Slashdot Mirror
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.
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.
I'm with you. When Amazon discontinued Kindles with buttons, I bought a couple of spares for when the one I'm using dies. I was only using a Kindle in the first place because my older e-readers got broken over time, and Amazon was the only one who still made a reader with buttons. Now there are none.
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
Non e-ink tablets tend to be glossy.
That may be good in moderate light to see movies, but is horrible to read.
And forget at sunshine.
I have an e-Ink Kindle, but that's been sitting in a desk drawer for the past 9 months as I've switched over to using a Nexus 7 tablet for reading since a tablet can do much more.
I don't read (even books) in bright sunlight, so that aspect of the e-Ink doesn't matter to me, the tablet works fine for everywhere I use it: at home in the dark, in the train, in the office. And if I want to switch gears and send an email, read an IM or browse the web, I don't need to switch to a different device.