Effect of Kindle on Sony's Content Offerings

vivaldirules · 12-02-2007, 12:41 PM

Below is a plot of the total number of titles available from Sony's Connect store. At the time of the release of the PRS-505, Sony increased the rate of new offerings to reach their advertised figure of 20,000. Since then they have been adding roughly 500 new titles per week. Most of the new ebooks Sony has added this fall are in the categories of history, business, science and nature, and education and reference. Their total today is 25,218 but that includes a small number of ebooks that are listed in multiple categories on their website. If anyone was looking for a big jump in content as a result of the Kindle release, it hasn't happened yet although I suppose one could reasonably argue that the increase in September was a result of that. Please wake me up when something happens.

edsohsmith · 12-02-2007, 01:47 PM

Just for fun, I tried searching for Moby Dick on Amazon and Connect. Amazon sells 5 versions of the book, while Connect sells two. Each has one $1.99 version. For "A tale of two cities" Amazon has 11 versions of the book. Connect, 2. I am not sure what this means, but I thought it was interesting.

CTH · 12-02-2007, 01:53 PM

Well amazon sells paperbacks and so on, so they should have more than sony

JSWolf · 12-02-2007, 02:14 PM

How does one find out how many ebooks are being sold at the Connect Store?

vivaldirules · 12-02-2007, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How does one find out how many ebooks are being sold at the Connect Store?

Click on Categories and select one (e.g., Biography). Leave the "Search Within" blank and click on Search. It will return with "Showing 1 - 25 of 1079". Repeat for each category and sum. This takes a few minutes and slightly overstates the total number of books they sell but there aren't very many books that are listed in multiple categories.

edsohsmith · 12-02-2007, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Well amazon sells paperbacks and so on, so they should have more than sony

I see your smiley, but you are right, I should have included that all the editions I listed are Kindle ebooks!

kezza · 12-02-2007, 04:08 PM

Every once in a while I go to the Connect store and just search for "the." I haven't been keeping track of the results, but now I'll start. Today there are 24,605. I'll check back on tuesday, after the new titles get added.
As for the duplicates at Amazon, I can't really see the usefulness of multiple editions of public domain works, except in the case of multiple translations of those works. I wonder how inflated the Amazon catalog is by multiple copies of the same title by different publishers.

stustaff · 12-02-2007, 04:38 PM

sorry but 11 versions of Moby Dick... Why?

edsohsmith · 12-03-2007, 06:36 AM

Quote:

sorry but 11 versions of Moby Dick... Why?

No, no. Only 5 kindle versions of Moby Dick. 11 Kindle versions of "A Tale of Two Cities". Seems that the 80,000 Kindle titles may be a bit inflated with multiple versions of the same book, with numberous technical manuals and short works. Unfortunately Sony's 20,000 titles are likely a bit inflated as well.

stustaff · 12-03-2007, 07:47 AM

oh ok but still... why 11 versions of anything?

HarryT · 12-03-2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stustaff

oh ok but still... why 11 versions of anything?

Sony and Amazon are just "store fronts", selling books from many different publishers. Obviously many different publishers sell versions of the classics, hence the multiple versions.

dhbailey · 12-04-2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sony and Amazon are just "store fronts", selling books from many different publishers. Obviously many different publishers sell versions of the classics, hence the multiple versions.

A different version means a different editing job and hence a separate copyright on the public domain original. Just a ploy to charge more money for something which can be had for free from Project Gutenberg! (I think -- I haven't actually searched PG to see if they have Moby Dick.)

HarryT · 12-04-2007, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhbailey

A different version means a different editing job and hence a separate copyright on the public domain original. Just a ploy to charge more money for something which can be had for free from Project Gutenberg! (I think -- I haven't actually searched PG to see if they have Moby Dick.)

They do, but it takes time to convert a PG original into something that looks nice to read; perhaps for some people, spending a few $ to let someone else do the work is money well spent.

11 different eBooks versions is nothing; "amazon.co.uk" are currently listing 529 hits in printed books for "Moby Dick".

astra · 12-04-2007, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

11 different eBooks versions is nothing; "amazon.co.uk" are currently listing 529 hits in printed books for "Moby Dick".

Well. I am surprised, but I believe it means that 80K+ of ebooks for kindle is largely overblown number then.

Today, I failed to find yet another fantasy series (on Kindle and Sony sites) - The Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott.

Anyone know ebook shop that has them?

AnemicOak · 12-04-2007, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra_lestat

Today, I failed to find yet another fantasy series (on Kindle and Sony sites) - The Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott.

Anyone know ebook shop that has them?

AFAIK Elliot's books, like much of the DAW catalog is not available in ebook form. It's a shame since Penguin could make a bunch of dough I'd think (Fantasy & SciFi seem popular with a lot of ebook readers).

12-02-2007, 12:41 PM	#1
vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 10,059 Karma: 13675475 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	Effect of Kindle on Sony's Content Offerings Below is a plot of the total number of titles available from Sony's Connect store. At the time of the release of the PRS-505, Sony increased the rate of new offerings to reach their advertised figure of 20,000. Since then they have been adding roughly 500 new titles per week. Most of the new ebooks Sony has added this fall are in the categories of history, business, science and nature, and education and reference. Their total today is 25,218 but that includes a small number of ebooks that are listed in multiple categories on their website. If anyone was looking for a big jump in content as a result of the Kindle release, it hasn't happened yet although I suppose one could reasonably argue that the increase in September was a result of that. Please wake me up when something happens. Attached Thumbnails

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12-02-2007, 01:47 PM	#2
edsohsmith Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 11 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Sony PRS 505 (soon)	Just for fun, I tried searching for Moby Dick on Amazon and Connect. Amazon sells 5 versions of the book, while Connect sells two. Each has one $1.99 version. For "A tale of two cities" Amazon has 11 versions of the book. Connect, 2. I am not sure what this means, but I thought it was interesting.

12-02-2007, 01:53 PM	#3
CTH Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 1000153 Join Date: Jan 2007	Well amazon sells paperbacks and so on, so they should have more than sony

12-02-2007, 02:14 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,784 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	How does one find out how many ebooks are being sold at the Connect Store?

12-02-2007, 04:08 PM	#7
kezza Lowlife of the Party Posts: 266 Karma: 4038 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: seattle Device: nook, iphone	Every once in a while I go to the Connect store and just search for "the." I haven't been keeping track of the results, but now I'll start. Today there are 24,605. I'll check back on tuesday, after the new titles get added. As for the duplicates at Amazon, I can't really see the usefulness of multiple editions of public domain works, except in the case of multiple translations of those works. I wonder how inflated the Amazon catalog is by multiple copies of the same title by different publishers.

12-02-2007, 04:38 PM	#8
stustaff Wizard Posts: 1,055 Karma: 2110 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Derbyshire UK Device: sony reader PRS505 and 600	sorry but 11 versions of Moby Dick... Why?

12-03-2007, 07:47 AM	#10
stustaff Wizard Posts: 1,055 Karma: 2110 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Derbyshire UK Device: sony reader PRS505 and 600	oh ok but still... why 11 versions of anything?

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