Interesting piece on failure of Sony to market its ereaders - Page 4

astra · 12-15-2010, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Yes, I'm replying to myself... Big news of the day (for me) is that Sony just released a firmware update for the 950 that adds hyperlink capability. It will make the Wi-fi much more useful now. That makes me very happy this morning!

According to the firmware details:
* Hyperlink
Tap a link within text to jump to the web page via Wi-Fi®.

See? All you had to do was to voice your sacred wish and hey, presto!

Bookworm_Girl · 12-15-2010, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

See? All you had to do was to voice your sacred wish and hey, presto!

If only it were that easy all the time! I think it is a positive that Sony has done a firmware update. I hope that more are coming soon and for the other models too.

SeaBookGuy · 12-15-2010, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

I think that people who read non fiction would like to have the Internet. I fully understand it. I don't need it because I read fiction only. Mostly Fantasy and a bit of Sci-Fi. If I were to read non-fiction I would want/need to have the Internet.

I read mostly non-fiction, and am not particularly interested in having my reader with internet access.

zxcvbnm · 12-15-2010, 01:27 PM

Partly I suspect there is only so much supply of e-ink screens at the moment. So they don't need to discount something in short supply.

Partly they are price discriminating heavily, walk in off the street and you get sold the smart sony for $200. Or if you are poor/cheap and prepared to make an effort you trade in your old worthless pda from the back of the cuboard for $75 and buy through the education store (even if they check everyone knows a student or teacher).

Think about it the prs-350 is $135 in their education store, deduct the trade in and many people are paying $60 for one making it by far the cheapest available. The 6" model works out at $120 but still cheaper than a kindle.

So they are selling them for the highest price to some people and the lowest price to others, clever Sony.

Sweetpea · 12-16-2010, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartu

I think situation is rather grave.
Sony Readers get next to no media coverage.

They get plenty here...

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I think Sony is focusing on the European market. Any perceived failures in the US may be deliberate.

Deliberate? not sure about that. But I do think they are throwing a lot at it on this side of the big pond. There are a few "Dutch" readers (rebranded by Dutch companies...) but none are as well known as the Sony's... (maybe the BeBook as that was the first here...)

boxcorner · 12-16-2010, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

They get plenty here...

I have just bought a used Sony PRS-505, based on what other users have posted on MR. Perhaps the marketing people at Sony feel that word-of-mouth recommendation is more effective than advertising.

kartu · 12-16-2010, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxcorner

I have just bought a Sony PRS-505, based on what other users have posted on MR. Perhaps the marketing people at Sony feel that word-of-mouth recommendation is more effective than advertising.

And if they don't, what can they do? Pay sites so that they review Sony readers?

din155 · 12-16-2010, 05:31 AM

Don’t want to make it a kindle vs. Sony argument but before buying Sony I had kindle with me for three weeks. I bought it for the reasons stated in some of the previous posts (wikipedia, weblinks and google). But for me the browser on E-ink was useful only for buying books and nothing more. I could not get the right settings for kindle even for Amazon (maybe I didn’t understand how to use it) and ended up spending more time in making it display those websites better rather than reading. Meanwhile I saw Sony 650 at Waterstones and it blew me off! Love at first site... (maybe I was always biased towards it from the reviews..

)
The best part, I don’t miss internet on my reader. Maybe I am too engrossed in the books to miss anything.
I will consider using browser on Reader but only when E-ink is advanced enough to turn the pages without its annoyingly slow refresh rate. Until then I am more than happy to buy books on my laptop.

Cheers!

Sweetpea · 12-16-2010, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxcorner

I have just bought a Sony PRS-505, based on what other users have posted on MR. Perhaps the marketing people at Sony feel that word-of-mouth recommendation is more effective than advertising.

Well, the 505 was never available here. But since they introduced the 300 and 600, most readers mentioned are Sony's. Before that, you hardly heard anything about ereaders at all.

boxcorner · 12-16-2010, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartu

... Pay sites so that they review Sony readers

Do you mean pay sites to give good reviews of Sony readers?

Sweetpea · 12-16-2010, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartu

I'm not sure about that. Most people buyng Sony's that I know already were Sony Reader owners. Most of thew "new customers" that I know, learned there is such thing as Kindle and bought one.

I think that depends very heavily on the languages you read. Most people here have no use for a kindle as they can't buy books from it, because they don't read English.

kartu · 12-16-2010, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxcorner

Do you mean pay sites to give good reviews of Sony readers?

No, simply to review/mention them at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I think that depends very heavily on the languages you read. Most people here have no use for a kindle as they can't buy books from it, because they don't read English.

Most people that can't buy books from amazon, actually easily get books from other sources. And, unlike with Sony, Kindle's fonts contains most non-hieroglyphic alphabets out of the box.

boxcorner · 12-16-2010, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartu

No, simply to review/mention them at all ...

You seem to be saying that Sony should pay websites to review and mention their products. What effect do you think that would have on their credibility (both Sony's and the website's)?

kartu · 12-16-2010, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxcorner

You seem to be saying that Sony should pay websites to review and mention their products. What effect do you think that would have on their credibility (both Sony's and the website's)?

What are you talking about please?

It was implied (on this very page) that "probably marketing people at Sony" think that it is better that "sites do not review Sony readers". I asked what were Sony "marketing people" supposed to do, so that sites do review its devices.

CazMar · 12-16-2010, 06:24 PM

I think I have commented before on their marketing in Australia - they went for about 2 years saying they weren't going to release their readers here, even to the point where their staff didn't seem to even know what I was talking about. Then Kindle and Kobo brought out units and marketed them aggressively via large bookshops. Oh - suddenly Sony wanted to get in on the action (and Borders had sold out of Kobos the other day!).
I really don't want wi-fi - I have a perfectly good netbook that can do all that stuff and do it a lot better, reading is for peace and quiet and getting away from the rest of the world

.
The Sony sounds great but I need a lot of convincing before I switch from Kobo, who despite some teething problems, at least get into feedback via this forum and have the bravery to put up with the flack to get a better product.

12-16-2010, 05:31 AM	#53
din155 Guru Posts: 880 Karma: 7556602 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle PW, Win 10 thinkpad 8in	Don’t want to make it a kindle vs. Sony argument but before buying Sony I had kindle with me for three weeks. I bought it for the reasons stated in some of the previous posts (wikipedia, weblinks and google). But for me the browser on E-ink was useful only for buying books and nothing more. I could not get the right settings for kindle even for Amazon (maybe I didn’t understand how to use it) and ended up spending more time in making it display those websites better rather than reading. Meanwhile I saw Sony 650 at Waterstones and it blew me off! Love at first site... (maybe I was always biased towards it from the reviews..) The best part, I don’t miss internet on my reader. Maybe I am too engrossed in the books to miss anything. I will consider using browser on Reader but only when E-ink is advanced enough to turn the pages without its annoyingly slow refresh rate. Until then I am more than happy to buy books on my laptop. Cheers!

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12-15-2010, 01:27 PM	#49
zxcvbnm Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: none	Partly I suspect there is only so much supply of e-ink screens at the moment. So they don't need to discount something in short supply. Partly they are price discriminating heavily, walk in off the street and you get sold the smart sony for $200. Or if you are poor/cheap and prepared to make an effort you trade in your old worthless pda from the back of the cuboard for $75 and buy through the education store (even if they check everyone knows a student or teacher). Think about it the prs-350 is $135 in their education store, deduct the trade in and many people are paying $60 for one making it by far the cheapest available. The 6" model works out at $120 but still cheaper than a kindle. So they are selling them for the highest price to some people and the lowest price to others, clever Sony.

12-16-2010, 06:24 PM	#60
CazMar Book Geek Posts: 596 Karma: 1499085 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Adelaide, Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Asus MemPad 7" tablet, Nexus 5, Asus 10" tablet	I think I have commented before on their marketing in Australia - they went for about 2 years saying they weren't going to release their readers here, even to the point where their staff didn't seem to even know what I was talking about. Then Kindle and Kobo brought out units and marketed them aggressively via large bookshops. Oh - suddenly Sony wanted to get in on the action (and Borders had sold out of Kobos the other day!). I really don't want wi-fi - I have a perfectly good netbook that can do all that stuff and do it a lot better, reading is for peace and quiet and getting away from the rest of the world . The Sony sounds great but I need a lot of convincing before I switch from Kobo, who despite some teething problems, at least get into feedback via this forum and have the bravery to put up with the flack to get a better product.

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