Amazon is destroying e-reader innovation

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Kobo have kept their product range very close to the 6" mark, so I wouldn't call that innovative. They did get the light right before Amazon did, and their UI is more flexible (customizing fonts).

Kobo got started in Canada, a market that Amazon continues to neglect. Maybe that was the key to their initial success. I doubt they could have begun in America, and they haven't achieved a large penetration there. Indeed, they seem to be doing better in the UK.

What does size have to do with the presence or absence of innovation? Can't a six-inch reader be innovative?

[ingmar]

Just a quick note for those who haven't seen it. Slashdot has an article today I Want a Kindle Killer repeating many of the arguments made in this thread.

[Kindle] could be significantly improved with speech recognition for commands and text entry, a well-designed database for marginal notes and annotations, and integration with laptop and desktop computers. Google, Apple and Microsoft all have device design and manufacturing experience as well as stores that sell books and other written material. A Kindle-killing e-reader would be low-hanging fruit for Apple, Google or Microsoft — think of the competition if they each built one!"

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

What does size have to do with the presence or absence of innovation? Can't a six-inch reader be innovative?

I agree, by itself, bigger isn't an innovation. It's just bigger. If people were really demanding a larger reader in large numbers, the Kindle DX would have sold better. My Kindle Keyboard and my Paperwhite both fit in my pocket - it's a squeeze, but they fit.

Originally Posted by ingmar

Just a quick note for those who haven't seen it. Slashdot has an article today I Want a Kindle Killer repeating many of the arguments made in this thread.

Do people really want speech recognition for their e-reader? Features that are only wanted by a few wind up costing a lot of money with little return. If someone wants to build a Kindle-killer, by all means they should do so. But that doesn't mean people will want to buy it.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Do people really want speech recognition for their e-reader? Features that are only wanted by a few wind up costing a lot of money with little return. If someone wants to build a Kindle-killer, by all means they should do so. But that doesn't mean people will want to buy it.

Full speech recognition is not something I'd need - but basic commands like page turn and page back would be brilliant! Not just for people who want to read while they're eating or knitting, but for all sorts of people with disabilities, too.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by meeera

Full speech recognition is not something I'd need - but basic commands like page turn and page back would be brilliant! Not just for people who want to read while they're eating or knitting, but for all sorts of people with disabilities, too.

It might be nice, but it would add a lot of cost. Something like that would be more practical on a computer than on an e-reader.

[ingmar]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

It might be nice, but it would add a lot of cost. Something like that would be more practical on a computer than on an e-reader.

What's the difference, apart from (in most cases) the display? Yes, speech recognition would necessitate a microphone, and perhaps more processing power, but if my cell phone can do it I don't see why my ereader couldn't. Not sure how useful it would be for me, but it's definitely not unfeasible.

A better database, supporting multiple tags and search criteria, now that'd be something.

[wizwor]

Amazon IS innovation in e-readers. Size, features, price are innovations embraced by people who buy e-readers. Many people have moved on from an e-reader to another Amazon innovation -- the Fire. Putting interactive books on their Fire TV will be an innovative way to increase literacy among children of illiterate parents.

I don't think speech recognition would be a popular innovation. The trade-off in battery life and price would make it unattractive to most.

I'd like to see more efficient display technologies and solar cells to improve battery life and contrast in bright sun. I'd like to see an e-reader that folded in half like a paperback. I think this would be easier to hold and carry.

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I agree, by itself, bigger isn't an innovation. It's just bigger. If people were really demanding a larger reader in large numbers, the Kindle DX would have sold better. My Kindle Keyboard and my Paperwhite both fit in my pocket - it's a squeeze, but they fit.

Do people really want speech recognition for their e-reader? Features that are only wanted by a few wind up costing a lot of money with little return. If someone wants to build a Kindle-killer, by all means they should do so. But that doesn't mean people will want to buy it.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by ingmar

What's the difference, apart from (in most cases) the display? Yes, speech recognition would necessitate a microphone, and perhaps more processing power, but if my cell phone can do it I don't see why my ereader couldn't. Not sure how useful it would be for me, but it's definitely not unfeasible.

A better database, supporting multiple tags and search criteria, now that'd be something.

I think speech recognition is certainly doable, I'm just not sure if it's practical from a usability perspective. Many people read on public transit, which would not only require discrimination circuits, but would probably annoy people around the reader.

Also, on a personal level, I find speech recognition systems more intrusive than buttons or swipes. I can swipe without taking my mind off the words, to speak I have to use my speech centers to control rather than motor centers.

It's clearly doable, but I think it's enough of a niche case that it's probably pretty far down the priority list.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ingmar

What's the difference, apart from (in most cases) the display? Yes, speech recognition would necessitate a microphone, and perhaps more processing power, but if my cell phone can do it I don't see why my ereader couldn't. Not sure how useful it would be for me, but it's definitely not unfeasible.

A better database, supporting multiple tags and search criteria, now that'd be something.

Not unfeasible at all.
PocketPCs were doing it, and very well, on way older ARM processors than even the cheapest eink readers use. (200MHz ARM7's). But it's non-trivial tech.

The issue isn't the technical feasibility but rather the economic feasibility; can the marketting guys (who love long, fancy spec sheets) make a convincing business case to management that investing R&D staff resources and added hardware costs *will* result in enough new sales to justify the investment?

Voice recognition is an interesting feature to consider because the odds are good the next wave of Kindle FIREs due this fall will have it: Amazon already has the tech in their ARM-based FIRE TV STB, which runs a very similar OS as their tablets. But the hardware in that box is a lot more advanced than any eink device shipping: state of the art quad core with a highend GPU. And lots of RAM. In contrast, most eink SOCs run single core 1GHz or lower ARM architectures, with modest RAM. (And Amazon can easily defray the R&D costs because their volumes are higher and pockets deeper.)

If I had to bet I'd put the odds of their next tablets getting voice recognition at about 80% and the odds of the next PW getting it at under 5%. And that is just off the OS: the PWs don't run Mojito but rather a stripped-down Linux.

The fundamental issue here is not Amazon but rather the core value proposition that makes dedicated eink book readers a viable niche product: simplicity, light weight, and extreme battery life harnessed to provide a commercial book reading platform. Of those three, simplicity is the hardest to achieve and the easiest to mess up so it's easy to see why vendors are leery to go too far off the beaten path. As much as I love my old POCKETBOOK 360, simple is *not* the first thing that pops to mind when thinking of its features. Flexible, yes. Simple, no.

Kindles, on the other hand, start with simple and only grudgingly add complexity and are as likely to remove features as add them. And because Amazon *knows* a lot about how their devices are used it isn't easy to dismiss their decisions. Audio playback removed from their eink line? It added cost, competitors removed it first, and very likely relatively few people were buying Audio ebooks on them. So the feature added cost without bringing in added revenue and there was no competitive cost in removing it. Gone.

If you look at Amazon's reading devices over the past 3 years you can see a refinement of each product that indicates their market position and mission:

- Non-touch entry level reader, aimed primarily at newcomers and the cost-conscious

- Mid-range PW aimed at upgraders and avid readers

- entry-level Kindle Fire aimed at entry level buyers interested in color and media

- large format Kindle Fire 8.9 aimed at upgraders and specialty content readers

What is really missing? Only high-end eink devices. The message: either that eink is strictly for low cost devices or that Amazon doesn't think eink is more of a minus than a plus at the high end. That whatever sales they lose by giving up outdoor readability and extreme battery life they make up for with color, fast refresh, very high resolution, and the tablet features.

I would offer up the idea that Amazon simply isn't wedded to the idea that readers absolutely, positively have to use monochrome screens. Take the eink requirement off the table and look at the 8.9" FIRE models as reading devices and what do you see? Fast, responsive readers with high resolution color, excellent TTS, audioebook sync, great for comics and rich content ebooks. And open to optional epub support.

Price? Cheaper than most large format eink readers.
Battery life? 10-12 hours of continuous use instead of the 30-40 typical of the 6in eink models.
Weight? Comparable to the bigger eink devices, especially the color ones.
There are tradeoffs but not unreasonable ones. Not at those prices.
It can be a argued that Amazon does have a premium line of readers; it's just that they also serve as tablets.

Unless you absolutely positively have to have eink, their high end readers are worth looking into. (FBReader with sub-pixel addressing on is fantastic on a FIREHD 8.9) And if you absolutely can't stand LCDs (and the LCD Kindles use very high quality displays), well, they bought Liquavista for some reason...

And yes, voice commands are likely coming to those kindles.

[Katsunami]

[QUOTE=fjtorres;2840351
The issue isn't the technical feasibility but rather the economic feasibility; can the marketting guys (who love long, fancy spec sheets)...[/QUOTE]

Which is epic stupidity. I have always seen that, the more money you want customers to spend, the more important looks will be, and the less important specs will become, if the product functions flawlessly.

Assume Kobo combines the Aura and Aura HD, and this will be the result:
- a 7 inch 4:3 e-reader.
- It looks like the 6 inch Aura with flat bezels, but it's even thinner, and the body is made out of aluminum.
- It has a super-bright e-ink screen, and an almost perfect front-light.
- It's fast. (Barring the page turn flicker) and has no glaring bugs in correctly formatted books.
- No internal storage, but it does have a micro-SDXC slot and comes with an 8GB card by default.
- The rest of the specs is almost completely unknown until somebody tears it down.
- It costs €200.

This will sell very well. I for one, would *jump* on it.

Hell... if you smack an Apple logo on the back of it instead of a Kobo one, you can probably sell it for €250 or even €300, and suddenly reading will be hip and super-cool. I mean it. If Apple ever introduces an e-reader, it will be something like this.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

I would offer up the idea that Amazon simply isn't wedded to the idea that readers absolutely, positively have to use monochrome screens. Take the eink requirement off the table and look at the 8.9" FIRE models as reading devices and what do you see? Fast, responsive readers with high resolution color, excellent TTS, audioebook sync, great for comics and rich content ebooks. And open to optional epub support.

But, it has crap outdoor readability and battery life compared to an e-ink reader, and THAT is exactly what I want. Need, even, as I read in public transport and while waiting outside, in mid-summer. A tablet is just useless. The addition of a front-light was a godsend, making the reader usable in dark(er) conditions too (while waiting in the restaurant of a train station, for example).

The front-lit e-ink reader enables me to read any book in any condition, without worrying that the battery life will run out before I get home, and that is something a tablet can not (yet) offer.

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Unless you absolutely positively have to have eink...

I don't. To be honest, I don't care what sort of display the device has, but e-ink + front-light currently is the only combination that can create a device with the characteristics I want.

If there will ever be a tablet with a two week battery life, and readability in darkness to desert conditions, I'll jump on it.

[ingmar]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Many people read on public transit, which would not only require discrimination circuits, but would probably annoy people around the reader.

Obviously this needs to be optional, and must not be relied upon to work. Again, very much like my cell ("OK, Kindle, flip page". Hey, why not?)

It's clearly doable, but I think it's enough of a niche case that it's probably pretty far down the priority list.

You're probably right.

[fjtorres]

Kobo need not worry about Apple getting into eink.
Apple already has the reading device they want: it's the iPad mini.
If Amazon doesn't believe eink is the end-all of reading devices, why would Apple?

Right now LCD is evolving way faster than eink and I'm starting to suspect LCD will match eink power use long before eink ever gets fast saturated color at a viable cost. The red flag is Amazon buying Luquavista. As eink's biggest customer, would they have done that if they saw good color eink on the horizon?

And remember, while outdoor readability is a great eink marketting point (Amazon exploits it nicely in their commercials) it really hasn't stopped zillions of folks from reading on tablets. It argues for nichedom more than a must have...

[crossi]

I've asked Amazon to make their computer app compatable with existing programs like Windows Speech Recognition or Dragon Naturally Speaking. Speech recognition work after a fashion. You can use it to open Kindle for PC and to turn pages but you can't use it to select and open the books. This doesn't seem like a hard problem to solve. They don't even need to develop their own speech recognition program, just fix the compatablity problem with existing programs.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One factor would of course be the fact that people outside the EU wouldn't have been charged VAT.

That has not been my experience. The customs / import fees on top of the fee (often exorbitant and unjustified) of the courier makes for a big fat surcharge.