Earlier quoted context omitted.
[deleted]
So is the NY Times best seller list though. People will be people whether they read regular books or ebooks.
[deleted]
The Kindle Index
41–50 of 75 posts
Re: The Kindle Index
#42iOS and Android have a Kindle app, which means every iPhone, iPad, and Android device can also be a Kindle. This fact is conspicuously missing in the analysis.
There's also a NOOK app for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, and Mac.
There's also a Kobo app for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and I believe there may be a Linux beta floating around, or maybe not.
Re: The Kindle Index
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely agree with you. I've had an older Kindle for a while now. It's an uncanny relationship. With most of my electronic devices, I can tell you the exact specs, when I got it, and how antiquated it is. My Kindle is different; it feels like a book to me, not a complex device. Brilliant work on Amazon's part.
Brilliant for you, yes. But when does amazon begin to consider this a bug, not a feature? I worry for the day that some new feature is introduced in .azw files that will break legacy devices. Now that would be evil.
Amazon are looking to make money off the books, not the device (they're basically the opposite of Apple). The Kindle device price is trending towards zero - a lot of good money is betting that Amazon will eventually give it away for free, making all their money back on book purchases.
Re: The Kindle Index
#44I can't help but wonder if the prevalence of Kindles in a particular city relates to the number of brick and mortar bookstores in that city. I am imagining that the more "cosmopolitan" cities probably have more physical bookstores.
Exactly what I was thinking. People who love to read can get cheap, physical books everywhere in cities, and often from appealing local stores. I remember walking past quite a few cool bookstores in Seattle when I visited, and I know Denver has an awesome one. My college town had several.
The city I'm working in now doesnt even have a B&N so I am finding new love for my Kindle.
Re: The Kindle Index
#45iOS and Android have a Kindle app, which means every iPhone, iPad, and Android device can also be a Kindle. This fact is conspicuously missing in the analysis.
They can be, just like a computer can be. Ever tried reading on one of those for >30 minutes? Awful.
I've read for hours on end on everything from a Palm IIIxe(Back-lit 160x160 grey-scale) and Palm T|X(320x480 color LCD) to a Kobo(e-Ink) and an iPad2. I've had no problems with any of them.
Re: The Kindle Index
#46iOS and Android have a Kindle app, which means every iPhone, iPad, and Android device can also be a Kindle. This fact is conspicuously missing in the analysis.
I read books constantly, and I do own a 2nd generation Kindle, but I think it is buried in a box somewhere from a move I did last fall. I do 99% of my reading these days on either my Android phone, my laptop or my desktop PC. I really think the killer feature that Amazon bring to its Kindle brand is actually "Whisper Sync" more than eInk displays or any other specific device. Being able to pick up my book from where I left off on any internet enabled device is the #1 reason my books purchases are almost exclusively from amazon.
Re: The Kindle Index
#47I wonder if the reason that there are so few e-readers for sale is because their use-case doesn't really change. In other words, they remain useful for much longer. This might make people hold onto them instead of constantly upgrading to the latest version.
Something else to consider is how fast and how steep the price drops on a Kindle have been. From Wikipedia: "On July 8, 2009, Amazon reduced price of the Kindle 2 from the original $359 to $299. On October 7, 2009, Amazon further reduced the price of the Kindle 2 to $259. On June 21, 2010, hours after Barnes & Noble lowered the price of its Nook, Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle 2 to $189." Now it's down to $99 for the ad version.
So, is someone who paid $250+ for a Kindle just two years ago really going to sell it for $50 or so, when the new models aren't much different?
Re: The Kindle Index
#48I wonder if the reason that there are so few e-readers for sale is because their use-case doesn't really change. In other words, they remain useful for much longer. This might make people hold onto them instead of constantly upgrading to the latest version.
Something else to consider is how fast and how steep the price drops on a Kindle have been. From Wikipedia: "On July 8, 2009, Amazon reduced price of the Kindle 2 from the original $359 to $299. On October 7, 2009, Amazon further reduced the price of the Kindle 2 to $259. On June 21, 2010, hours after Barnes & Noble lowered the price of its Nook, Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle 2 to $189." Now it's down to $99…
[deleted]
Re: The Kindle Index
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had a Kindle once. Lost it in a breakup. I still read more books in the Kindle app than dead tree books, and I don't miss not having a Kindle. Thanks to the Kindle app on my iPhone, reading serves as the mortar of my life, filling up all the cracks. I only used my actual Kindle at home for sit-down reading.
Interesting, the trend in calling regular books "dead tree books" and in leaving out the "e" in e-books. I have my own ideas as to why this is happening though I fear they would derail the conversation on the article at hand, thus I'll just leave it as food for thought.
There's ample precedent for this, as newer improvements become the norm. You won't often hear someone saying "color TV" or "unleaded gasoline" or "touch-tone phone" anymore. They became the standard, and we began to use modifiers to describe the older, rarer products.
Re: The Kindle Index
#50>Kindles and Nooks aren’t really competing against each other so much as both of them are holding on for dear life versus the iPad ...except that Kindles and Nooks aren't trying to compete with the iPad, being completely different types of devices for completely different primary purposes.
Los Angeles is an Apple town. Much higher proportional use of Apple products than other cities. iPads are status markers here. I suspect San Francisco is the same.
While they may not compete directly, if people already have iPads for other reasons, it seems they'd be less likely to buy a kindle.