Ebook Readers: It’s All About Price

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by Kris777

... Whoever gets it out to consumers FIRST will have the chance to be to EReaders what Apple was to MP3 Players....

This survey really means very, very little. 65% would "at least consider a purchase" somewhere between Free and $98?! Really? I suppose if they asked "less than $1," they might have gotten over 80%.

But of course, then they'll see it's gray & dark gray, and the screen is too small, and you can't play FP shooters on it, and will demand their $1 back.

Someone needs to deliver a great product, which the public understands, and likes, and finds useful.

The first iPods cost $300. Apple didn't win on "cheap," as there were, and are, much cheaper competitors. The iPod won on "good."

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Sonist

The first iPods cost $300. Apple didn't win on "cheap," as there were, and are, much cheaper competitors. The iPod won on "good."

It wasn't even about being technically good or even having particularly good sound quality as they were beaten in both respects by some of those cheaper competitors.

The reason apple did so well was due to the total package, the hardware was good enough as far as features and sound quality, but the ease of use made it much more appealing to a less technical wider audience than other players and then you also had itunes, which for all its restrictions and limitations was a very convenient way for people to also buy music for their ipod.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Sonist

...

Someone needs to deliver a great product, which the public understands, and likes, and finds useful.

The first iPods cost $300. Apple didn't win on "cheap," as there were, and are, much cheaper competitors. The iPod won on "good."

Excellent point.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Crowl

It wasn't even about being technically good or even having particularly good sound quality as they were beaten in both respects by some of those cheaper competitors.

The reason apple did so well was due to the total package, the hardware was good enough as far as features and sound quality, but the ease of use made it much more appealing to a less technical wider audience than other players and then you also had itunes, which for all its restrictions and limitations was a very convenient way for people to also buy music for their ipod.

And don't forget the advertising campaigns. They really tried to push the brand image, and they did a pretty good job at that. When they were pushing into Asia, it was hard to walk a hundred meters without seeing some kind of Apple advertising.

[jackau]

I left my comment here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55707

so i will not post it again in this thread


thank you

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by carlobee

this is so true. makes me think about the law of supply and demand during my Economics class when I was still in college.

I was reminded of the same thing but I’ve recently been reading the book Animal Spirits by Akerlof & Shiller. They take a look at the current international economic crisis from a Keynesian perspective, and one of the failures of the “invisible hand of the marketplace” thinking behind our present debacle, which they see essentially as a mirror of the 1930s event and due to the same causes, is the importance of fairness (to me that means justice) when it comes to setting prices and wages.

For whatever reasons, people just don’t think it’s fair to have to pay a high price for a device to read books, and they are especially outraged when they are then charged as much or more for eBooks than the paper equivalent.

The justice behind portable music players and portable book readers is an unequal comparison: you can get paper books free from the library or at greatly reduced prices at used book stores, or simply borrow one.

I think the survey shows that most people think buying a book reader only starts to be fair at prices below $100. If you consider fairness, this survey fails to go far enough: how do the people in this sample react when confronted with the fact that there is less material available for book readers, and what there is comes at a higher price than for the same books on paper? And then they learn that the local library doesn’t have any eBooks to loan? And then they learn that DRM makes it impossible to sell their eBooks? Or even loan them to a friend?

There are still many hurdles for acceptance of eBooks to overcome. I believe firmly that this technology is something the world needs so the effort to overcome it all does matter, but I think this [published] portion of the survey doesn't address too many important parts of the puzzle to reach any real conclusion.

[DawnFalcon]

how do the people in this sample react when confronted with the fact that there is less material available for book readers, and what there is comes at a higher price than for the same books on paper? And then they learn that the local library doesn’t have any eBooks to loan? And then they learn that DRM makes it impossible to sell their eBooks? Or even loan them to a friend?

They won't tell the person doing the survey... But it's quite clear what they'll do, and it involves darknets.

[HansTWN]

the EReaders' are being introduced like every other tech product. You start out at high prices and sell to those who like the novelty, have money to burn, or really need it (expats like me, for example). Then you start dropping prices to attract a wider audience until you get to the level where everyone wants one. At that point, with large scale manufacturing, a price point of $99 can easily be reached. We have just started the second phase, prices have started to drop even as the device makers add functionality.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

the EReaders' are being introduced like every other tech product. You start out at high prices and sell to those who like the novelty, have money to burn, or really need it (expats like me, for example). Then you start dropping prices to attract a wider audience until you get to the level where everyone wants one. At that point, with large scale manufacturing, a price point of $99 can easily be reached. We have just started the second phase, prices have started to drop even as the device makers add functionality.

Yes, the cell phones can be a good example. You can buy many cell phone models for $0 now (with 1 or 2 years plan). I think almost everyone have cell phones now.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Kris777

Yes, the cell phones can be a good example. You can buy many cell phone models for $0 now (with 1 or 2 years plan). I think almost everyone have cell phones now.

So maybe that's what Sony/Amazon need to do. Have a "club"/"plan" that costs $35 a month and allows for three free downloads and you get a reader for the discount rate of $89....

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by kennyc

So maybe that's what Sony/Amazon need to do. Have a "club"/"plan" that costs $35 a month and allows for three free downloads and you get a reader for the discount rate of $89....

I'm thinking of the Book of the Month Club. I have no idea what the average member spends per month. Let's call it $x.

Kenny, I think your numbers are still a little high to get the public to act. If the plan called for a one-year contract of at least $x per month, and you get an eBook reader for $50, I could see quite a number of people going for that.

[kennyc]

Well I just pulled those number outta my ..... I think you are right.

[acastillo]

I answered my own question. It appears to be the same article and the subject of multiple threads on the forums. Sorry for reposting the same information.



http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...7_FORTUNE5.htm