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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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Actually, yes. e-readers are limited functionality devices that take up the same amount of space as a tablet that can serve as a reader, and much more. Unless the e-reader offers something unique (e-ink...) that the tablet cannot (an e-ink tablet would be pretty crippled in the color display space, at least, commercially available e-ink as I have known about it thus far.)
OTOH, if the tablet can't do what the user needs -- for example, present a readable page in full sunlight -- then the tablet isn't impinging on a putative e-reader's earned-by-actual-capabilities market share, is it?
And if something can't survive in the market, it's now a question of do we have to have it? Because if it can't survive on its own, and we don't have to have what it offers, then who is going to step up and make the things? It becomes a buggy whip. Rightfully so.
Seems pretty straightforward to me.
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I'd like a tablet with an e-ink screen in addition to the color display. My Fire HDX is excellent for watching movies and TV when away from home via Netflix and Plex, but e-ink is a lot more readable. A tablet with an e-ink display cover would be cool. The e-ink could display message notifications in addition to being a reading surface. It looks like a lot of people have been working on this concept, and a phone was released with an e-ink back, but it doesn't seem to be taking off. I guess most people are probably fine reading from a regular tablet.
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.
Most ebooks sold by amazon aren't downloaded in a DRM'd format. And I hope you're joking about the difficulty of getting ebooks from other sources, Project Gutenberg has tons of stuff and many publishers seem to have stores. I just use the USB cable that came with my Paperwhite to connect it to my computer and then drag and drop my ebook files to the ereader. I would presume that most other ereaders work in the same fashion.
I want an E-Ink reader. I have tablets available (don't use them), and I have my phone which is what I do use. The biggest reason I don't have an E-Ink reader is the software. Kindle sucks, Nook doesn't even have E-Ink anymore, Kobo... I've heard lots of negative about their hardware, mostly short lifespan so I've never even checked out the software.
Find an E-Ink reader that can run FBReader and I'll jump on it.
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.
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Try Twilight on Android - it will dim the screen and tint it red to help alleviate circadian rhythm interruption caused by full spectrum (particularly high end like blue and violet) light.
The best solution is "warm" light (dimmed incandescent or special LED but not CFL or white LED) and dead trees for before bed reading.
If you're ok with a smaller form factor, you could get a YotaPhone. Android phone with a 5" AMOLED screen on one side, 4.7" e-Ink screen on the other.
Given the trend in larger and larger screen sizes on phones (which I'm not a fan of but whatever), I wouldn't be surprised if the next iteration of their devices is 5.5" or higher.
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I recently purchased one and it's great. I still prefer my Sony Reader for reading on the train and my 8" tablet for PDFs, but then I've only just begun to explore what the Yotaphone can do.
What it already does better than the Sony: it lets me read RSS feeds on e-Ink, and when I stumble upon multi-coloured graphics or photos in an EPUB, I can just flip it over and look at that on the OLED screen. Perfect!
It needs a lot more developers' love, though, because you do need specialized apps for displaying web content. The built in browser (Chrome and Firefox do the same, FWIW) just mirrors websites onto the e-Ink display, which makes them display all grayscale and washed out, just like the browser on the Sony Reader does. I'm still looking for a convenient way to read slashdot comments on e-Ink.
A World in a Grain of Sand / Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Infinity in the Palm of your Hand / And Eternity in an Hour.
Nook does still have an E-ink reader, and, IMO, it's the best bang for your buck unless you're already heavily invested in Amazon's proprietary library.
http://nook.barnesandnoble.com...
The specs are very similar to the latest Kindle, except the Nook supports the EPUB open format, while Kindle has their proprietary format of MOBI.
Perhaps they "tend" to be, but I've never seen one with a reflection problem myself. My phone (phablet, I guess) isn't noticeably glossy.
My phone (Galaxy Note 3) is just fine to read on in moderate light. So's my iPad. It's a little heavy though, so I almost always use the phone.
I can read in sunshine just fine. I have to turn the brightness on the phone up to max, but when I do, it's perfectly readable. Battery life suffers, though.
I should also mention I read a bit. I read about a novel a day, worst case one every two days. I've had no reading problems worthy of the name on tablet or phone that are display-related. Brightness is fine, contrast is fine, detail / legibility is fine, available font range perfectly satisfactory. Dimming the display at night seems to result in high quality sleep -- not really seeing that problem, though I do not doubt it's a real one for some people.
Got anything else?
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since a tablet can do much more
This is an excellent reason to have a reader specific piece of hardware. I use a first gen. paperwhite. Put aside for the moment that it's smaller, lighter and has a backlight that goes dimmer than most tablets making it better hardware for holding up in the dark for long periods. When I'm reading I DON'T WANT to be notified of the latest spam I just got. I don't need the option of browsing some web site and I certainly don't want to watch a movie or listen to music.
I want to read a book. This is a purpose specific device that is excellent at its job. I own a couple iPads, iPhone 6+ and a Surface. If my paperwhite died this moment I'd go buy another one without hesitation because to me there is no overlap in functionality between my book reader and those other devices.
When you're in the store and looking at that black and white e-ink screen and comparing it to the full color display of a standard tablet, there is only one winner. Add in that your e-ink reader only displays words vs. everything a tablet does and any reasonable person would decide a full tablet is a much better way to go. Should you get the chance, borrow a backlit e-ink reader and try it for one night. You'll find the reader is a completely different device than the tablet and those weaknesses are actually strengths.
I understand your use case. For me however, e-reader (also Kindle paperwhite) is a clear win on any trip that I take.
If you fly for anything longer than 4 hours apiece then any sort of tablet will be useless, since I won't be able to rely on the battery to get me through the trip. One of the reasons, ironically, will be because it will be a tablet. I will inevitably want to fire up a game a sometime and that will drain the battery.
Also, if you go on a vacation and don't want to be bothered with a need to charge it as well as being able to read on the beach, then e-reader is a clean winner again.
If I had to use it like you do, though, then tablet would be a better option for me as well.