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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.
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 dedicated ebook reader is for people who - you guessed it - read books.
Thats it. My wife is on her second kindle, and she was happy with the first one, I just couldn't think of another Christmas gift and figured she'd like the paperwhite.
The sales rate may be that the E-readers simply are very good products with a much longer use cycle. They don't get OS updates, or need new features. They do what they do, and do it well, and you can read books today perfectly fine on a first generation EReader.