
Why Amazon’s Kindle Will Eventually Win the e-Book Wars - gojomo
http://gigaom.com/2010/06/21/why-amazons-kindle-will-eventually-win-the-e-book-wars/
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Jun8
"If Amazon wants to keep the device around, it will have to transform it from
a mere e-book reader to a content consumption device that matches the iPad in
its capabilities. Otherwise, like the Nook, it’s already dated."

Well, another avenue would be to keep it as a book reader but make the
hardware so simple that it can be given away free with, say, a Amazon Prime
membership.

Note that the title is a bit misleading, what he's saying is no that that the
_kindle device_ will necessarily win the war, the Kindle store will (because
of superior experience and the fact that it's platform agnostic).

As he points out, Amazon's web site is its biggest asset. Even when I buy
books from other retailers (I feel bad for Borders) I still first go to Amazon
to read the reviews. If Amazon can somehow bring its formidable database of
comments more into the picture (or add additional functionality, like ability
to place a comment on a certain page) it will be even more unstoppable.

~~~
lemming
IIRC there was an analysis done by the New York Times which showed that it was
much, much cheaper for them to ship a free Kindle to subscribers than to print
and ship them the physical paper for 6 months. Unfortunately the experience of
reading a newspaper on the Kindle pretty much sucks.

I disagree that the Kindle has to become a general content consumption device.
I'd be very happy if it did its one thing well. What it's really missing
(which the iPad provides) is a much higher level of interactivity - the eInk
refresh kills it. I'm excited for the Notion Ink Adam just for this reason.

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commieneko
"Buy it once, read it anywhere."

No.

Read it anywhere there's a Kindle app. Maybe. For a while. Note that invisible
string attached. And the key that you don't control that is required to give
you access to what you've already paid for.

I have no intention of every buying a _book_ with DRM. I have books, that I
bought myself, that are 45 years old. I can read them just as well today as
then, failing eyesight notwithstanding. I'm not going to invest money into a
book that can suddenly disappear, not because of fire or damage, but because
of obsolescence or malice on a venders part. No "reads for shure" for me...

There's a perfectly fine, improvable but fine, open e-book format with lots of
titles, both legitimate and informal.

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oddthink
Ah, but a Kindle book doesn't require shelf space or storage. It's not a lump
of matter you have ship when moving. You can take a pile when traveling
without dislocating a shoulder. Those benefits are real; for me, storage cost
overwhelms the actual price of a book very quickly, at which point the DRM is
a non-issue.

Of course, I'd prefer unencumbered PDF or Mobi, but a with-DRM e-book beats a
physical book for me. Part of this is that I'm an urban apartment-dweller with
limited shelf space. My book-buying is limited, not by the price of the book,
but by not wanting to have to deal with the object.

~~~
commieneko
Sure if you are talking about a few dozen books. But over the years I have
collected, shall we say _dozens_ of books that are keepers. To have them
suddenly, without warning evaporate for no good reason is simply an untenable
situation. Especially since, as digital files they should be disaster proof,
unlike several boxes I lost a while back due to water damage.

But even more to the point. Books, the written word in general are important.
Very important. Do we really want to encourage the development of a system
that effectively puts a "kill switch" on knowledge?

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dkarl
_1\. Buy once, read anywhere

3\. It’s always about the software_

This is it. If a device is compelling, Amazon will make a Kindle app for it.
If the device maker tries to keep off competing apps, especially from a major
competitor like Amazon, the device will have a hard time becoming popular.
(Even Apple had to welcome Kindle, a competitor, onto the iPad.) To me, Amazon
feels like the good guys. They make an e-reader, but if I don't like their
product, no problem! They'll help me read their books on a competing device.
Awesome. They go out of their way to make their DRM a non-issue for me (Joe
Consumer.) When I buy a book, I get to read it wherever and whenever I want.
PC, iPhone, iPad, Android, they're on it. They're making money from me by
doing what I want, and that's the way it's supposed to be.

Barnes and Noble isn't doomed, though. They have their own advantages, and to
exploit them, they need to play me-too and copy what Amazon is doing in
software. They should combine Amazon's strategy of ubiquitous software with
e-book stations in their stores where you can search for title or just scan
the bar code from a book you found on the shelf, and voila, you're downloading
the book to your reader. Browsing physical books before you buy is _not_ dead.
It's the best way to gauge the quality of a book before you buy, and it's the
best way to choose between several similar books. Also, people just enjoy
going to the bookstore. People looking to buy e-books are just as likely to go
to the bookstore as people looking to buy physical books. If you can shop for
either online, or shop for either in person, some people will prefer the
latter. They will go to a bricks-and-mortar bookstore to buy an e-book.

~~~
thwarted
_To me, Amazon feels like a competitor, onto the iPad.) To me, Amazon feels
like the good guys. They make an e-reader, but if I don't ike their product,
no problem! They'll help me read their books on a competing device. Awesome.
They go(Joe Consumer.) When I buy a book, I get to read it wherever and
whenever I want. PC, iPhone, iPad Android, they're on it. They're making money
from m by doing what I want, and that's the way it's supposed by doing what I
want, and that's the way it's supposed to be_

Amazon with Kindle and Valve with Steam have a lot in common concerning their
pro-consumer use of DRM.

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gojomo
Malik writes: _In fact, the reading experience on the iPad is so superior to
that of the Kindle I often find myself staying up later than usual reading a
book._

Or it might be the brighter screen delaying normal sleepiness!

~~~
Niten
In response to that quote, I'm sure the iPad is in many respects a great eBook
reader. But I like to read on the go, particularly outside in the sun, so for
me the iPad can't compare to my Kindle's battery life and e-ink display, not
to mention its free 3G access for those few times that I need it.

But I know not everyone's use is the same, and the iPad must rock for books
with pictures and maps and such.

~~~
Herring
> _But I know not everyone's use is the same, and the iPad must rock for books
> with pictures and maps and such._

There's more to it than that. PDF reading (99% of my books) is worlds better
on the ipad, & the speed makes it better for any book that requires lots of
flipping around. Battery life isn't an issue; I plug it in when i'm going to
sleep, & it's usually only down to 50%.

~~~
Niten
I realize the iPad is great for PDFs -- in fact I recommended it to my sister
over the Kindle for that very purpose. But this isn't really relevant to
whether the Kindle or the iPad is the better device for reading eBooks from
the Kindle book store...

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ibagrak
I own a Kindle and I find that I still prefer it over iPad for reading books.
This talk of all-in-one and multi-function devices has always been perpetuated
by vendors marketing their next crop of gadgets and claiming to finally rid
the consumer of another single-purpose device.

Take Apple who first told us that iPhone was also a music player (it's not)
and now tells us that iPad is an e-book reader (it's not). I, for one, end up
owning a music player, an e-book reader, an iPad and whatever else that comes
along, and that's perfectly fine.

It's no surprise that consumers are enticed by the vision of universal
personal communication device, but I don't think anyone seriously believes
that such a device can be created or that it can stand up to the tide of
innovation.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it's not about Kindle or iPad
hardware, which is subject to turning obsolete the minute it ships, but about
distribution channels and consumer freedom, i.e. the ease of decoupling the
content that you rightfully own from a particular platform. Here, I feel,
Amazon and to some extent Apple has done a good job.

I agree with the article in general, but I don't think Amazon should rethink
Kindle to make it something more than it already is.

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gte910h
I don't understand: The Kindle _store_ is the point, not the actual kindle.

I read kindle books on my PC, iPad and iPhone, and have no issue keeping them
all synced. While the device itself looks like it might be nice, in my
opinion, Amazon has already "won" the eBook wars.

While the e-Ink display may help get people to sleep, so does turning the
brightness way down on an iPad (although they are right about readability, I
can only use the iPad for 5-6 hours straight without some eyestrain).

The device is there for people who don't have something equivalent. I mean, if
I hadn't shelled out for an iPad due to work, I might think about a 189 dollar
kindle

~~~
joubert
You can also invert screen colors. Look in Settings / General / Accessibility
--> White on Black

~~~
gte910h
This is actually how I read everything.

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sh1mmer
One of the other reasons they'll win is they respect their customers.

I installed the B&N app on my iPad. First it came with a lot of samples I
didn't want (Sarah Palin, really) and the only way I found to delete them from
the device was buried in my account options on the B&N web site.

More over while I've had an amazon account for years I've never had a B&N
account. I signed up and bought a book, only it wouldn't buy it just gave me
an error repeatedly, and then sent me an email saying I had cancelled my
purchase.

I just opened the Kindle store and bought it on there instead.

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crististm
Why Sony's Walkman will Eventually Win the players Wars...

The article is biased by the current level of technology and while Sony's
device was revolutionary, it didn't win that era's wars (well, maybe the
first).

~~~
JacobAldridge
Absolutely, making any prediction of this nature is opening oneself up to
ridicule when future breakthroughs render it obsolete. But the comparison
isn't with the hardware technology of the Kindle, as with the Walkman, but the
benefits of transferability, ease of use, and brand trust. All are less
vulnerable (especially the last one) to a competitor's breakthrough.

~~~
WorkerBee
The kindle's transferability, ease of use, and Amazon's brand trust are almost
compelling.

But what about openness? <http://news.cnet.com/o-reilly-amazon-must-open-the-
kindle/>

