Amazon Kindle e-book downloads outsell paperbacks

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by avantman42

Presumably, it is the same as having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from Tesco? Tesco is a supermarket here in the UK. You can buy all sorts of things from them, including food, paper books and e-books. According to their help page, their e-books have ADE DRM. So, I have a Kindle, and I can't buy e-books from Tesco. Surely that's the same as someone with a Nook not being able to buy e-books from Amazon?

So you're saying that if you wanted Tesco to sell something that you wanted - you wouldn't say anything?

You've never requested a store carry brands that you prefer? Really? It must be nice to be so unassuming. I'm not. I expect a great deal for my money.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

No buy making the decision to not buy a Kindle and buy another device you chose to not be able to easily buy Amazon books to put on your device. If you wanted access to Amazon books you should have bought a Kindle.

Just like if I wanted to easily download BN books I should have bought a Nook.

Just because you used to buy dtb from Amazon does not mean that they have to make ebooks available for every device. You bought something they don't support. The consequence is not being able to easily buy ebooks from Amazon.

Oh, please. Amazon deliberately does not offer the features I want. That does not stop them from being Target - and I request that Target carry what I want to purchase.

I've never met a such a huge group of people who feel that they only deserve what someone is willing to give them. I deserve more - so I demand more.

If I was really put out, Amazon would get letter from me every day. Because I'm not, I simply choose to not spend my money with them.

Since this is a forum in which we discuss mobile reading technology - this appears to be the appropriate place to discuss...

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

So you're saying that if you wanted Tesco to sell something that you wanted - you wouldn't say anything?

That's not what I said. I didn't even think it was what I'd implied. Speedlever said "Just so that I'm clear, this is no different than having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from B&N, Borders, Sony, etc. Correct?", and you said he wasn't correct, because "Amazon is not a bookseller or a specialty store. Amazon is a Target, a Wal-Mart, a discount mega-mart that also happens to sell books."

I was simply trying to point out that at least one supermarket (ie Tesco) does much the same thing as Amazon, but with e-pubs.

I'm not trying to defend Amazon, nor am I attacking them. I was simply pointing something out, because I was genuinely interested to know what your reaction would be, and I thought it would add to the discussion.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Not correct.

Amazon is not a bookseller or a specialty store. Amazon is a Target, a Wal-Mart, a discount mega-mart that also happens to sell books. Amazon makes their money by catering to the masses - so of course people expect them to continue to do so. That is how they reached market dominance.

I can't go on to B&N's website and purchase food. I can buy food at Amazon.

snip

Hmm. I've never tried to buy food with my Kindle. Maybe I'm missing something here.

If I don't have a Kindle, do I have to strip DRM before I can eat it?

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by avantman42

That's not what I said. I didn't even think it was what I'd implied. Speedlever said "Just so that I'm clear, this is no different than having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from B&N, Borders, Sony, etc. Correct?", and you said he wasn't correct, because "Amazon is not a bookseller or a specialty store. Amazon is a Target, a Wal-Mart, a discount mega-mart that also happens to sell books."

I was simply trying to point out that at least one supermarket (ie Tesco) does much the same thing as Amazon, but with e-pubs.

I'm not trying to defend Amazon, nor am I attacking them. I was simply pointing something out, because I was genuinely interested to know what your reaction would be, and I thought it would add to the discussion.

I'm sorry. I tend to get a little defensive when speaking about Amazon here.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Hmm. I've never tried to buy food with my Kindle. Maybe I'm missing something here.

If I don't have a Kindle, do I have to strip DRM before I can eat it?

If it's tasty, I don't see why not.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by avantman42

Presumably, it is the same as having a Kindle and wishing to buy DRM material from Tesco? Tesco is a supermarket here in the UK. You can buy all sorts of things from them, including food, paper books and e-books. According to their help page, their e-books have ADE DRM. So, I have a Kindle, and I can't buy e-books from Tesco. Surely that's the same as someone with a Nook not being able to buy e-books from Amazon?

I would say it is almost the same - except that Amazon does not allow others to use the .awz (.azw?) format. If the format was(is?) available for use, I would expect Tesco to carry that format for my (or rather your) use. I don't like the fact that Amazon does not make their format available for use for library lending. I don't own a kindle so I am unfamiliar with the availability of the format outside of Amazon's door.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I've never met a such a huge group of people who feel that they only deserve what someone is willing to give them. I deserve more - so I demand more.

My thoughts exactly! Too many people seem to have been drinking the Amazon Kool-Aid.

If I was really put out, Amazon would get letter from me every day. Because I'm not, I simply choose to not spend my money with them.

Ditto. Though for me, it wasn't even a specific choice not to buy other items from Amazon--that just happened as a consequence of my spending less time on the Amazon site and a mental shift from Amazon being my go-to store.

[jbcohen]

Thanks for the laugh speedlever.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by Catlady

My thoughts exactly! Too many people seem to have been drinking the Amazon Kool-Aid.



Ditto. Though for me, it wasn't even a specific choice not to buy other items from Amazon--that just happened as a consequence of my spending less time on the Amazon site and a mental shift from Amazon being my go-to store.

I can't speak for others, but I don't drink Kool-Aid, lol. I figure all businesses can choose how to serve customers (within the law, at least). If they make decisions that lead them to fail, shrug -- that's how the marketplace works. So if Amazon, Apple or whichever company suffers for their own crummy decisions, too bad for them.

I use whichever company serves me best, but I'll switch if someone else can do better. I think customer loyalty is illogical. I'm loyal only to myself as a consumer. That doesn't keep me from objectively recognizing that a company is performing well, even if I don't use that company.

The funny thing is, I rarely ordered from Amazon before I bought a Kindle. Now, I buy a lot from Amazon -- not just e-books. Since I look at the site for Kindle books all the time, I started looking at other things there, too.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

I can't speak for others, but I don't drink Kool-Aid, lol. I figure all businesses can choose how to serve customers (within the law, at least). If they make decisions that lead them to fail, shrug -- that's how the marketplace works. So if Amazon, Apple or whichever company suffers for their own crummy decisions, too bad for them.

I use whichever company serves me best, but I'll switch if someone else can do better. I think customer loyalty is illogical. I'm loyal only to myself as a consumer. That doesn't keep me from objectively recognizing that a company is performing well, even if I don't use that company.

The funny thing is, I rarely ordered from Amazon before I bought a Kindle. Now, I buy a lot from Amazon -- not just e-books. Since I look at the site for Kindle books all the time, I started looking at other things there, too.

I agree, I'm loyal to myself (and my pocketbook) as a customer - but the reverse was true for me. I started buying books from Amazon (thanks, Borders!) and then ramped up to everything else. Now that I'm no longer buying books from Amazon I find myself not buying as many other things lately. This is very good for my local economy, however

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I agree, I'm loyal to myself (and my pocketbook) as a customer - but the reverse was true for me. I started buying books from Amazon (thanks, Borders!) and then ramped up to everything else. Now that I'm no longer buying books from Amazon I find myself not buying as many other things lately. This is very good for my local economy, however

Yup, trying to support my local economy is a key reason I don't buy more online. I wanna live in a nice community; it's basically self-interest, lol.

[vulcan_girl]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I'm sorry. I tend to get a little defensive when speaking about Amazon here.

Why? I'm genuinely curious.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by vulcan_girl

Why? I'm genuinely curious.

Because quite a few people here are very big fans of Amazon - so much so that they have an "Amazon can do no wrong so how dare you comment" attitude. I've been burned before - and I've watched quite a few other get sacrificed to the Amazon flame. I enjoy debate - which is why I frequent this site - but I've noticed any Amazon debate quickly descends into an "us against them" argument.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

I use whichever company serves me best, but I'll switch if someone else can do better. I think customer loyalty is illogical. I'm loyal only to myself as a consumer. That doesn't keep me from objectively recognizing that a company is performing well, even if I don't use that company.

The funny thing is, I rarely ordered from Amazon before I bought a Kindle. Now, I buy a lot from Amazon -- not just e-books. Since I look at the site for Kindle books all the time, I started looking at other things there, too.

Customer loyalty usually start out as customer satisfaction, though, and there's nothing necessarily illogical about that. I like certain stores and brands because they've served me well in the past, so I'm more likely to continue with them out of habit unless something shakes my perception. I'm not speaking of major purchases, which I'll research and consider and bargain-hunt for, but the smaller stuff. And while it takes time to build a habit, it's often very easy to break one.

For both of us, the choice of an e-reader affected more than just where we purchased books. I think that's pretty interesting.