Amazon prepping color Kindle w/ video streaming.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But remember that Amazon are about a lot more than just books - they also sell video, which is potentially probably a larger market. That's where I suspect that a potential tablet device would be primarily aimed, rather than reading.

Agreed. I see it marketed like a tablet computer (ie. iPad) rather than an ereader.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But remember that Amazon are about a lot more than just books - they also sell video, which is potentially probably a larger market. That's where I suspect that a potential tablet device would be primarily aimed, rather than reading.

I agree. I can read on my iPad, but it does a LOT more than just act as an eReader. Apple has hit the sweet spot on features, price, ease of use and I think Amazon is best prepared to compete in all of those areas.

As the dedicated eInk readers continue to drop in price, I think that lots of folks will get both. There are going to be folks like me who read just fine on an LCD and will just stick to reading on our tablets.

Had eInk readers stayed up in the $280 or so price range, tablets really would have taken a lot of their sales. At $139 and soon $79 -- I think the eInk reader is here to stay.

Lee

[Prestidigitweeze]

On the other hind, "prepping new color Kindle with video streaming" makes me picture Bezos primping the thing's bouffant, helping it memorize the answers to test questions and showing it how to execute cool streaming moves while being video'd.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by leebase

I agree. I can read on my iPad, but it does a LOT more than just act as an eReader. Apple has hit the sweet spot on features, price, ease of use and I think Amazon is best prepared to compete in all of those areas.

As the dedicated eInk readers continue to drop in price, I think that lots of folks will get both. There are going to be folks like me who read just fine on an LCD and will just stick to reading on our tablets.

Had eInk readers stayed up in the $280 or so price range, tablets really would have taken a lot of their sales. At $139 and soon $79 -- I think the eInk reader is here to stay.

Lee

I don't think price is the reason e-readers are still here to stay.

I don't think serious readers are all about giant tablet computers for reading. My wife told me she was reading on her ipad in bed the one day and it slipped and hit her in the face so hard she was afraid it chipped a tooth. She always pulls out the Kindle to read over the ipad.

I'd give up my tablet before I gave up my e-ink reader. I'd much rather read than play on the internet with apps or whatever. I was using just my NC for a few weeks until I got my Nook Touch and man, did that suck. Nothing worse than having to watch the battery life all of the time on the damn thing, and I couldn't really read outside at all.

That doesn't mean all serious readers would choose e-ink over a tablet computer. I'm just saying that a lot of people would choose a dedicated reader even at higher prices. People were still buying the kindle even after the ipad came out.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

I don't think price is the reason e-readers are still here to stay.

I don't think serious readers are all about giant tablet computers for reading.

That's just fantasy speaking. There's nothing about an eInk reader that makes it "more serious" for reading than a tablet. Users will have their preferences that makes one of the other more appealing. None of it adds up to one being "for more serious" readers than the other.

People talk about how expensive the iPad is. Yet the original kindle came out at $400. The Kindle Dx at the time of the release of the iPad was only $10 cheaper.

Without the price drop, only the small percentage of folks who can't actually read comfortably on a tablet would choose an eInk reader over a similarly priced but feature packed tablet.

B&N is selling it's Color Nook like hotcakes at $250. It's an lcd tablet sold for use as a reader and is selling in the millions. If it was priced at $139, and the eInk prices stayed where they were, it'd take a huge bite of the market.

Lee

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by leebase

That's just fantasy speaking. There's nothing about an eInk reader that makes it "more serious" for reading than a tablet.

There are actually quite a few things. Long battery life, and readability in pretty much any lighting conditions in which you could read a paper book are among them.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are actually quite a few things. Long battery life, and readability in pretty much any lighting conditions in which you could read a paper book are among them.

Not "quite a few things" -- but those two things, plus price (and size). There endeth the advantages.

But there are READING advantages for tablets, not to mention all the other things tablets do. Color. Speed. No flicking. Ability to read in poor or no light conditions. Vastly expanded sources of content. Pdf's are much better, as are magazines and reading the web.

More advances are coming -- stay tuned to the college text book market with integration between student and professor.

If the eInk readers had stayed expensive, their few advantages would not have been able to withstand the advantages of a tablet.

As it is, eInk readers are just about to drop into the impulse buy price point (below $100). Nothing Amazon is doing with their tablet is going to kill the eInk kindle.

Lee

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by leebase

That's just fantasy speaking. There's nothing about an eInk reader that makes it "more serious" for reading than a tablet. Users will have their preferences that makes one of the other more appealing. None of it adds up to one being "for more serious" readers than the other.

People talk about how expensive the iPad is. Yet the original kindle came out at $400. The Kindle Dx at the time of the release of the iPad was only $10 cheaper.

Without the price drop, only the small percentage of folks who can't actually read comfortably on a tablet would choose an eInk reader over a similarly priced but feature packed tablet.

B&N is selling it's Color Nook like hotcakes at $250. It's an lcd tablet sold for use as a reader and is selling in the millions. If it was priced at $139, and the eInk prices stayed where they were, it'd take a huge bite of the market.

Lee

Did you not read the rest of my post? Way to cherry pick out a part of it and be outraged. Here, I'll repeat it for you.

"That doesn't mean all serious readers would choose e-ink over a tablet computer. I'm just saying that a lot of people would choose a dedicated reader even at higher prices. People were still buying the kindle even after the ipad came out. "

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Did you not read the rest of my post? Way to cherry pick out a part of it and be outraged.

People who look for signs of elitism will always find them, justifiably or not, whereas people who look for content will often be rewarded. Reason enough to sidestep the perils of inductive reasoning, which your initial post did nicely (though some who commented on it did not).

Back to it:

Add similarity to the look of a printed page to eInk's list of advantages. It isn't only that the screen looks better in direct light. It's also that the matte surface and absence of backlighting lend themselves to reading with less eyestrain, and also to people's shared experience of reading books. The eReader's avoidance of other purposes is serious in the sense of compelling users to read by design; the screen choices are serious in the sense of maximizing the amount of time people can continue to read without eye strain. The aesthetic reproduction of readers' past experience is welcome though will likely die eventually with the generations who now share it.

One thing I'd like to see in tablets generally is the emergence of the matte screen as an option. Samsung's netbooks and ultralights are fabulous for that reason. Perhaps their tablet for the Kindle will be as well.

I'm using serious as a synonym for single-minded, by the way -- which is fully justifiable, as a brief walk through anyone's local Merriam-Webster's will show. I'm not using it as a vague cultural distinction that is abused even more by those who hate it than those who embrace it.

The particular fit of the eReader to its purpose is what interests people at the moment. We're experiencing the very, very late migration to digital of what should have been the easiest and earliest medium to do so (delayed, perhaps, by screen tech and by people's equation of color with progress). The eReader is a veteran's point of entrance to the medium, as the CD player once was for people with shelves of records and tapes.

It's often been that way in terms of cultural trends: Music and art, then lit.

[stonetools]

Interesting as the discussion of tablets vs eink readers is, Amazon has apparently moved on . Amazon wants to challenge Apple on the selling of multimedia generally, including movies, TV shows, video games, and music. For those media, you need tablets to properly display and play those media. Amazon was making no headway vs Itunes going without its dedicated media devices , so it decided to get its own hardware.
I think the lesson Amazon has drawn from the success of the Kindle and the Ipad is that if you are going to sell media content,
1.It really helps to have your dedicated hardware device that plays such media.
2. Selling such media content in turn drives sales of dedicated hardware
Techies resist that idea, but the history is clear.
Ipod + Itunes= dominance in mobile music hardware sales+ music sales
Iphone, Ipod touch, Ipad + App Store= dominance in mobile video games, video and mobile apps.
Kindle + Amazon ebook store= dominance in ebooks AND the eink reader market

Its THESE equations, and not the advantages of tablets vs eink readers for reading ebooks, that is driving Amazon's decisions.

[HansTWN]

Tablets and e-ink readers are two different markets that partially overlap. Some people are perfectly content with using a backlit screen for reading, many others (including myself, not matter how hard I have tried, for me e-ink is more comfortable) are not. And there is the battery life issue.

Tablets are, of course, a much bigger market (readers being a minority) and Amazon wants to be in it. My guess is that Amazon had planned to wait for the new color e-ink or Mirasol to be market ready (so that they can have a real all-in-one device), but felt it was taking too long. And with a good tablet, Amazon also can take a shot at those people who like reading on LCD screens and now use the Nook color, the iPad, and other devices.

Only when new screen technologies are ready will tablets be 100% functional e-readers for all users.

[lars mars]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

None of these is particularly compelling to me, not enough to ditch my K3 and pick up a new model.

A color Kindle = tablet computer, which I don't really have a use for. Touch is okay but not a big deal, and I'm happy with the battery life of the K3.

I'm glad they aren't standing still, but you know, it's a device for reading text. I'm not sure how whiz-bang you can make that device, or want to make it.

Thx , my kindle3 is a reading device 4 me, and arguably the best out there at the moment in combination with calibre. no need here for color, games etc. if i pick up a (old fashion ink-on-paper) book, i do so to read a book, same with my kindle. i dont need facebook, skype, games and all the yadayada stuff on it - for that i use my (wannabe) smartphone or laptop. if i read i like to be not disturbed

[carld]

The theoretical Amazon Android tablet may look a good bit like this one from Archos. Like the supposed Amazon offering it has a TI OMAP 4 processor and hits the same rumored $350 price point.

Link to Engadget

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Interesting as the discussion of tablets vs eink readers is, Amazon has apparently moved on .

Not if their tablet is meant to be developed simultaneously with the eInk Kindle rather than successively.

It wasn't a mistake on B&N's part to release the Nook ST after the Nook Color. I doubt they'd have made the ST nearly as efficient, comfortable and easy if they hadn't developed the Color first.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

One thing I'd like to see in tablets generally is the emergence of the matte screen as an option. Samsung's netbooks and ultralights are fabulous for that reason. Perhaps their tablet for the Kindle will be as well.

oh, all tablets have got matte screens already thanks to slimy fingers.