11:15 AM	#9
mores Guru Posts: 834 Karma: 102419 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: iPhone	It would be interesting to see the sales numbers for the Sony Reader. Maybe the Kindle sparked (huh huh) an awareness and resulted in an explosion of sales for Sony, too. The sencence that irks you is well written. It implies that the Sony came after the Kindle, but it does not actually say it.

01-21-2010, 12:18 PM	#10
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	I'd also like to see Sony's historical sales numbers. I have no doubt the Kindle raised e-reader awareness but I'm curious if it was a win-win for both Amazon & Sony or just for Bezos.

01-21-2010, 01:18 PM	#14
mores Guru Posts: 834 Karma: 102419 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: iPhone	Oh wow ... I have fond memories of the first iPod I bought. It was the 20Gb model and it was my present for my girlfriend (now wife). I also spent a lot of time digitizing ALL the CDs she had so as not to give her an empty device. Hard drive based It actually made quite some noise when it was in use. So you're saying that was not the first MP3 player? Didn't Apple invent MP3 too?