Aristotle: you are quite entertaining with all your talk about how the Kindle DOESN'T use e-ink technology. You crack me up! (and please send me some of what you are smoking, eh?)
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Kindle still has an advantage over the iPad
- Thread starter maflynn
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It's a DIFFERENT e-Reader and since that's the only thing it compares to/with an iPad - the "over all" device is a silly argument. My computer is an over-all better device than my desktop calculator. Who cares? They're different devices.
"t doesn't matter, In your opinion. Why do you always assume you are better at gauging the market than everyone else?
I have already switched my purchase decision from a cheaper eReader to an iPad and they haven't even been marketing yet. So I am part of the group I am describing.
I am not claiming there won't be people who stick with e-ink readers, but IMO if you are showing both to someone who doesn't yet have e-ink, the majority would go for an iPad. Which is Faster/slicker/color over prehistoric slow/clunky B&W e-ink."
Ok. We're at an impasse. For one - I've been in Marketing for 20 years.. so I know a thing or two about Marketing.
Second- YOU made a switch. That's You. You want to say this and that is my opinion, yet you want to gauge the marketplace by what YOU are deciding? A tad hypocritical, no?
If you're showing both devices to someone who doesn't want or need the iPad - it won't matter how much it can do. If you don't understand that some people don't WANT more or to pay MORE for MORE than that is your failing. Not everyone wants the newest, best, brightest, expensive device on the market. The iPad, at current - is a LUXURY item.
Your color tv vs black and white example is not a good analogy either. People had and bought black and white sets for YEARS even decades after color TVs were introduced for exactly the reason I'm pointing out.
I agree with everything you said except that the iPad is not a "different" e-reader than the Kindle. the iPad is a BETTER e-reader than the Kindle.
Are people going to continue to buy Kindles? Sure, I agree with you. But don't tell me the Kindle is a better e-reader than the iPad. Because it's not.
They may and they may not. I was set to buy an ereader. I am now interested in an iPad for that purpose.
Color is a huge deal if you want to read anything but pure text. Magazines/comics/Books with images, all benefit greatly from color. Just as a reader it is no contest for me.
The impact will depend on the marketing.
Who needs a Kindle? They are both "wants".
With the slightest bit of marketing, Kindle Dx is dead. That is head to head on form factor, screen size and PRICE. Do your really think many people care so little about color/speed/interface that the will pay the same price to not have all those things, when they could have them with no price increase??
If you could have purchased a 26" Color TV for the same price as a B&W version, no one other than a lunatic fringe would have purchased B&W. B&W lingered because of the high color prices. In the same size here we have parity pricing.
You are right some people wanting an ereader will consider the iPad too expensive and buy a small kindle instead.
But if there were a 5" - 6" iPad at parity, regular kindles would be in just as much trouble as the Dx.
No they won't. It's a race to the bottom with a zillion undifferentiated competitors making nearly-identical bland hardware - pretty soon it will be free and supported by the purchase of ebooks, and no one will ever have to buy one of these. Heck, there's already talk of Amazon giving them out free to Prime members.
My comments have nothing to do with the DX which I think is overpriced - as does the marketplace.
Any comments I have about the devices in question are the Kindle 2 vs the iPad.
And 259 vs 499 is significant if you're primarily (or solely) using it as an eReader.
Let's drop analogies altogether. There are none that would satisfy either "side" of the discussion.
Will some people chose the iPad if all they are looking for is an eReader. Of course they will. At the same time, both products can co-exist happily eating up the marketshare and both do well enough to survive without one "killing" the other.
Of course you want to ignore the Dx because it is inconvenient for your arguments in that it is a perfect size/price match for the iPad and thus the perfect comparison, where the iPad essentially destroys it.
If I remember correctly it launched well and sold out quickly, but it probably has no future now.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Again, what analogies. Comparing a Kindle dx to and iPad isn't an analogy. Analogies are when you start talking about bicycles and cars when we are talking about iPads and Kindles.
Some products survive their competition, some don't. Kindle Dx is a dead duck, because it faces a direct competitor that is clearly superior with the same price.
No - I think you forget what you wrote "If you could have purchased a 26" Color TV for the same price as a B&W version, no one other than a lunatic fringe would have purchased B&W. B&W lingered because of the high color prices. In the same size here we have parity pricing. "
That's an analogy.
And it's not a question of convenience. I am excluding the Kindle DX in the same way I'm excluding the high priced iPad with 3G. Notice I've been using $259 vs 499.
But if you want me to play your game - OK - let's go with the DX at 499 vs the iPad 3G at $899.
Same thing. If someone just wanted a large format eReader - Why pay 899 vs 499.
Stop getting caught up with which model device. The point is the same.
But don't tell me the Kindle is a better e-reader than the iPad. Because it's not.
But for a lot of people, you're wrong. Take one look at the shelves of a Barnes and Noble, and you'll see they're mostly filled with novels and other books that don't benefit from color. And especially for someone that reads recreationally, a Kindle is a far, far better e-reader than an iPad is.
Don't get me wrong, I love the iPad and I'm gonna buy one. I find a multi-purpose device more useful to me. But for someone such as my wife, who goes through a novel or two each week and doesn't care about anything except words on a page, an iPad simply isn't the right device.
Exactly the point I was making.
cmaier - Have you seen a DX in person? Analysts and message boards on Amazon itself indicate that the DX is not the Kindle device "of choice"
As soon as your wife sees the iPad, she'll forget about the Kindle.
We'll see man, we'll see! I sure hope not, because I'll end up having to buy another iPad!
As soon as your wife sees the iPad, she'll forget about the Kindle.
I know you're being cute - at least I hope so. But the reality is - a lot of people might think the iPad looks cool or nice or whatever but they still like the simplicity/cost/experience with lower tech toys.
And again - there's the issue of use vs. cost. If I only wanted an eReader and wanted to watch my budget - I would look at a Kindle at 259 vs an iPad at 499 and think to myself. Well - if I really am just going to use it for an eReader - then I can buy a LOT of books before I hit $499.
And if you think that logic is faulty - you should have conversations with people in stores and not solely on message boards.
No one can argue the iPad can do more and will look nicer with it's color screen and ooh its shiny. But to some, that's not enough to spend more.
As soon as your wife sees the iPad, she'll forget about the Kindle.
Agree with DaveSW. The iPad may be overkill for someone who just wants an ereader, but that doesn't make it the "wrong" device. IMO, color + faster turning of the page makes the iPad the better ereadeer than the Kindle, and if the iPad is the better ereader, then it is the better ereader, even if it has other functions that dmr's wife never uses. Of course, cost is a factor, so I can see someone going with the Kindle because of cost. But I find the argument that the Kindle is a better ereader for someone who just wants an ereader, pretty unconvincing.
Analysts have been consistently inconsistent about Kindle sales (and most everything else).
And I don't pay attention to message boards.
And I have seen a DX in person, but that doesn't tell me anything about it's success in the market.
Cost wasn't a big issue for us. My wife isn't a gadget or computer geek like me, so she appreciates the simplicity of the Kindle. She goes off to work for a week at a time, and can throw the thing in her purse and not have to worry about charging it. As she says, it doesn't even feel like an electronic device to her.
The other issue is readability outdoors. Not that she's outdoors all the time, but especially at work where she reads a lot in natural sunlight, I'm not sure the iPad will work so well. She says her iPhone screen is pretty washed out while at work, and I'll bet the iPad is the same.
That said, I realize that my wife isn't necessarily your typical reader, but I thought I'd chime in with an example of someone on the other side of the fence.
reader or eReader are you hypothesizing. Because I'd say she's probably more common than you think
I've had my Kindle 2 for over a year now. I enjoy it, I use it almost every day, I get compliments and questions about it when I'm reading it out and about. But I'm afraid that once the iPad comes out I'm going to be embarrassed to be seen with my Kindle. I wonder if I will feel like people are looking at me with a sense of pity. Like, "Poor guy, stuck with a Kindle. I guess he doesn't have enough money to buy an iPad." Or worse, "I guess he didn't know the iPad was coming out and he just bought a Kindle." That would besmirch my geek cred and I couldn't stand that.
Perhaps if you wear some sort of button or t-shirt explaining how you wish to be seen as a Kindle owner in the iPad era.
Take the lead - - set your own spin!
Maybe using a Kindle will be a little like being a Steampunk and it will be kind of cool this Summer in a retro sort of way.
Or maybe you should not give a rat's behind what other people think and enjoy your device.
And to the other posters. REALLY?
Stop being an elitist @#$%^&