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Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

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Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#71

Post by jonknee »

doctorpangloss wrote: post #63
CJefferson wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It is easy to see from the numbers that the vast majority of Kindle book readers use Apple devices." Out of interest, where are those numbers?

Is it so cynical to assume that Steve Jobs & the "analysts" he mentions were right–that not many Kindles have actually been sold? Sure, you're right, they've never given a sales figure. I think because they haven't sold very many. http://gizmodo.com/5963577/lets-just-assume-amazon-has-sold-...

It's the top selling product on Amazon and has been so for years. They have sold a ton of them, it's ridiculous to think otherwise. Who do you think was buying all the Kindle books before there were other supported platforms?

Amazon doesn't release sales figures. Period. Not of the Kindle and not of any product.

Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#72

Post by meepmorp »

OrsenPike wrote: post #59
lostlogin wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not for all. 1) Reading for me involves access to a browser and typing on a kindle is deeply unpleasant. 2) Reading in the dark requires a light and the attachments for the kindle have all seemed a kludge to me. That said, the iPad is imperfect here are the screen doesn't dim enough.

I think a better way to phrase it would be "Kindles are clearly a superior device for reading [novels and similar material] than iPads." An iPad obviously is better for things like glossy magazines, graphic heavy books/PDFs, etc. However as a replacement to my "books" then the Kindle wins over the iPad. Also the Kindle Paperwhite (and Kobo Glo, etc) are pretty great for low light reading. I agree the old lights were…

> Kindles are clearly a superior device for reading [novels and similar material] than iPads.

For you perhaps; I prefer reading on an iPad. It doesn't bother my eyes, and it doesn't make it difficult to sleep. Maybe the fact that I don't typically read outside makes some difference here.

Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#74

Post by jonknee »

meepmorp wrote: post #69
jonknee wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Apple wanted to, it could coerce Amazon to pay 30%, regardless of where the books are sold. That would be interesting to witness. Apple's second trial over their criminal behavior over eBooks would be a hoot.

> That would be interesting to witness. Apple's second trial their criminal behavior over eBooks would be a hoot. What criminal behavior would there be in this instance? It's their platform and they're not convicted monopolists, so they can set their pricing however they like. If Amazon doesn't like it, they can take their ball and go home (and likely get Apple to cave, cause people seem to prefer Kindle to iBooks).…

Well for starters since Amazon does not sell anything through Apple's platform (and indeed removed that ability because of Apple's new rules requiring a 30% cut), there would be no setting of pricing.

You're suggesting that Apple would somehow require Amazon to fork over 30% of every Kindle book sold as long as the purchaser has downloaded the Kindle for iOS app. That would be quite anti-competitive and would introduce a whole host of troubles over their approval process (they would also have to take 30% of HBO's revenue or kick out HBO Go, Watch ESPN would be gone, Netflix etc etc). Not to mention nearly impossible to audit.

Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#75

Post by ScottBurson »

larrys wrote: post #49
zseward wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(I'm the author.) That's a totally fair point about the subject headings, Larry. They're intended to make the emails more accessible and scannable, but of course they oversimplify things. On the other hand, these emails are ultimately more about being Steve Jobs than winning a negotiation. And thanks, Dan. Much love to DocumentCloud for making the OCR of those PDFs super easy.

I liked the piece but my take is a bit different since I practically make a living by doing negotiations primarily by email. (Email is perfect it allows you to remove facial expressions and tone of voice which can be a drawback if not perfectly executed. Not to mention having to think on your feet and not be able to do what I describe below). One thing that I do do is to very very carefully choose my words and analyz…

Very interesting post.

For most of us, I'm sure writing such an email would take the kind of effort and consideration you describe. (It would probably take me a week.)

But I wouldn't be surprised if Jobs spent so much of his time negotiating and was so talented at it that he could pretty much just dash something like that off -- with every detail right.

Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#77

Post by FireBeyond »

notimetorelax wrote: post #58
doctorpangloss wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hindsight is a funny thing. Amazon's eBook/Kindle business is continuing to soar while Apple doesn't even mention iBooks anymore. That's true, but for a few idiosyncratic reasons, if anything. The Kindle app is available for the iPad, and for a period of time an iPad user could buy the book directly in the app. If Apple wanted to, it could coerce Amazon to pay 30%, regardless of where the books are sold. I wouldn't…

> I suspect Amazon makes most of its money off iPad users Just wondering, why do you think that?

Agreed, I don't believe it to be true at all, either.

Let's face it, the people who are that invested in reading that they'd consider a Kindle are likely to vastly prefer reading on a device purposefully built for it.

My Kindle Paperwhite is gorgeous. I also have an iPad 4, and a rMBP. As great as both those devices screens are, the Paperwhite wins, without a doubt, for reading. Even the iPad is too big, too heavy, to comfortably hold up or above my head for any period of time.

People so heavily invested in reading that they purchase many eBooks using Amazon's infrastructure are likely to have investigated the hardware designed for same. And whilst my preference for the hardware over an iDevice doesn't automatically mean everyone will find it the same, I find this claim highly tenuous.

Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#78

Post by MatthewPhillips »

doctorpangloss wrote: post #56
jonknee wrote: post #42

> Analysts estimate that Amazon has sold more than one million Kindles in 18+ months (Amazon has never said). We will sell more of our new devices than all of the Kindles ever sold during the first few weeks they are on sale. If you stick with just Amazon, Sony, etc., you will likely be sitting on the sidelines of the mainstream ebook revolution. Hindsight is a funny thing. Amazon's eBook/Kindle business is continuin…

> Hindsight is a funny thing. Amazon's eBook/Kindle business is continuing to soar while Apple doesn't even mention iBooks anymore. That's true, but for a few idiosyncratic reasons, if anything. The Kindle app is available for the iPad, and for a period of time an iPad user could buy the book directly in the app. If Apple wanted to, it could coerce Amazon to pay 30%, regardless of where the books are sold. I wouldn't…

> That's true, but for a few idiosyncratic reasons, if anything.

> The Kindle app is available for the iPad, and for a period of time an iPad user could buy the book directly in the app.

Are you sure you meant to use the word idiosyncratic here? Because being available on as many platforms as possible is the default behavior for a business that sells content. It's Apple that is idiosyncratic here, by choosing to not make its stores available on any device not made by them. It helps their hardware business, where the money is made, but it's a bad choice for consumers.

Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#79

Post by ScottBurson »

bravura wrote: post #67

Is it just me, or does the following quote suggest that Harper-Collins was strongly outleveraged in the negotiation, regardless of Jobs's negotiating skill? "Apple is the only other company currently capable of making a serious impact, and we have 4 of the 6 big publishers signed up already. Once we open things up for the second tier of publishers, we will have plenty of books to offer. We’d love to have HC among the…

Yes, this was my takeaway too. Negotiating is easy, or certainly a lot easier, from a position of strength.

The subtlety, though, is that sometimes it's about creating the illusion of strength, or even of future strength, when the present reality doesn't fully demonstrate that strength. Jobs did that masterfully here.

Re: Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a negotiation

#80

Post by comrade_ogilvy »

devindotcom wrote: post #38
jtbigwoo wrote: post #31

There's a great moment in the first Jobs email: >>4. $9 per new release should represent a gross margin neutral business model for the publishers. We are not asking them to make any less money. As for the artists, giving them the same amount of royalty as they make today, leaving the publisher with the same profits, is as easy as sending them all a letter telling them that you are paying them a higher percentage for…

Yeah, this was the moment for me too. It's like he's saying "Who do you think you're talking to? You think we don't know what you people do?"

Agreed. It demonstrated that Jobs probably understood the numbers approximately as well as those he was negotiating with. It not so subtly alluded to the fact that HC was attempting to seize a bigger slice of the digital pie, without being confrontational.

"Gee, you could make the same amount of money by giving the authors, um, more."

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