Loss of Energy

[clintbradford]

I watched Bezos announce the two new Kindles earlier this week. It felt like a punch in the gut for me as a Kobo enthusiast.

I mean, "working" on showing folks the differences between the Nook and the Kobo took some energy and Kobo devotion.

But arguing for a Kobo at US$149 versus a Kindle3 WiFI at $139 - knowing how good my wife's Kindle2 is, well ... I just don't have the energy to wage that battle.

Borders US is partially to blame for my discontent. I mean, they had Kobos in their back rooms for weeks before they ever moved 'em out front. I was so disgruntled with their non-marketing that I haven't even walked into my local store to redeem several Borders Bucks on my account.

But you know what has remained constant this week? My enjoyment at reading books on my Kobo. And discovering a couple authors on this site, and purchasing their wares.

Yes, I pre-ordered a new Kindle3. Do I need it? Absolutely not. Is Amazon evil? Maybe. But they just got $139 from me for a product I have never seen nor touched. I wish Borders/Kobo had that the type of marketing and promotion capability.

Long live Kobo.

[Darth Kram]

I just did something similar. Bought my Kobo for $295 NZD and am currently selling it for around $225. Price to get a Kindle off Amazon and ship it to NZ? About $214 NZD, sorry Kobo.

[clintbradford]

>> ... sorry Kobo ...

I am reluctant to even participate in this thread.

I am not going to "dismiss" my Kobo. Not even when I receive my Kindle3 next month. I cannot properly nor adequately describe the enjoyment I am experiencing with my Kobo. I have read AND ENJOYED more "fiction" in the past two months than ever before (one exception - the series of "Butch Karp" crime novels from Robert Tanenbaum that I have collected ... but that originated with his involvement in the JFK assassination - another story altogether).

Long live Kobo.

[wrenn1]

What will you do with your Kobo when you get your Kindle?

[tpw]

Whatever happens, and whatever the faults of the device/firmware/company/bookstore, the Kobo has been my introduction to the world of ereading and I'm grateful that they released them in Australia at a time where there were no other retail alternatives. I've convinced 3 mates to buy Kobos and none of us regret it.

B&N and Amazon are huge companies who have economies of scale on their side, and can afford to sell the readers very cheaply as loss leaders for their profitable ebooks. Can Kobo? Who knows, but the average consumer votes with their wallet nowadays, and a device which can do more for less $ will always win. I'd be surprised if Kobo doesn't drop the price to stay competitive. Simplicity is not actually a feature that users are prepared to pay a premium for.

All that said, I think the market will change significantly in the next year or so as new technologies come on line. Faster, higher contrast, colour displays etc. I'm extremely interested in Mirasol based ereaders for instance. It'll be interesting to see whose on top after a couple of years.

[clintbradford]

>> ,,, What will you do with your Kobo when you get your Kindle?

Oh I'll play with it and my Verizon MiFI 2200. But (Clint's broken record theme goes right here) I really enjoy my Kobo knowing exactly what it is - a great BOOK READER - without the DISTRACTION of having Wifi connectivity.

Log live Kobo.

[SensualPoet]

I am keeping my Kobo for its access to public library content. And I re4ally like the form factor, and how it feels in my hand.

I already have a Kindle 2i and prefer the display and many, many other features.

Kindle 3 is reported to be about the Kobo size and weight and with a quilted back.

The additional advantages of the Kindle 3 will make me a repeat Amazon e-reader buyer. Even a $99 Kobo is something I would recommend with caveats. If Amazon figures out an Overdrive library solutions (which might be as simple as offering Kindle formatted books with Overdrive), then the last reason to have a my Kobo disappears.

[wrenn1]

I hate spending all this money on books that I will never own. I have been trying to weed out my library of real books (over 700) and find it hard to give them up so to not own these ebooks bothers me. I like to pass on good books.

[sabredog]

There are several options to buy books which do not involve DRM or GR.

The extreme of those options naturally is the darknet.

However you might want to try Smashwords or Double Dragon for a wide variety of ebooks that you do "own" once purchased or Baen for SFF.

[wrenn1]

Thanks Sabredog. I'll try those. I was so excited when I first got my Kobo that I kept buying books from them and now have quite a few but I will check out those sites you mentioned. Thanks again.

[tpw]

Don't forget www.feedbooks.com if you're interested in independent authors. I've nabbed a few really great SF reads, and they're cost free, DRM free and very nicely formatted epubs too.

[Marcels]

Wow, the price is just dropping on the eReader front. I'm in New Zealand too and in the past the cost of buying and shipping from the US was too high, but now you can get a eReader cheaper in the US.

I really like the Kobo and have shown it off a lot, I did have some trouble with the last firmware which makes it hard for me to recommend. Man, I'm tempted to buy a Kindle3 for my girlfriend.

[thp1017]

I really do love Baen - unencrypted files, any and all formats you could possibly want, and most books are $6 or less. And they do other nice stuff like selling a group of books together as a package every month for $15 (looks like 6+ each month?), so you can test out other authors, un-edited advanced reader copies available months before the book is published, etc.

In additional, you can find copies of many of the cds that are released with hardcover copies of their books online: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

These cds generally contain all of the previous books in the series, other random books from that author, etc., and its all completely legal - the cds happily say to share with your friends, copy, etc. Obviously, if you like the books, they won't turn you away if you want to pay for a copy - but a book that was published 10 years ago isn't likely to make them all that much money directly, but if it gets you interested in the series or author, that is more money for them down the line.

Now, back on to the subject of the thread

I too am mildly annoyed at the shifts in prices, and the new Kindle3, but... I guess I knew this was going to happen - maybe not *quite* so soon after I purchased my kobo, I thought there might be some price stability until the Christmas shopping season started. But I've been waiting to buy an eReader for quite a while, and the $150 price point (well, ~$130 really, after borders bucks and the gift-card) was finally low enough for me to purchase.

Like comments in previously threads, I like the Kobo because of its simplicity - I wouldn't mind a bit more in terms of the software, but hardware wise I couldn't be happier. As far as the Kindle3, I'm still not convinced that I'll get one, certainly not right away. More likely I'll wait and see what happens with the Kobo firmware, and where prices are a couple of months from now.

[wrenn1]

TPW, thanks for the feedbooks link. What a find.