Sony's competitive future with Kindle

[cgk]

Just a few random comments:

First I agree with the point that Sony has completely lost the war in the UK, I see lots of kindles but no sony devices, so in terms of a competitive future, there isn't one current here.

I owned a PRS600 and loved it but after I bought a K3 for my other half's birthday and played with it for a bit I sold it and got myself a K3 as well. I did look at the PRS650 but it was a £140 more, I simply don't care about build quality that much! Moreover, I love the fact that my newspaper just appears in the morning and that I can get a new book whereever I am. The only time I use the Kindle cable is when I charge it.

I prefer the software and feel of the sonys but for me it's just not enough to overcome the kindle ecosystem around the kindle and the difference in the price. Moreover, I'm using the email service a lot more than I expected and am constantly forwarding onto my kindle documents I want to read "click click" it's all done, no searching in a box for a usb cable.

[astra]

Originally Posted by cgk

I bought a K3 for my other half's birthday and played with it for a bit I sold it and got myself a K3 as well. I did look at the PRS650 but it was a £140 more

Assuming you have purchased Wi-Fi only, for £110 + £140 = £250
Where did you find a shop in the UK that sold it for £250? I am curious what posh shops have you been visiting How did you manage to miss Waterstones £200, let alone that a few weeks after 650 was out Sony introduced VAT back offer in the UK, so it cost only £170.
170-110=60
Only £60 more

[cgk]

I'm remember off the top of my head but whatever the difference was I didn't want to pay it - it might have been £220. Interestingly, after seeing our Kindles, a friend got one and then their partner, who also had a600 did the same as me - sold it and got a K3. I know it's not a big deal for a lot of people but I simply couldn't go back to a device without Wifi I just get too much daily use out of it.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

It says right on the back of the box that the Sony store is ONLY for use in the US & Canada.

Maybe so, but it is barely usable for us Norte Americanos! Other sources ARE better.

If I were Sony, I'd drop the bookstore and enter into an agreement with one of the better vendors and work out some sort of revenue sharing agreement in exchange for directing traffic to it. <cough> Smashwords <cough>

I bet Smashwords would be willing to sell mainstream books in exchange for having Sony reader users officially directed to them.

[darknessangel]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Maybe so, but it is barely usable for us Norte Americanos! Other sources ARE better.

If I were Sony, I'd drop the bookstore and enter into an agreement with one of the better vendors and work out some sort of revenue sharing agreement in exchange for directing traffic to it. <cough> Smashwords <cough>

I bet Smashwords would be willing to sell mainstream books in exchange for having Sony reader users officially directed to them.

This has been exactly my point of view for several years, Sir!

I think Sony's marketing team for the ebook reader sector deserves a swift kick (or several) on their behinds.

[Poppaea]

Sometimes coming to this website feels like being in a time loop. We've had this discussion already.

Sonys are sold worldwide and they have agreements with shops in the respecitve languages all over the world. Kindle is English and since two weeks has a German kindle shop. Thats it.

So with a Sony you

- pay a premium price for a device you can shop with in whichever shop you like
- in whichever language you read

The typical user is not adept to circumvent the DRM scheme or the georestrictions that come with the Kindle. So either an international Kindle buyer does their reading in English or they get a device that is flexible in the where-to-buy-a-book and the which-language-to-buy-the-book-in.

[laughingdragons]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Love your avatar. Is your kitty a vampire?

LOL thanks!

I call him my vampire kitty when he shows his teeth like that

[deekbee]

Originally Posted by cgk

I prefer the software and feel of the sonys but for me it's just not enough to overcome the kindle ecosystem around the kindle and the difference in the price. Moreover, I'm using the email service a lot more than I expected and am constantly forwarding onto my kindle documents I want to read "click click" it's all done, no searching in a box for a usb cable.

Similarly, I do also prefer the feel of the Sony. But I also tend to prefer the way the Sony handles PDFs over the Kindle (which doesn't seem to do a good job on the few I've tried).

After a colleague played with my PRS-350, he's started to wish that his K3 had a touch screen. He also commented on how tiny the PRS-350 is in comparison to the K3.

And thankfully I never have to search for a cable - both of my phones have the same cable as the PRS-350

Finally - PRS+ has made the 350 into a considerably more entertaining device.

[cgk]

After a colleague played with my PRS-350, he's started to wish that his K3 had a touch screen.

I got the 600 for that reason and then never actually used the touch screen - go figure :-)

[darknessangel]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

Sometimes coming to this website feels like being in a time loop. We've had this discussion already.

Sonys are sold worldwide and they have agreements with shops in the respecitve languages all over the world. Kindle is English and since two weeks has a German kindle shop. Thats it.

So with a Sony you

- pay a premium price for a device you can shop with in whichever shop you like
- in whichever language you read

The typical user is not adept to circumvent the DRM scheme or the georestrictions that come with the Kindle. So either an international Kindle buyer does their reading in English or they get a device that is flexible in the where-to-buy-a-book and the which-language-to-buy-the-book-in.

I'm aware of your arguments. However, I'm talking about the competitiveness of Sony vs Kindle, where Sony can certainly take some qualities/ideas from Amazon in order to gain some edge... because you can't really say that sony readers more popular are than kindle. And I say this personally having a prs-505, I love it and I really don't like the kindle design but the business model is another thing.

[hidari]

Well, I hope that all the ebook reader companies keep making models with eink into the near and distant future. The more choice the better. The Gods help us if it only comes down to one company making eink devices.....

[astra]

Originally Posted by hidari

Well, I hope that all the ebook reader companies keep making models with eink into the near and distant future. The more choice the better. The Gods help us if it only comes down to one company making eink devices.....

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by darknessangel

I'm aware of your arguments. However, I'm talking about the competitiveness of Sony vs Kindle, where Sony can certainly take some qualities/ideas from Amazon in order to gain some edge... because you can't really say that sony readers more popular are than kindle. And I say this personally having a prs-505, I love it and I really don't like the kindle design but the business model is another thing.

More popular where????

Sony is No 2 in America, No1 in Germany and funny enough No1 in Russia while not even sold officially there.

The Kindle business model is not so easy to transport over the world as it is language bound.

With a Sony I can buy my ebooks with FNAC in French, Libri or Ciando in German, Elaleph in Spanish and Sony, Kobo, Bookdepository, Smashwords, whoever in English. I can compare prices and buy the language I need.

Would you please show me where to buy a Russian Amazon book?

Furthermore the convenience and instant reward of wifi is only hyped in America, it is of very little consequence for Europeans.

Originally Posted by hidari

Well, I hope that all the ebook reader companies keep making models with eink into the near and distant future. The more choice the better. The Gods help us if it only comes down to one company making eink devices.....

Originally Posted by astra

This is from an interview with Steve Haber and PublishersWeekly made in Feb 2011:

He said the devices were selling well. Sony’s Daily Edition, the only Sony device offering wireless download, is the only one of the devices currently still in stock. The Pocket and Touch editions have sold out, he said, and Sony is working to get more back into stores. Although Haber would not give precise figures, he said they had sold “millions” of devices and that “there’s not enough product to satisfy demand. Retailers are happy with the sell through but not with our supply.” He said the Daily Edition was selling “extremely well,” but is only available for sale in the U.S. The Pocket and Touch editions are available for sale in 19 countries.

Haber said Sony has upgraded the Sony Reader e-bookstore allowing for sales (it will support multiple currencies) through the website. They’ve also launched a program in 30 public libraries that will put two Sony devices in each library for public use and offer two devices to be loaned out. “We plan to increase the size of this program on a case by case basis,” he said.

He said the growing popularity and fascination with full color multimedia tablet devices—not only the iPad but the big influx of tablets set to hit the market by the summer—was “great for the overall industry. Anything that moves people from paper to digital is a win.” While he admitted that e-ink devices “don’t work for magazines, you’re not going to read Vogue on an e-ink device, but they are great for black and white books.”

He added, “you’ll continue to see devices that are easy on the eyes. Reading on a device with the equivalent of a lightbulb shining behind it is difficult for some people. E-ink devices are not doomed; people will have multiple reading devices.” Indeed he continually used the phrase, “e-ink devices are designed to replace traditional books,” unapologetically. “When the first black and white Sony Reader came out, everyone said, what’s this? The world is in color. But the Sony Reader is not a Swiss Army knife.”

In fact he told PW how the Sony e-ink devices turned him into reader (that and a nudge from his wife, an early fan of the device who told him it was “cool”) after he realized that ease and convenience of digital reading. “Change can make people uncomfortable but when they see the positives of digital reading—it makes people read more—it can be awesome.”

[CommonReader]

What about Japan's huge ebook market? Didn't Sony start to sell their readers in Japan again last year? Amazon doesn't sell ebooks in Japan.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

What about Japan's huge ebook market? Didn't Sony start to sell their readers in Japan again last year? Amazon doesn't sell ebooks in Japan.

Yes. I read somewhere they do very fine over there, but I can't recall where right now.