Sony Cuts e-Reader Pricing - Interesting comment about content

[samcraig]

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/24/sony-cuts-price-of-reader-pocket-edition-tries-to-duck-ipad/

Interesting to note that content is still in "question." Meaning - that while people will buy the iPad and (hopefully) have a kindle app. That as of right now, Apple still doesn't (appear to) have strong footing in regards to books. I'm sure that will come eventually.

But as argued/discussed on here. For those just seeking JUST an eReader with price being a factor - there very well could be competition for the eReader market.

Content selection is uber-important for those that are seeking an eReader replacement. So no - I am not talking about those that want MORE than just an eReader.

But like I mentioned above - it would appear that the iPad will have/should have the Kindle app. Which means that (even) Apple knows that content is important. And if they can't provide it (yet) - it's better to have a delivery system vs the deals in place then to not have anything on the device at all.

 

[SteveSparks]

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/24/sony-cuts-price-of-reader-pocket-edition-tries-to-duck-ipad/

Interesting to note that content is still in "question." Meaning - that while people will buy the iPad and (hopefully) have a kindle app. That as of right now, Apple still doesn't (appear to) have strong footing in regards to books. I'm sure that will come eventually.

But as argued/discussed on here. For those just seeking JUST an eReader with price being a factor - there very well could be competition for the eReader market.

Content selection is uber-important for those that are seeking an eReader replacement. So no - I am not talking about those that want MORE than just an eReader.

But like I mentioned above - it would appear that the iPad will have/should have the Kindle app. Which means that (even) Apple knows that content is important. And if they can't provide it (yet) - it's better to have a delivery system vs the deals in place then to not have anything on the device at all.

Love the iPad, Hate the iPad. It is for the near term going to own content. The color screen (which is not as nice at e-ink) and the ability for book sellers to put applications on the device, puts the Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook and others into a very, very small market ..

Most people who are not super hardcore e-book readers will go for the multi-purpose device. This device being multipupose means the market is much bigger, I would think maybe 10x that of all the current e-book readers.

If cost is an issue, I beleive the multi-purpose and memory capability will compensate those getting the device. Since this is not an essential item for someone, cost details are not really a comparison.

 

[samcraig]

Love the iPad, Hate the iPad. It is for the near term going to own content. The color screen (which is not as nice at e-ink) and the ability for book sellers to put applications on the device, puts the Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook and others into a very, very small market ..

Most people who are not super hardcore e-book readers will go for the multi-purpose device. This device being multipupose means the market is much bigger, I would think maybe 10x that of all the current e-book readers.

If cost is an issue, I beleive the multi-purpose and memory capability will compensate those getting the device. Since this is not an essential item for someone, cost details are not really a comparison.

We all have our beliefs. I believe that for people where price IS an issue. And usage IS an issue - that the nook, kindle and sony eReaders will still have a viable market.

Not everyone wants more or wants to pay more. Read the 32 or 64gig thread. If money was never an issue and more was better - people would only be buying the 64gig. Why buy less (by some people's logic). I find that faulty.

Price is a consideration. And so is usage.

I'm not ignoring the fact that millions of people will want a multifunctional device for (relatively) not much money. But there are still plenty of people that will opt for the "competition." in the eReader market.

 

[cualexander]

Sony uses EPUB. Apple uses EPUB. Therefore, all content Sony has now works on the iPad. So I wouldn't think content would be a problem. Sony store is pretty comparable to Kindle store anyhow.

And you can convert Kindle format to EPUB in a lot of cases, not without a lot of hacking mind you, but it's feasible.

There is actually a large underground ebook file trade that I'm sure will become more prominent once the iPad is released.

 

[samcraig]

Sony uses EPUB. Apple uses EPUB. Therefore, all content Sony has now works on the iPad. So I wouldn't think content would be a problem. Sony store is pretty comparable to Kindle store anyhow.

And you can convert Kindle format to EPUB in a lot of cases, not without a lot of hacking mind you, but it's feasible.

There is actually a large underground ebook file trade that I'm sure will become more prominent once the iPad is released.

I agree. Content won't be too much of an issue because of formats accepted AND that there SHOULD be a Kindle reader app available.

The interesting part will be if/when Apple can "own" it's own revenue stream for books via their iBookstore. Because as of right now, their own delivery system (for books) seems "weak" at best in comparison to apps, video and audio.

 

[anthonymoody]

This device being multipupose means the market is much bigger, I would think maybe 10x that of all the current e-book readers.

I think your 10x is shy on the order of another 10x (i.e. I think it's more like 100x) in Year 1, and will only grow from there.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Sony uses EPUB. Apple uses EPUB. Therefore, all content Sony has now works on the iPad. So I wouldn't think content would be a problem. Sony store is pretty comparable to Kindle store anyhow.

And you can convert Kindle format to EPUB in a lot of cases, not without a lot of hacking mind you, but it's feasible.

There is actually a large underground ebook file trade that I'm sure will become more prominent once the iPad is released.

SO Sony and Apple are using the same DRM on their books?????

 

[samcraig]

..and now news (on MR) that Random House isn't on board/convinced of the iBookstore's viability/pricing structure.

It should be an interesting few months to see where this all goes.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I have a Sony 505 which I believe is the best reader Sony ever made or will ever make. I say this because I don't think Sony readers will be around this time next year and the current crop is garbage. The price cut will not stop the bleeding b/c the K2 is vastly superior to anything in Sony's current line up so if some one just wants a reader the K2 is the way to go and I suspect K2 pricing is about to be slashed soon too so the Sony will still be overpriced.

SO Sony and Apple are using the same DRM on their books?????

Nope. Same ePub format, but different DRM. Sony books will not work on the iPad or vice versa. However, the DRM on Sony eBooks isn't too hard to remove if you know how to Google.

 

[gwynne]

There is actually a large underground ebook file trade that I'm sure will become more prominent once the iPad is released.

Slight tangent because have I mentioned how boring today is? But one thing I find interesting about the 'underground' eBook community is that it has been going for a very long time (I know it's been at least ten years since I found it), definitely before there was any sort of well-known ebook reader available. (At least, not one that people were buying anywhere near Kindle levels.)

Whereas today, 'pirated' books may be about getting a digital copy and cracking the DRM before sharing, back then people literally scanned in paper books with OCR software and edited them, all by hand. That's hardcore. For all I know there may be people still doing that with books that haven't been digitized yet.

Okay, I guess it's not that interesting since people were also ripping MP3s long before there were commercial MP3 players (I owned one of the 1st gen Diamond Rios...gawd), but there's still something crazy and DIY about scanning in an entire book on a flatbed scanner.

I have a Sony 505 which I believe is the best reader Sony ever made or will ever make

<3 my 700, but I need mah sidelights badly.

 

[cualexander]

Slight tangent because have I mentioned how boring today is? But one thing I find interesting about the 'underground' eBook community is that it has been going for a very long time (I know it's been at least ten years since I found it), definitely before there was any sort of well-known ebook reader available. (At least, not one that people were buying anywhere near Kindle levels.)

Whereas today, 'pirated' books may be about getting a digital copy and cracking the DRM before sharing, back then people literally scanned in paper books with OCR software and edited them, all by hand. That's hardcore. For all I know there may be people still doing that with books that haven't been digitized yet.

Okay, I guess it's not that interesting since people were also ripping MP3s long before there were commercial MP3 players (I owned one of the 1st gen Diamond Rios...gawd), but there's still something crazy and DIY about scanning in an entire book on a flatbed scanner.



<3 my 700, but I need mah sidelights badly.

Oh yeah, I mean I know it has been around forever, I'm just saying it comes into a bigger light when there is more publicity around ebooks. Just like I was ripping mp3s 3 years before napster but if you had asked the average person on the street what an mp3 was in 1996 they would have just shrugged.

Let's face it, e-book readers to this point, even Kindle, have been a niche device. But when the iPad sells millions of units, it will become a much bigger industry. I have a feeling iPad will sell more in the first year than Kindle has so far since their initial release.

And yeah I forgot about the DRM on EPUB, BUT Sony's Google books epub store that has all those DRM free public domain works will work with the iPad. So that's still thousands and thousands. And Project Gutenberg will work too. Shakespeare, Dickens, etc. etc.

There will be no shortage of content. Just look at Feedbooks.com. They have tons of DRM-free ebooks.

 

[samcraig]

I don't think anyone is arguing the vitality of eReading on the iPad or whether or not there will be plenty of content.

The interesting aspect to this (and the discussion going on about Random House in the News section) is the vitality of the iBookstore itself.

 

[r0k]

For me, one important factor in my ebook purchases is price. I went looking for Lord of the Rings and found it on ereader and Kindle, both of which are on my iPod Touch. I like reader a lot better. It has more colors, more fonts and a better overall user interface. The price on ereader was something like $22 but on Kindle it was $12. I got the Kindle version.

I'm sure the same would be true even if iBook was 10 times nicer than Kindle for iPad, I'd take the lower priced option unless the higher priced version offered an advantage. For instance, the complete works of Shakespeare on Kindle can be had for $0.99 or even free if you get them from manybooks.net. But then you are on your own if you are looking for act 4 scene 1 of a midsummer night's dream. Good luck with all that page flipping. But for $2.99 you get a version that is "searchable" and includes an "active table of contents" that is well worth paying a little more.

 

[gwynne]

Oh yeah, I mean I know it has been around forever, I'm just saying it comes into a bigger light when there is more publicity around ebooks.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply I was arguing the point above--it really was just a tangent.

 

[Eldiablojoe]

..and now news (on MR) that Random House isn't on board/convinced of the iBookstore's viability/pricing structure.

It should be an interesting few months to see where this all goes.

Seems to me, they just don't want to get suckered / locked into a pricing arrangement that will allow Apple to Wal-Martize them. By that I mean squeezing the profit margins so low that you only make 1% on the stuff you sell.

Walmart's suppliers - especially the little guys - are desperate to get their goods into Walmart's massive volume model, so Walmart squeezes their profit margins to nearly nil in order to maximize Walmart's own PM.

I suspect Random House is similarly suspect of the big guy (Apple) dictating what RH profits.