'10 Big eBook Trends of 2010'

[RockdaMan]

I found this essay to be insightful and point on, and would like to hear the opinions of the MR community. Yes, it was written by a Kindler, but the site won't give any of you non-Kindlers a virus ( ). It is, after-all, about eBooks.

I won't quote all ten -- the rest are listed here.

the Agency Model is well-established now and we have $12.99 as the price at which most new books are released. Publishers have more control over ebook pricing than they had – They just haven’t been able to dictate terms to readers.

It’s the readers who have kept ebooks and eReaders alive. If we didn’t have a critical mass of ebook buyers and eReader owners, and if they weren’t smart enough to avoid Publishers’ tricks, we would have seen eBooks die out.

B&N has firmly established itself as a top-3 eReader company and a top-2 eBook company. Not only does it look like Nook Color will beat off iPad and other pretend-eReaders – it might even steal a bit of the Kindle’s target market.

[ficbot]

A good recap, but I disagree that B&N is the number one or number two store, because it's a big ebook world and they only sell in the USA. I'd put Amazon at 1 and Kobo at 2. Then Sony, because of Europe.

[jehane]

grrr...I had a reply all written out and MR logged me out and lost my msg...attempt #2

Using free books to sell $10 books is the strangest thing imaginable.

I don't agree. When I first had the money to buy books, I only bought books I'd already read and would want to read again. Even now, the number of authors whose books I buy new and unread would number less than ten. If I am recommended or come across a new author, I generally try them out at the library or 2nd hand first, then buy new if I like them enough. So for me, I am happy to try out freebies, and if I like the author's style, I would then go on to purchase their other books. Though it would have to be pretty good for me to pay more than $10. There are very few books I've bought in hardcover.

Readers keep Kindle and Nook alive despite the Press and Mass Media’s attempts to brainwash readers into buying a device that wasn’t meant for readers.

I also found the dig at the iPad ironic coming from a Kindle user since, in Australia at least, the mass media would have us think that the Kindle is our only choice other than the iPad - rarely does Nook/Sony/Kobo rate a mention. This is in spite of the fact that the Sony and Kobo are available in store in Australia, unlike the Kindle, and iRex was available years ago, well before the Kindle existed.