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Prices Slashed For Nook, Kindle E-Readers
b0bby sends in a report from ZDNet about the sudden outbreak of a price war in e-reader devices. "On Monday, Barnes & Noble cut the price of the 3G Nook to $199. It also launched a $149 Wi-Fi version. Just hours later, Amazon responded by cutting the price of the Kindle to $189. At $259, the price of the Kindle and Nook just 24 hours ago, an e-reader purchase competed with an Apple iPad, which started at $499 for a Wi-Fi version. Below $200, a dedicated e-reader purchase makes a lot more sense." Sony dropped prices for its readers three months ago, but the move didn't kick off a price war at that time. Some believe that dedicated e-readers are doomed in the long run to lose out to general-purpose devices such as the iPad — and its coming imitators, many of which will be based on Google Android.
Until they drop Ebook prices, they can pound sand...... For those prices, Kindle/Nook should be free
Self Defense - A Human Right www.a-human-right.com
It's a lot easier to say that it's over and the iPad/tablet rush will kill the eReader revolution.
Not to mention the fact that the nook/Kindle are much, much cheaper. That makes taking it to places like the beach (large zipper plastic bag keeps it safe and readable) or just on the go in general is something you don't have to worry about.
Yes, the iPad will have its fans. But there are people who don't want a "do everything" device, they want something that reads books really, really well. And the nook, Kindle, and other eReaders do that. Until there's a radical revolution in color screen technology that gains the benefits that e-ink has (which are great for a book reading device)
Not to mention that the 3G iPad is $130 extra, and doesn't include free 3G for the store so you can make an impulse book buy wherever you are. That's major in the convenience factor of the device.
e-Ink is more expensive than you think (I don't have a definitive price, but according to this link the cost to Amazon for the e-Ink display on the Kindle is $60 by itself). Tack on the cost of the processor, memory, networking gear, battery, casing, quality control, etc., and the supposed cost to Amazon is $185. Given that prices have probably dropped a bit since that report, I suspect they are making a small profit on each device (though of course the cost of warranty replacements probably removes even that). The money is in e-Book sales; each sale may be for less than the hardcover, and the publishers may take a large cut, but what remains is pure profit; sale and distribution of pure data is effectively free.
$_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print
iPad meh...
Is that Apple's version of Natalie Portman?
I disagree. I've owned a Sony Reader and an iPad. The iPad is, hands down, easier on the eyes.
The Kindle and other eInk displays have a contrast ratio of 6:1 to 7:1. The iPad backlit IPS display is 750:1 to 930:1.
Other than perhaps directly under the sun, the iPad display wins. In dim light, the iPad owns.
"Android will be better next year!"
In my opinion Android is better _this_ year.
For phones: My girlfriend updated her iPhone 3GS to the new OS last night. I see that she now has a phone that still can't compare to my HTC Desire with Android 2.1. (2.2 upgrade due within 2 weeks)
For tablets: I don't want a locked-down tablet like the iPad. There are some sucky Android tablets out now, yes, but inevitably there will be some very good ones. And even if they aren't as pretty and slick as the iPad, they will be _better_ than the iPad because, whichever one I choose, it will be my device to do whatever I want with.
I'm surprised that anyone would currently think Android needs to catch up with iOS. Android is far ahead. It's just that a lot of Android devices lack the "shiny factor" of the iDevices.
Reading the details the Nook will allow you to hook up for free to any B&N or AT&T WiFi hotspot. If you're in a B&N bookstore, you can "read" any of the ebooks for free. You can't take them with you if don't buy them. So, you can just come in and kill a few hours drinking over-priced coffee and reading like at a library.
They also have a "lending" function, as long as you use their software. I won't buy DRM books, but for people who don't mind you can "lend" an e-book to a friend for 14 days. Works with the iPod, Android, Mac & PC as well as some other platforms. Oh, and the Nook runs Android.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
e-Ink is more expensive than you think (I don't have a definitive price, but according to this link [engadget.com] the cost to Amazon for the e-Ink display on the Kindle is $60 by itself).
GP is still fundamentally correct - e-Ink displays are overpriced. The reason why that is the case is that there is a single company - E Ink Corporation - holding key patents on technology, and maintaining monopoly on production.
Then again, what is "overpriced"? I paid $300 for a Sony PRS-505 two years ago, and, given the amount of use the device has got over that time period - more than any other gadget I own, with the exception of cellphone - consider it money well spent.
So, YMMV - largely depending on what you read, and how much. For people who read fiction a lot (as in, 1 book per week or more), I'd highly recommend one.
That's why it only sells on the closed networks in the US.
Which closed network? T-Mobile? AT&T? Verizon? Sprint? MetroPCS? Is there even a single actual network that doesn't sell Android phones anymore? Go ahead. I dare you. Name a single one. Or did you mean Android only sold on all the networks of the US (therefore implying that all the networks in the US are closed)? Because, I can tell you. I'm currently in the UK right now, and there isn't a single shop in the UK that doesn't have Android devices on sale right now and that aren't selling like hot cakes. And sure, the iPhone is still very popular in the UK right now, but at the sales counter where it counts, it's getting assaulted by several very good Android phones that are all selling just as well as the iPhone. It's not fair fight anymore. One phone against 39 phones, several of which are actually far superior to the new iPhone.
That's why 75% of Android devices run v1.6.
No, it's more like 50% of the Android devices are running v2.1. I can cite my source. Can you even cite yours?
Being able to port desktop C apps over rather than rewrite in Java only becomes even more important.
Please repeat after me: The C and C++ apps of the Android NDK do not run on the Dalvik VM. The C and C++ apps of the Android NDK do not run on the Dalvik VM. Please repeat this one hundred times.
and the next thing you know "Android will be better next year!"
If anyone is saying that, and repeating it ad nausea um, you're the only one. I've corrected your strawman argument plus several of your other factual errors in your other threads. But you don't even seem to even read my responses, or even care about citing your sources.
A 6" 600x800 screen, as seen in most readers, is simply not high-res enough to read most PDFs in fit-page-to-screen mode - and you can't really go for anything else, as scrolling is very painful with such low screen refresh rates, and PDFs don't reflow. You need something bigger, like Kindle DX, or, better yed, iLiad. iPad also does better largely due to high-resolution (well, and the fact that it can actually scroll them reasonably well).
When everyone says free, they are generally talking about the marginal cost.
The marginal cost of an ebook is practically $0.00. The marginal cost of a $8 paperback is at least $2 (materials and physical movement of the book.)
Taking a popular book as an example:
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
paperback $7.99
kindle $9.99
So the marginal cost per book goes down and the price goes up. It's easy to see where customers think they're getting gouged when they're paying more for a cheaper copy that is more restrictive (no resell possible).
t
Not only that, but I own 20 year old paperbacks. It's not clear that Kindles will last anywhere near that long.
Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde. - Voltaire
How so? Books are a communal thing, an eBook reader is not. My mom has been buying what was once considered 'trashy" Sci-Fi and horror paperbacks since the late 50s, thanks to her our public library gets to have one of the best classic Sci-Fi horror sections around, and my mom is on a first name basis with the librarians and most of the college girls in town thanks to her "need to free up shelf space" a couple of times a year. When she is in the library (which is often) she ends up chattering for ages with the local college girls, who want to know what she thinks of a particular artist/series or want to know if she has a missing book in some old fantasy series the girl is reading (which she often does) and they will sit there for ages discussing books.
You just don't get interaction like that with an eBook. They are just little ones and zeroes, little chunks of DRM that are quickly not worth anything, even to the one who paid. I remember when this whole eReader fad came around last in the mid 90s, and just like today the publishers wanted too much money for DRM infested crap. Just like then I have a feeling it will all end up in the trash, while my mom and the college girls at the library swap the last fantasy authors over tea.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.