Amazon Kindle out of stock again - back in a few weeks

[rationalbiker]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What makes the Kindle so special that it deserves to be so newsworthy vs all the others? Nothing is the answer.

This is where I think you are wrong. I suspect a lot more people have heard of and/or inquired about the Kindle as opposed to the Bookeen, the Sony, etc. etc. I'm thinking the Kindle is a more popular device than the others. I'm thinking many people are being drawn into the ebook world for the first time due to the Kindle. I don't think the analogy of the "Ipod of the ebook reader" is far off in terms of people knowing what a Kindle is versus any of the other readers. That easily explains why the Kindle is more newsworthy than the other devices; it's quite likely it caught a larger audience.

Aside from that, why would Jeff Bezos even consider whether the stock status of other readers is newsworthy in his consideration what he wants to say or advertise about the Kindle? It really shouldn't bear any relevance whatsoever to him.

HarryT, why not make a frontpage news post to tell everyone of Bookeen's latest notice about their stock of Gen3s.

Because lots of people will be thinking to themselves; "What the heck is a Gen3??" Do you really not see that Amazon is probably getting far greater exposure with their device that the other devices?

My other point is, just because you don't find something newsworthy doesn't mean someone else doesn't. I'm hoping you are objective enough to realize other folks have different interests and levels of interests about different things than you do. In other words, saying it isn't newsworthy and saying it isn't newsworthy to me are two different things.

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by rationalbiker

Because lots of people will be thinking to themselves; "What the heck is a Gen3??"

Not at MobileRead.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by rationalbiker

...... I suspect a lot more people have heard of and/or inquired about the Kindle as opposed to the Bookeen, the Sony, etc. etc.

That's due to the ' power ' of Amazon's advertising .

................ I'm thinking many people are being drawn into the ebook world for the first time due to the Kindle. ............. it's quite likely it caught a larger audience.

It certainly brought me into the world of the e-reader . I suspect for many ( ? ) they think it is the only option for an e-reader , hence its perceived popularity.
I wasn't 'bought ' into the Kindle , because I think it is ugly .
BUT it made me investigate , brought me here , and thus introduced me to other models of e-reader .

[rationalbiker]

Originally Posted by bwaldron

Not at MobileRead.

Perhaps not, but that is a very myopic view of the point I was making and the issue under discussion.

[HarryT]

With the very greatest respect to you, RB, it's an equally myopic view to think that, on a world-wide board such as this, everybody has been "exposed" to the "advertising hype" of the Kindle. It is ONLY available in the USA, and only Amazon's US web site mentions it. This board has members from all over the world, and for most people in other countries, the Kindle is a complete "non issue", even supposing that they've heard of it in the first place. I, for example, buy all my books and DVDs from Amazon's UK web site - go there and you'll see absolutely no mention whatsoever of the Kindle, because it's not available in the UK.

Machines which can be used world-wide, such as the Sony Reader and the CyBook Gen3, tend to be of much more interest to people outside the US.

[rationalbiker]

Originally Posted by HarryT

With the very greatest respect to you, RB, it's an equally myopic view to think that, on a world-wide board such as this, everybody has been "exposed" to the "advertising hype" of the Kindle.

Respectfully in return, if 'everybody' had been my claim, I think you would have a point. However, my claim referred to more people / larger audience. Let me show you two web addresses;

www.bookeen.com

www.amazon.com

On a world wide scale, do you think that more people have been exposed to bookeen.com than amazon.com?

Now let's (intentionally) take a more myopic view of just the US. Again two websites;

www.sony.com

www.amazon.com

When someone thinks of books, which site do you think they will visit first?

Lastly, if we 'pit' the just the US vs. this site's worldwide audience, is it your contention that this site gets a greater number of hits from a greater number of people than the US amazon.com site?


Now, it has occurred to me (based on your post) that I may possibly have made an error in context, and if that is the case, I will reconsider my argument and proceed from there.

In this statement by JSWolf;

The fact that the Kindle is out of stock is not newsworthy. Bookeen and Sony and iRex have all been out of stock and it's just as not newsworthy.

if he meant that it is not newsworthy to members of this board, then I took his comment out of context and I am wrong. (even though it appears to have generated discussion beyond whether it is newsworthy or not which actually supports the idea that it was in fact newsworthy to at least some members of this board)

However, if, as that statement can be construed due some ambiguity on his part, it is not newsworthy at all to anyone, then I stand by my argument.

With his clarification, I will proceed accordingly.

[HarryT]

Heavens - I'm certainly not trying to suggest that Bookeen gets as many hits as Amazon and yes, you're absolutely right in saying that Amazon have, without a shadow of a doubt, brought eBook readers to the attention of many millions of people in the US who would not have previously come across them. That's true beyond any shadow of a doubt.

No, the issue that I believe we're discussing here (and forgive me if I've misunderstood, please) is whether, within the specialised MobiRead community, whose members will all have a pretty fair appreciation of the eBook market, it is "news" that a particular eBook device is "out of stock", given the fact that they are all dependent upon a single screen manufacturer (PVI, in Taiwan), whose manufacturing capability is currently woefully inadequate to keep up with demand from Amazon, Bookeen, Sony, Hanlin, and all the rest.

[bsandersen]

"What makes the Kindle so special that it deserves to be so newsworthy vs all the others? Nothing is the answer."

I must disagree. While there may be spirited discussions about the relative technical merits of the various eBook reader devices, there is no denying that Amazon brings something unique to the party. It is a distribution powerhouse that has been able to engage the publishing industry as no other, and has the potential to bring media-less distribution for print to the mainstream as Apple has done for music. Amazon also has the capacity to support a period of explosive growth should it occur. (And, of course, we are all wishing for a period of explosive growth!)

Each day the Kindle is out of stock, with all its faults and shortcomings, that day is delayed. Adoption is key. But adoption cannot take place without product availability. So, while the other readers out there present immediate value (I own the Sony PRS-505, for example) I recognize that the likely long-term future hinges on the great experiment at Amazon. The future may not rest with Kindle, or Amazon, but I believe that the next big phase in this evolution will depend on the relative success of this initiative over the next couple of years. If it goes well then eMedia will get a big boost of acceptance and availability; if it fails then our corner of the technology world will languish for a while until another brave soul tries again. Further, a failure at Amazon would almost certainly reflect poorly on the long term financial futures for other eMedia distribution channels. But bluntly, I wouldn't want to be looking for financing for a business model that Amazon could not make work.

A kindle outage endangers the immediate future of this business. Let's hope they are back in stock soon, stay in stock, and continue to sell briskly. This rising tide will float all boats.

My two cents (worth much less now after inflation).

-- Scott

[JSWolf]

The fact that the Kindle is said to be out of stock on the wbsite is really not all that meaningful. What a lot of us have decided is that the number of roders is exceeding stock (we don't have any numbers) and that when the Kindle comes into stock, it goes right out to fill orders.

The thing is, I don't consider the Kindle any more special then the 505, Gen3, iLiad, or V3. Each device has it's strengths and weaknesses. But right now, none of the devices is overall better then the other except for the iLiad with it's larger screen higher resolution and the ability to install software on it fairly easily.

[MoSo]

I think Bezos' letter counts as news. The fact that the Kindle is still out of stock? No, because it's never really been IN stock. At one point they had the lag cut down to 2 weeks. Now it's back up to 6.

When I first read the letter, I thought it was signaling that the problems had been addressed and were about to be resolved. Now I think the letter was a hint that the problems are not fixed and will not be any time soon, not until they get other production lines up and running.

[JSWolf]

Amazon cannot get other production lines up and running. The holdup is becaise PVI are the ones makeing the Vizplex screens and they are making them for Netronics, STAReBOOK, Hanlain, Sony, Amazon, Bookeen, and maybe others. So what we have is a shortage of the screens. The only way Amazon can get other production lines going is to buy PVI another factory.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Amazon cannot get other production lines up and running. The holdup is becaise PVI are the ones makeing the Vizplex screens and they are making them for Netronics, STAReBOOK, Hanlain, Sony, Amazon, Bookeen, and maybe others. So what we have is a shortage of the screens. The only way Amazon can get other production lines going is to buy PVI another factory.

I'm sure that they are building them. Unfortunately high-tech production plants are not the kind of thing you can build in a week, or even in 6 months. Probably takes a couple of years to build such a plant.

[MoSo]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm sure that they are building them. Unfortunately high-tech production plants are not the kind of thing you can build in a week, or even in 6 months. Probably takes a couple of years to build such a plant.

If you start from scratch, yes - but it's also possible that there are plants which could be adapted, or a buy-out of a similar tech plant.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MoSo

If you start from scratch, yes - but it's also possible that there are plants which could be adapted, or a buy-out of a similar tech plant.

Lets say Amazon buys a plant to help make Kindles. There's still the issue of availability of the eink screens. So all Amazon will have is a bunch of screenless Kindles laying around waiting for screens.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Lets say Amazon buys a plant to help make Kindles. There's still the issue of availability of the eink screens. So all Amazon will have is a bunch of screenless Kindles laying around waiting for screens.

I think he ment that Amazon can invest in PVI to help them expand their production capacity which will inturn allow them to build more Kindles. They could as part of the deal tell PVI that they extra screens can only be used for Kindles so Sony and others would be able to get extra screens.

I would hope if PVI has more orders than capacity they are already trying to figure out how to expand production.

BOb