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Is Amazon Harming the E-reader Category? (teleread.com)
An anonymous reader sends a story from TeleRead which argues that Amazon doing harm to the e-reader category of devices it helped create. The company has been aggressively pushing adoption of its Kindle Fire brand of tablets, dropping the price for the cheapest model down to $50. Compare that to the basic version of the e-ink Kindle: $80 if you don't want it cluttered with "special offers." If you care enough about an e-ink screen, you might still buy it, but most of those people probably already have e-readers. The general populace, when looking at the tablet's color screen, app ecosystem, and access to forms of entertainment beyond books, will probably consider the tablet a no-brainer.
This is in Amazon's best interest; if you buy an e-reader, you're only going to be buying books for it. If you buy a tablet, they can sell you videos and software, too. Amazon has succeeded in pushing several competing e-readers out of the market. They also refuse to experiment or innovate on the design; there have been no significant changes since the Paperwhite's backlighting technology in 2012. Given that ebook sales are no longer growing explosively, this could be a sign that the e-reader category of devices is stagnating.
This is in Amazon's best interest; if you buy an e-reader, you're only going to be buying books for it. If you buy a tablet, they can sell you videos and software, too. Amazon has succeeded in pushing several competing e-readers out of the market. They also refuse to experiment or innovate on the design; there have been no significant changes since the Paperwhite's backlighting technology in 2012. Given that ebook sales are no longer growing explosively, this could be a sign that the e-reader category of devices is stagnating.
LUDDITE E-readers can't app apps, they only let you use LUDDITE book. App tablets let you app apps while apping apps!
Apps!
The dedicated ebook reader is for people who - you guessed it - read books, so the economies of scale and marketing opportunities will always be smaller. My prediction (hope, really) is that in the next few years someone will have a Kickstarter ebook reader that makes the Kindle ebook reader look like a child's toy. Personally, I don't like touchscreen devices that require reflected light, as I tend to pay too much attention to the smudges, so I haven't been interested in upgrading from my ancient, but 'works fine, lasts long time' Kindle 3.
I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.
I've never been fond of e-readers. I like the feel of the book in my hand. I've tried a few (starting with the Sony way-back-when) and moved to a kindle. I ended up still buying paper-books.
Maybe it's my age (upper 40's), maybe it's nostalgia or maybe it's something else entirely but I ENJOY it more when I'm really flipping pages.
My kids on the other hand have no trouble. My son likes paper books more but has no issue reading from his kindle-fire.
Note: I've over 3000 books dating from the 1930s to present. And that's after donating about 1000 to the local book-bank for hospitals. Oh how I miss hitting the many used book shops that used to exist.
While Amazon is on the right track, in that the device should be a very inexpensive commodity. But the fact the Amazon owns the content I "purchase", keeps me from ever buying in. On top of this, eBooks are way overpriced. I've wondered if both these issues could be solved by selling content on a per-device basis instead of per-user. As long as the devices have long lifetimes (40+ years), then it seems a reasonable business model. Content once installed on a device would be permanent and not transferable to any other device, in return the content could be (I estimate) a quarter the current costs.
Wait, was there supposed to be discussion on this? Ok...
Welcome to every niche product, ever. It's like asking if Apple killed the mp3/flac player by making phones. If you're market is 1% or less of the mass-marketed product, you really can't expect to get rock-bottom, high volume pricing. Does it suck? Sure, if you're an aficionado of the niche. For everyone else they just odn't have to pay for two devices.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Amazon recently upgraded the paperwhite Kindle. Amazon recently (well, last year) released a premium $200 version of the Kindle. Amazon recently released a Kid's package for the Kindle.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
I love my original Kindle e-ink and the Android 7" tablet I bought later to supplement it.
First up - I'm a programmer, so I read a fair amount. That said, I'm un-employed so I prefer to read on the cheap. Years back I drank the Cool-Aid and bought an e-ink Kindle. I still love it, though I don't use it often, because these days I often need to read web pages.
When I "buy" a book, I can DL it onto my PC, the e-ink Kindle, my Android tablet (and since I love my mom, her ipad too for some books). That's a pretty good deal. Yeh, it's a hard limit of 5 devices, but that's also a pretty decent limit.
These days I purchase pretty much everything as an e-book, and almost always from Amazon. So yes, I guess it is hurting some people...those bookshops that used to charge me $50-60 USD for a single tech book, which was often out of date and (for many publishers) a pile of steaming and poorly researched shite.
The world changes...and in this case, for the better. I'd like some more competition for Amazon, but I in no way believe it should come from old, outdated bookstores. The future isn't written yet...onwards and upwards.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Almost as stagnant as book technology. Give me a huge break. Show the text. Provide a way to turn pages. The current Kindle is great and does a simple thing well.
RM
Reading a LCD screen vs. eInk -> No contest, eInk wins for prolonged reading.
I am also in my 40s and have a huge library of books (including a roomful of books on shelves from my Ph.D. years). And at this point, I can't *stand* paper books. They're heavy, have slow page turns, are not searchable, can only be carried in small numbers, are difficult to use (no changeable font, low contrast, drop it and you've lost your page), take FOREVER to find (Not at the bookstore? And let's face it, what's at the bookstore any longer? Then you'll have to wait days for the book to arrive in the mail, no impulse buying/reading), use up space in your house, and so on.
I am basically ebooks only these days. I buy and read probably 3-6 ebooks a week. If it's not available electronically? I've probably bought four paper books over the past year, if that. I have to really, really want it to put up with paper and the inconveniences of buying/reading paper.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
I bought a cheap Kindle Fire HD ($189) on sale a little over a year ago, and paid extra ($15) to get rid of the ads. I use it to mostly to surf the web, which I do from a sideloaded copy of Firefox. As for ebooks: I buy directly from O'Reilly's website. O'Reilly's books are DRM-free and available in many formats, including the Kindle's preferred .mobi format, and in O'Reilly's case I'd rather the money go straight to the publisher without the middleman. I'll grab a freebie title from Amazon now and then when they're offered. Otherwise, I buy digital music from Amazon occasionally, but having their branded tablet hasn't changed my buying habits at all. For me, they just subsidized my tablet back when 10" tablets were all $400 and up.
"Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?"
Amazon is a company that instead of focusing in making profit, is intent on pushing off all of its competitors. Amazon is evil.
Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
It's not "cluttered" with special offers. It shows you a full screen ad before you unlock it, and it shows you small banner at the bottom of your home screen. They aren't obtrusive in any way. When you're reading, they're not there. LCD screens are cheaper than e-ink because they are produced in such higher quantities.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
The market for ereaders is saturated. So Amazon has to try something else. Luckily they still sell normal Kindles.
And about the buttons: I have the last buttoned Kindle and I was sad to see it go. But I guess I can get used to a touch screen.
What about colored e-ink? Is that just around the corner like it was in 2011, or is there some progress there?
-- Cheers!
Personally, I have no interest whatsoever in buying a Fire tablet, but I love my Paperwhite. TFA only makes sense if the market segments for tablets and e-readers overlap substantially. Maybe they do, but it's not necessarily so.
I've owned a couple kindle fires and a few kindles. At this point my remaining kindle fire is a game machine for my daughter, my wife has a paperwhite, and I have a voyage. I specifically opted for the e-reader experience because i wanted a standalone reading device with a backlit screen and e-ink. I read on my ipad for a long time and it just isn't as comfortable on the eyes.
Point being: People will buy what they want based on their personal taste and needs/desires. What Amazon did isn't "hurting" their e-reader sales. It's "helping" them appeal to more customers and deliver specifically what people want. In short: everyone wins.
I'm just waiting for Amazon to jump the shark: start giving the Kindle Fire away, and then get pissed off and litigious when people flash the Amazon garbage off of them.
I used to carry a phone, an appointment book, and printed directions to where I was going. That is all on one device now. Is it any surprise that many consumers find is convenient to have a singe device that does many things?
I appreciate e-ink displays but for a while now I've come to understand that the general public does not.
They honestly seem to prefer lower resolution, but brighter color displays. Mass commoditization has pushed down the price of low cost, reasonably good IPS displays for tablets to the point that they're cheaper than e-ink displays too. (Don't forget that e-ink requires special signaling and that most SoCs do NOT have an e-ink display interface built in)
The battery issue does not seem to bother most people either. You charge everything today. It's not considered an inconvenience. Having to charge once a month is the same as doing it every day, for most people.
...Amazon's ecosystem. Both the tablet and the eink based Amazon readers are geared to you buying the content from them.
What the ebook world needs is a universal, non-intrusive, DRM system (if such a thing can actually exist) or no DRM. Then we'd had the digital audio situation in which most stores just sold you mp3 or other non-DRM'd format and thus you can choose the device where you consume that media.
There're some nice ereaders outside of the Kindle but they're harmed by the shortage of legal content for them. And that's a pity because they give you options the Kindle doesn't like: Exceptional PDF support, PDF scribbling and annotating, large screens, Android OS, etc.
In particular, having an eink device that runs Android is actually pretty useful, because, while you're not going to be playing videos o games on it, you can easily use it to read email, webpages or ebooks and in the software of your choice.
I guess the pressure-sensitive page turning buttons and non-recessed screen on the Kindle Voyage aren't significant enough? Nor the various improvements to resolution and contrast?
Is the Kindle supposed to turn into a completely different product or something?
It really is a shame. Eink, for textual media, is superior in many ways to LCD. Before Amazon released the Kindle Fire there was rumor of them developing a color eInk reader. Amazon was the driving force behind eInk screen development. I am not saying that the eInk Kindle was open. But, now Amazon is just another multi-media pusher trying to get you to lock in to their bastardized Android tablet.
Even with the super cheap kindle fire I got a Kindle reader for my kid. I don't want it to do apps or video or anything. Only books.
He is so wealthy that you just know he is one of them.
If they'd just write Apps instead of books then no problem. Stop writing books, idiots. jeez...
I own an eBook reader because e-Ink technology is far superior IMO. I spend enough time looking at screens all day and night that sometimes I get awful migrains with light sensitivity and need to go to bed for 12 hours with my eyes covered. e-Ink or plain paper books reduce my screen time.
I have a few issues with e-Readers that have turned me off them completely:
1) I hate that it is constantly sync'ing information to servers in 'the cloud'. What I highlight, which pages I've read, what times of day I'm reading, etc. That's none of their dam business! The "convenience" of syncing the current page to other devices in case I want to read on them is not an optional feature. It's Big Brother all the time. This is the primary reason why I've gone back to paper books which I prefer anyway.
2) Remember when someone sold 1984 on Amazon without owning the copyright? Amazon swooped in and deleted the book from everyone's e-Readers. What if I have books on controversial topics that someday become "terrorism" to the radical left in power? For example, driving a truck with a confederate flag is now considered terrorism. Can I trust that my controversial books won't suddenly disappear?
3) Can I trust that my history books won't get "updates" revising history?
4) The tiny screens are fine for novels, but not for computer programming books. Much larger e-Ink screens are needed for that, and the major vendors aren't selling them.
5) Color e-Ink has been around for a looong time but it's still not in any of the mainstream e-book readers. Why? I don't care that it's not as good as LCD, it's not supposed to be. But color does improve the experience when reading books with technical diagrams or illustrations.
Were you crying as you typed this? Liberalism is a mental disorder.
He doesn't pay a fair wage so, by definition, that makes him a Republican.
I don't see why we should care about the "e-reader" market; the market for e-books themselves is far more important. The sales are still growing, if not as quickly as they were.
(Also, despite all the ribbing Amazon gets for them, the "Special Offers" aren't the least bit intrusive. They appear on the "sleep" screen and about the bottom 1/3" of the Home screen. They are not visible when you are actually reading, which is what most people spend the most time doing.)
Anyone not crying isn't paying attention to what those people are doing to the world.
I tend to read a book and then lend it to a friend. I find this almost impossible with DRM'ed ebooks. So much easier with paper.
Good luck lending those ebooks to a friend, or reading them by candle-light after a week-long power outage.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Like the MP3 player, an e-ink device is a niche application and will always exist, even when other devices can integrate other functions for the masses.
I'm a long time e-reader starting with the the PC, then the Palm Pilot, the Sony E-reader, Amazon Kindle and various phones. I like paper books for reading where a reader could get damaged, Kindle paper whites for reading novels and tablets for reading larger sized books with color illustrations. Generally if the size of the paper book is the size of a magazine or larger, It is better to have the larger book as I find the size reduction to a tablet a limitation. Also a lot of older books have not been put into E-reader format, and some have just been clumsily converted as to make them useless. So all of them have areas where they excel. Since Amazon has their kindle app on all major devices, it is not hurting the category. B&N has a similar strategy. Apple has its own too. None of these are "hurting" the Ebook/ereader category they should support some kind of DRM where a package like Calibre could convert to each format with the DRM so that the book could be read on any major app.
Until someone develops a tablet with an OLPC type screen - color but daylight readable grayscale in direct sunlight - an e-ink reader will still be a must for me.
if you buy an e-reader, you're only going to be buying books for it. If you buy a tablet, they can sell you videos and software, too.
Which is exactly why I got a Kindle instead of a Kindle Fire. I knew I'd never use it to read if I got the Fire.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Amazon, fuck you and your DRM ridden e-readers!
I like my books on paper! I can read, lend and do WeTF I want with them... even burn or wipe my ass, if I feel like it.
FUCK YOU Amazon!
I have a first generation Kindle and it still works great. I also have a first generation Kindle Paperwhite and it also works great.
It's hard to imagine either of the devices ever breaking down, especially the Paperwhite. I think the reason nobody buys them anymore is because of their long operating life, and the lack of a compelling reason to upgrade.
Amazon should have made them flimsier I suppose.
I think its clear a general tablet or internet device is by far what Amazon is trying to get into people's hands. A eReader is just a book reader and very limited source for just selling book content. While a full tablet device can connect to internet, sell products to the user from the Amazon store, video and audio and of course all of the internet. Its a vast source device that has greater payback so its worthy of reducing its price to sell it. But also realize the $50 tablet Amazon sells is not the only cheap tablet out there. Its hardware is not the latest and personally I think Amazon sort of used the benefit of buying older chips and weaker hardware even a cheaper quality screen to get that $50 price point.
"have slow page turns"
See there? That's one of the things I LIKE. Slowing things down. I have a quasi-useless super power: I can read ungodly fast. I can down a 300 page book in 15-20 mins if I let myself. But I don't ENJOY it any where near as much. How can I run through an emotional chapter in 10 seconds? Or something humorous? There's no time for reflection. I just 'digest' the material.
Maybe thats it -- I might just naturally start flying through the text on an e-reader.
I've found a quite deeper element to the audiobooks I "read" (and recently re-read having previously read on dead-tree). The narrator dwells on things I would have glossed over, taking time I would not - but it makes passages that much more interesting at times, and culminations of chapters more profound.
Plus you can do it while you're commuting/cooking/shopping - activities where you're otherwise not talking to people, you can now digest a book at the same time (I still can't listen to an audiobook while jogging - just doesn't work... but other monotonous workouts may be spiced up with a book in your ear)
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
That sounds like a medical problem. You should see a medical doctor (Not an "e-doctor") about that. If you can't move a piece of paper with you finger at the speed you desire, you probably have a serious medical condition. Don't buy more stupid shit from the Internet. SEE A MEDICAL DOCTOR.
I don't respond to AC's.
I switched from a Kindle 3 to a tablet for reading books, largely because my favorite reading location was kind of dark and I got tired of futzing with clip-on lights. But my tablet is heavy and not very easy on the eyes for heavy reading. So I got a Kindle Voyage and it's so much better. Obviously there are lots of things a tablet can do that an e-reader can't, but IMO nothing beats an e-ink reader with an edge-lit screen for reading books.
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
Amazon, fuck you and your DRM ridden e-readers!
I like my books on paper! I can read, lend and do WeTF I want with them... even burn or wipe my ass, if I feel like it.
FUCK YOU Amazon!
it's 2015 and they're no longer DRM ridden. Stay up to date please.
I love my kindle. It's one of the original models. I see no compelling reason to upgrade it. It's not like I need a feaster processor or more memory or anything. So if most kindle owners are like me, kindles won't be replaced very rapidly like the more power-hungry tablets. I think there are enough kindle users that the product won't go away -- it just won't have super high-volume sales.
And now that it's proven its worth to me, if I do ever have to replace it, I'll be willing to pay the extra cost over a tablet because I know it'll last for years and years.
Reading on a backlit tablet or any bright electronic device before bed can disrupt sleep and cause insomnia.
I use an iPad for everything else - it's a universal reader, but before bed, dead trees.
Sony was making (they actually pioneered the market) e-ink readers.
They were making money on actual devices.
Then came amazon.
Amazon couldn't care less about making money on hardware, prices go down.
Sony exits the market.
Did we, customers, really benefit from the fact that only major book stores can actually compete, since devices are subsidized?
If not, where's the Kindle Reader open-source, like ones for PDF for Windows and other platforms?
I DO like some things in electronic form, 'cause I can store them for future reference. Books aren't just for entertainment, ya know.
Haven't seen you in a while. You're more funny when talking about toads and Italians, BTW.
Tell Laura I said hi.
I "own" the audiobook. It still appears in my "library" and if the ever re-license it I'll be able to download it again. If I still had the file Audible would authenticate it for me and I could listen to it -- or if I had converted it to some other format I'd still have it. I just can't download it again because THEY can't provide it.
So you own the audiobook but Amazon can't give it to you because of licensing issues? Will all due respect, that doesn't sound like ownership to me. I use Audible every day, and I've never encountered this, but the ramifications longer-term are pretty shitty.
It'd be nice if we had a consumer and citizen oriented society, it looks like if you're not a corporation, you're a 2nd class citizen these days.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
you still don't own those books you have paid for if you use Amazon ereader.
If you want to read in direct sunlight, paperwhite is the only way to go,
Are you reading outside in the daylight on your device? If so, you need an e-ink e-reader to see the screen. If you only read inside or in the evening, any regular tablet screen will do.
Amazon is completely aware the market for e-ink is for those who read outside in the day and that is about it. But the market for their Fire line is far larger.
I would gladly buy a new e-reader if it offered significantly improved capability like improving note taking and annotation by using speech and speech recognitioin and integrating the notes and annotations with my laptop.
Come on everyone
Not so long ago. You only had a couple choices if you wanted to read. Get a book from your local library. Or purchase one. Hard Covers were $30 and up. Paperbacks were creeping up there as well. So in comes e-books and e-readers. E-books cost the publisher so little to produce (manufacture) any way most writers send their work to the publisher in digital form. It gets run through a formatting program to get it formatted into the format for the reader hardware in use. (.epub,.mobi, .lit and others . Then it is sold the regular way but on line and distributed. However in recent years the publishers have started increasing the cost of e-books up to in some cases the same cost of hard cover books. What a rip off. I understand that the author needs to make a living just the same but I bet he/she makes a lot less on the sale of e-books. but the publisher is making a killing and we the consumer are getting screwed. Any wonder sales are down. People aren't totally stupid. They know when they are getting ripped off. I think that all authors should sell their own e-books them selves dissolving the publisher author partnership entirely. Greed gets you every time. Some have done that but not enough. Come on guys. It is not the reader at fault it is the greed of the publisher that is slowing the sale of e-books and not the reader hardware.
Certainly Amazon's domination of the E-Reader category has stifled innovation. But, in my opinion, the real root cause of the lack of E-Reader innovation isn't being highlighted: E-Ink. They've maintained a near complete monopoly on the electronic ink display market and have behaved accordingly. They have not produced any significant improvements in the technology in many years and, worse yet, have done nothing to bring down the prices of an E-Ink display. The recent Sony "electronic clipboard/notepad" introduction created buzz and excitement until users found out the price: north of $1k. Everything about the device is appealing except for the cost and it's a dealbreaker. The cost of that device is almost entirely driven by the cost of the E-Ink display. Until there is competition in the electronic ink display market the combo of E-Ink and Amazon will continue to choke off innovation. When we see a sub $100 BOM cost of an electronic ink display/A4+ size then you'll see innovation explode.
I like the nook better, and appreciate the company behind it because I can go their brick and mortar store, have a coffee, flip through a magazine and relax. If i have trouble with it, I can ask the staff in the store and they always have an answer. Barnes and noble is a nice clean store and I can peacefully type a work email if need be. Amazon is kind of nebulous in that regard.
Wash your keyboard, its kinda gross.