Sony PRS-600 Listed At $100 [Selling Error Now Corrected]

[advocate2]

Koland,

How kind of you to trash the Sony readers. My only question to you is: How many Library ebooks have you borrowed on your Kindle? I've owned the Sony 505, 600, and 900 and never had a problem with any of them. I also read on average one library ebook a week on my Sony. That's a savings of about $500 a year. Enjoy your Kindle. I sold my DX a month after I bought it and got fed up with being locked into Amazon.

[MathewM]

I think Karen's point is that Sony's software integration and book buying experience is sub-par compared to the Kindle's. I'm on the fence and do prefer the Sony readers aesthetically but Amazon has them beat hands down as far as support and overall integration. Sony designs and builds great products but they are behind the times when it comes to integration of community and usability. As far as downloading books from the library-- good luck finding the books you want to read "now". I suppose this somewhat depends on the library. If only ebook prices would just come down in price.

[Worldwalker]

I've never had a problem with my 505; when I switched from Sony's software to calibre a few months back it was for the greatly improved features. And I'm reasonably sure that Sony can't wipe out books I've bought and paid for, certainly not if I'm using calibre, which Amazon has already shown both the ability and the willingness to do.

The Kindle took off because it was being pushed, hard, on the home page of the most popular online retailer, instead of left drifting at a little kiosk off to the side of the information desk at Borders, which is generally located in a low-traffic area of the store (people who need it will go there, but browsers circulate around the walls). People who hadn't even known that ebook readers existed in the first place bought Kindles. It has nothing to do with the quality of the actual device (a flimsy-feeling plastic thing that wastes valuable real estate with a sort-of keyboard, and is effectively, for most people, totally locked to the Amazon store) and everything to do with promotion. Sony can't sell water in the Sahara; Amazon could probably sell sand there.

[peitsao]

Update on PRS600 price--now Sony is selling it for $199 as well. Wonder if they are planning to bring out a newer model and need to clear out old stock....

[Maggie Leung]

I previously tried and returned a Sony reader because I found it much less user friendly than Kindle. I'm willing to give it another go, but Amazon makes e-reading amazingly easy.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by peitsao

Update on PRS600 price--now Sony is selling it for $199 as well. Wonder if they are planning to bring out a newer model and need to clear out old stock....

Not in the UK they're not (still £248.99 on the sony.co.uk site)

If your conjecture about a new model is right, I guess it will be introduced in the UK first and then Europe at a later date.

[advocate2]

Back on Topic, has anyone received a status of "shipped" on their order page at Borders? Mine still is listed as "In process". Given an earlier post, someone has received a cancel notice. I have not.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by advocate2

Back on Topic, has anyone received a status of "shipped" on their order page at Borders? Mine still is listed as "In process". Given an earlier post, someone has received a cancel notice. I have not.

Mine still has a status of 'In process' too.

I haven't received a cancellation notice yet, but I'm guessing that they'll start coming once the working week starts tomorrow.

[MathewM]

I agree that marketing is one of the main reasons that the Kindle has done better. However Sony has a recent track record of developing formats and products and then letting them languish in the market place. SACD comes to mind and Bluray hasn't done all that well. The Sony ereader kiosks are now in a sad disrepair-- many feature non-working units. Overall Sony has a very late 20th century mindset when it comes to marketing.

[Maggie Leung]

Marketing helps, but many buyers know about Sony readers and compare before they buy Kindles. I bought a Kindle because it was easy to use and Amazon is the world's biggest bookseller. E-readers are only one of Sony's many electronics categories, and I considered whether I would be stranded if Sony withdrew.

[Spiffy]

Originally Posted by advocate2

Back on Topic, has anyone received a status of "shipped" on their order page at Borders? Mine still is listed as "In process". Given an earlier post, someone has received a cancel notice. I have not.

It's unlikely anyone's going to get that status on a Sunday, when you know... the shipping services are all closed.

[Spiffy]

Originally Posted by MathewM

I think Karen's point is that Sony's software integration and book buying experience is sub-par compared to the Kindle's. I'm on the fence and do prefer the Sony readers aesthetically but Amazon has them beat hands down as far as support and overall integration.

Yeah, I think a lot depends on your needs.

Me, I'm happy when I can access an eBook as a file on my PC, copy it onto an SD card, and stick it in an eBook reader SD slot. Or lately, simply hooking up a USB cable and doing a push with Calibre. But other people want the whole eBook store integration angle, and fancy software to control it. They're iTunes indoctrinated, you might say, and so that's the model they want to follow with their device control/usage. Not me, so that's why the Sony software issues don't bother me. I care FAR more about what the screen looks like, and how easily accessible the page turning controls are on an ebook reader, than I do anything else.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by Spiffy

Yeah, I think a lot depends on your needs.

Me, I'm happy when I can access an eBook as a file on my PC, copy it onto an SD card, and stick it in an eBook reader SD slot. Or lately, simply hooking up a USB cable and doing a push with Calibre. But other people want the whole eBook store integration angle, and fancy software to control it. They're iTunes indoctrinated, you might say, and so that's the model they want to follow with their device control/usage. Not me, so that's why the Sony software issues don't bother me. I care FAR more about what the screen looks like, and how easily accessible the page turning controls are on an ebook reader, than I do anything else.

Funny thing is, I started using iTunes only because I got a Kindle and started buying audio books.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Marketing helps, but many buyers know about Sony readers and compare before they buy Kindles. I bought a Kindle because it was easy to use and Amazon is the world's biggest bookseller. E-readers are only one of Sony's many electronics categories, and I considered whether I would be stranded if Sony withdrew.

I'm probably something of a special case, because my specific reason for buying an ebook reader in the first place was so that I could read Project Gutenberg in bed. I very rarely purchase hardcover fiction, and most of my non-fiction isn't generally suitable for an ebook reader anyway (tending to be oversized and in color), so the idea of paying twice the paperback price for an ebook never appealed to me in the first place; that made the store integration effectively irrelevant. When I do buy ebooks, they're DRM-free downloads, usually from Baen or BVC, so there's no weirdness about loading them on my 505. That also means I'm not going to be stranded if Sony just wanders vaguely off in another direction, as they do seem prone to doing.

I tried out a Kindle, and I simply didn't like it. It felt flimsy. The keyboard was a waste of space, and actually got in the way of how I naturally wanted to hold it. Page turning wasn't as convenient.

When you see surveys, articles, etc., comparing the Kindle and Nook, and perhaps the iPad, without any mention of the Sony Reader (which, going by device forum user counts here on MobileRead, is second only to the Kindle in popularity, and way ahead of the rest) you know it's not because of the quality or features of the device itself. It's because Amazon and B&N have marketed their devices effectively, and Sony, which has been coasting since the PS2 (and possibly since the Walkman), totally blew it on marketing; it's one of the first ebook readers, but a lot of people have no idea it even exists.

This leaves me wondering if the future is the iTunes model (tight device/content-supplier) integration, or the record store model (buy a record from any label, play it on any stereo). As a consumer, wanting choices and the benefits of open market competition, I naturally favor the latter; producers, eager for platform lock-in, favor the former.

Since they're the ones with all the clout (not to mention the lawyers to abuse the DMCA, etc.) they're looking likely to win at this point. I wonder how long until calibre will be outlawed? If we want a more consumer-friendly market (like that for physical records, paper books, etc.) we, as somewhat better-informed consumers and early adopters, need to educate those around us.

Remember that Amazon, Sony, B&N, or any other device-maker/bookseller combination, or in fact any company in existence, do not have our best interests at heart. They have their own, and only their own. If screwing us over will bump the company stock price a couple of points, it's not only what they will do, but in many cases what they're legally required to do. None of them are our friends. They are our adversaries. If they could make calibre illegal, if they could make Project Gutenberg illegal, if they could make MobileRead illegal, they would; I have no doubt that they are exploring ways to do exactly that. So, just like they see us as a resource to be used, not as human beings, we have to see them the same way. We can't ever fall into the trap of thinking any corporation is benign, even helpful. They're not. They can't be. If they were, they'd never have gotten big enough to see, because some properly sociopathic competitor would have eaten their lunch long ago. Amazon is not your friend. Sony is not your friend. B&N is not your friend. Etc. They are nobody's friends but their stockholders'.

Remember one critical thing about the free market: It is beneficial to consumers, and the public as a whole, but it is inimical to businesses. No business wants to be merely the strongest competitor; they want to be the only competitor. For a business, the ideal condition is a monopoly: their monopoly. They don't want to build a better mousetrap. They want a legal lock on mousetrap sales. Contrary to what the cable and telecom companies insist, the increased profits from a true or de-facto monopoly do not fund "innovation"; they fund executive pay and sometimes shareholders' dividends. Innovation is only driven by competition. Why build a better mousetrap if everyone who needs a mousetrap already has to buy it from you anyway? Any mousetrap R&D goes toward building a mousetrap that can be built more cheaply and sold for the same price, especially if it will wear out sooner and require users to buy more mousetraps (the ideal, of course, being a single-use disposable mousetrap). It's only if, and when, someone does actually build a better mousetrap -- and is not legally or practically prohibited from bringing it to market -- that innovation happens.

If they can build a future with legally-mandated platform lock-in, with legally-required purchases from their stores, and only their stores, then they will do so. In today's market, where average users equate their reading device with the store it's locked to, they could do that and nobody but the mavericks like us would notice. It's really up to us to make sure that the people we can reach -- our families, our friends, our co-workers -- know that this model isn't the only one, that there are alternatives, and know why those alternatives matter. We need to make sure that everyone knows that platform lock-in, that vendor lock-in, that walled gardens are bad for us. They're bad for the market. We need to make people understand that what is important in an ebook reader (or an MP3 player, or any other device) is not how much content its manufacturer makes available, but whether it has the flexibility to use content from any source, like a record player that can play any record, so that they are not at the mercy of any one vendor. It really is about freedom.

[Maggie Leung]

Worldwalker, I actually decided to buy my first e-reader because of Gutenberg books. I used to read them on netbook, but it was a pain and I wanted better form factor because I prefer to read sprawled in an easy chair or such. My reading leans heavily toward classics, news and nonfiction, so I got an iPad as well. I got an iPad so I could read books from a variety of companies.

I never expect any business to have my interests at heart. Their goal is profit, and serving me is only a means. I don't begrudge companies profits as long as they operate legally. As long as what they're selling works for me, I'll buy. And I buy without brand loyalty. If a better product emerges, I'm willing to switch.

As for consuming and DRM, I look out for myself. I bought Kindle books with lots of restraint, spending little till I could read them without being tethered to an Amazon device. (My first 250 books or so were freebie classics.) I buy all my music in CD form, not from Apple or Amazon. I see no advantage in relying on either. If Audible (now owned by Amazon) didn't allow as much freedom with its audio books, I wouldn't buy 'em either.