A Question for new Kindle Owners

[NatCh]

It's interesting: Over half of the respondents (19 of 32) who purchased Kindles so far had some sort of dedicated reading device already, and most of them were Sony Readers. (15 of that 19). I also note that none of them had iLiads.

This suggests to me that Kindle has something very appealing to people which the Sony Reader lacks. Is it the keyboard? The EVDO wireless? Just the "new gadget" lust we all know so well?

What is it that's drawing you to the Kindle over other devices?

[gteague]

Originally Posted by NatCh

It's interesting: Over half of the respondents (19 of 32) who purchased Kindles so far had some sort of dedicated reading device already, and most of them were Sony Readers. (15 of that 19). I also note that none of them had iLiads.

This suggests to me that Kindle has something very appealing to people which the Sony Reader lacks. Is it the keyboard? The EVDO wireless? Just the "new gadget" lust we all know so well?

What is it that's drawing you to the Kindle over other devices?

it's funny, isn't it? sony has the absolute worst reputation for lousy or non-existent support, drm, and dead-end devices, betamax and minidisc the first of many that spring to mind. remember the root-kit install with music cd's? so i wouldn't think any of the open-source, anti-drm crowd would buy from them at if they could avoid it.

otoh, i've been buying from amazon for years and have spent thousands there--mostly on media: books, cd's, dvd's &c and have had absolutely no bad experience with them. the very very few problems i've had they've solved quickly and to my absolute satisfaction.

i'm not saying this was the only factor in my decision to buy, but it was a large percent. coupled with the fact that i knew (know) for absolute certain they will let me return it w/o question within 30 days. which i haven't yet ruled out, btw.

/guy

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by NatCh

It's interesting: Over half of the respondents (19 of 32) who purchased Kindles so far had some sort of dedicated reading device already, and most of them were Sony Readers. (15 of that 19). I also note that none of them had iLiads.

This suggests to me that Kindle has something very appealing to people which the Sony Reader lacks. Is it the keyboard? The EVDO wireless? Just the "new gadget" lust we all know so well?

What is it that's drawing you to the Kindle over other devices?

For me, it's the fact that it's America's #1 bookseller, Amazon. Their influence over the publishers and amount of e-content they will have blows other e-content providers out of the water.

I will also go out on a limb and say that if the Harry Potter books ever legally go digital here in the US, it will come out in Kindle format first because of the Amazon influence. They may not have that influence yet, but I bet the Amazon push for e-content has finally made publisher talk a bit more...

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by gteague

...i'm not saying this was the only factor in my decision to buy, but it was a large percent. coupled with the fact that i knew (know) for absolute certain they will let me return it w/o question within 30 days. which i haven't yet ruled out, btw.

/guy

Join us on the darkside. Keep it!

[AintLDS]

I tried reading eBooks on the first Palm, then on some Windows CE PDA's, a Palm Tungsten E, my old Powerbook, and my iPhone. Nothing held my interest.

I've been hoping for something from Apple, but I'm tired of waiting. The draw for me on the Kindle was the wireless delivery and relatively low price of eBooks there, as well as the fact that I've been an Amazon customer from inception and am very happy with them. The DRM factor doesn't bother me as long as they stay below the $10 price point (the lower the better!).

I figure, it's like going to the movies. You don't walk out of the theater with a hardcopy that you can do anything with. If you like the movie, you buy the DVD when it comes out. Same with this. If I really like a book and plan to read it again, I might buy a hardback. In 99% of the cases, it's just a one-time read for fun. I like the convenience factor more than the fact that one day the files will be obsolete.

EDIT: Okay, I broke down and bought a Sony 505. Really like it. I think the Kindle is more comfortable to hold while reading but the Sony has so many nice features and is a much nicer design. Kindle for newspapers and DRM'd stuff, Sony for public-domain books. Let's hope Amazon has a better design team for Kindle 2.0.

[runciter]

Originally Posted by gteague

5) 'indie' publishing. i followed a link on an amazon page where they were soliciting content for sale to kindle owners and decided to try it on a lark. i took a very short story i had written long ago and within an hour i had it uploaded to amazon and 12 hours later it was actually for sale! i know it's stupid, but this is a huge deal to a wanna-be writer like me. my writing rate is about a page per month in a good year, but if the kindle takes off this could convince me to actually start writing seriously.

wow. that's fantastic! That sort of thing is exactly what I was expecting could happen and is exciting. Out of curiosity, can you set the price, or do they have fixed prices based on length, etc? Good luck!

[gteague]

Originally Posted by runciter

wow. that's fantastic! That sort of thing is exactly what I was expecting could happen and is exciting. Out of curiosity, can you set the price, or do they have fixed prices based on length, etc? Good luck!

no fixed price or scale--you set it at your whim as far as i can tell. i set mine at 99-cents, but i'm thinking of lowering it even though i'm sure i put at least as much work into it as some of those indie punk garage grunge bands put into the songs they sell for 99-cents on itunes. [g]

/guy

[astra]

Originally Posted by NatCh

It's interesting: Over half of the respondents (19 of 32) who purchased Kindles so far had some sort of dedicated reading device already, and most of them were Sony Readers. (15 of that 19). I also note that none of them had iLiads.

This suggests to me that Kindle has something very appealing to people which the Sony Reader lacks. Is it the keyboard? The EVDO wireless? Just the "new gadget" lust we all know so well?

What is it that's drawing you to the Kindle over other devices?

It might be a bit misleading.

most of them were Sony Readers. (15 of that 19)

Because there is another question which is how many of Sony reader owners will not switch to kindle for one reason or another?

[JSWolf]

I have a 505 and I will NOT be purchasing a Kindle. I think it's a total waste of money. I can understand going from a 500 to a Kindle, but from a 505 to a Kindle is silly. What I see happening is some device with a nice large screen will come out and you will want that and the Kindle will just make a good doorstop.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have a 505 and I will NOT be purchasing a Kindle. I think it's a total waste of money. I can understand going from a 500 to a Kindle, but from a 505 to a Kindle is silly. What I see happening is some device with a nice large screen will come out and you will want that and the Kindle will just make a good doorstop.

Yeah. If I had a Sony, I'd wait until I was ready for a new reader and make my decision then. I wouldn't be jumping on a first gen Kindle. Who knows what will be out in a couple years (when I give DH this Kindle).

[sfernald]

Originally Posted by gteague

but in addition to the delays (which i still maintain frustrate me in every operation) there is too much busy work in the menu system to get anything accomplished. and i'm one of the few i see to detest that silver cursor device. it's hard to see. one example: there are arrows in the left column of the text size select screen and each time i bring that up i expect those arrows to move as they do in 99% of the other comparable devices. it always takes me a few seconds of confusion before i realize i'm supposed to be looking for the silver thingee.

/guy

Really I find the that the cursor works well and it is a pretty clever workaround for an inherent limitation in the e-ink display. I don't have a problem using it or navigating the menus. I actually enjoy it. The rolling feeling is pleasant to the touch, like using a mouse roller to scroll a web page. I haven't had a problem seeing it either in darkness or light so far that I can recall.

[Rocketime]

Keeping my 505 because:

1. The kindle doesn't have anything that I want. I read news on line, magazines are old news and I'll never pay to read a blog. I have access to a computer and internet 24/7 and thus no interest in EVDO downloading. I have a Franklin Dictionary I've had for years.

2. I much prefer the sony form factor.

3. I like metal over plastic.

4. I want the longest lasting battery.

5. Something all together new will be available sometime in late 08' or early 09'

[edsohsmith]

It's interesting: Over half of the respondents (19 of 32) who purchased Kindles so far had some sort of dedicated reading device already, and most of them were Sony Readers. (15 of that 19). I also note that none of them had iLiads.

I think a reason for this is that Sony owners are common and active here on this forum and therefore have a large pool to draw from. If you look at the number of members "viewing these forums", the Sony forums are always at the top. In addition Sony had a legacy model PRS500 from which to jump from.

[NatCh]

That's a very good point and observation.