Entelligence: Of ebooks and suburban moms
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted Nov 1st 2009 6:10PM
posted Nov 1st 2009 6:10PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
There was a raging debate going on last week at Engadget HQ over the role of dedicated ebook readers that spilled over on to the Engadget Show. You can watch the show here, but essentially big boss Joshua Topolsky and Paul Miller feel that the new Barnes and Noble Nook is going to be a hit -- the one machine that gets suburban moms to buy. On the other hand, Nilay Patel, rationally (as he agrees with me) says it's not going to happen and there's no mass market for dedicated ebook readers. I'm going to weigh in and say Nilay is probably right.
Now don't get me wrong, this is not entirely an integration vs. convergence story. I believe there's a market for dedicated devices: cameras have not been displaced by music phones, media players have not been displaced by music phones and ebook readers could serve bibliophiles, especially those who travel a lot. However, mobile reader apps like those from Amazon and Barnes & Noble can easily tap into more casual markets, allowing users to leverage the investment in screens they already own instead of buying a dedicated device. That's one reason why I think it has been important for Amazon and B&N to get their ebook platform onto as many devices with screens as possible, and why Sony's making a mistake by ignoring the opportunity.
Now don't get me wrong, this is not entirely an integration vs. convergence story. I believe there's a market for dedicated devices: cameras have not been displaced by music phones, media players have not been displaced by music phones and ebook readers could serve bibliophiles, especially those who travel a lot. However, mobile reader apps like those from Amazon and Barnes & Noble can easily tap into more casual markets, allowing users to leverage the investment in screens they already own instead of buying a dedicated device. That's one reason why I think it has been important for Amazon and B&N to get their ebook platform onto as many devices with screens as possible, and why Sony's making a mistake by ignoring the opportunity.
There's a lot that's right with dedicated ereaders like the Nook and the Kindle, however. Yes, there could be more content available, but retailers are making sure there is enough important content -- bestsellers make a difference. It doesn't matter how good hardware is, if there's nothing to read.
There's also no PC required to use a dedicated ereader, thanks to the integrated wireless, which comes at an invisible cost to the consumers. A user has the ability to get content anywhere. Of course, this is also true on other mobile devices.
Finally, price. I love ebooks and have been reading on the go for years, but ebook pricing has been way too high until recently -- what's the difference between a "hardcover" ebook or a "paperback" one? Amazon understands this and sets prices accordingly low, but neither B&N or Sony seem to get it looking at the prices in their stores.
But fact is, none of these things are going to drive Nook sales or any other sales to the suburban mom. There's still far too much missing before ereaders become mainstream.
1. First, ereaders need to be cheaper. The current ereader price points are just way too high for devices that fundamentally only do one thing. Who on earth is going to use a Nook as an MP3 player? Sure, the Nook is great for users who travel a lot, buy a lot of books, hate carrying paper, and have a lot of discretionary income. So is the Kindle. For the mass market, however, prices have got to come way down. Suburban moms are on a budget these days.
Reading is a function that's going to get subsumed into more general purpose devices. |
2. Backlighting. Yes, I know electronic ink tech doesn't lend itself well to backlighting. One of the big advantages of epaper is not needing ambient light for reading, but backlighting is important in places like bedrooms and airplanes. One more reason why I'll more likely read an ebook on an iPhone or PC than a Kindle or Nook.
3. Higher refresh rates. Electronic ink has gotten a lot faster since my first Sony Librie, but it's still not good enough and I continue to find the pageturn flash distracting. So will most mainstream users.
The Kindle and the Nook are cool. They fill a need, and if ebooks help encourage people to read more, even better. But there's difference between functionality and something that's deserving of a dedicated device, and ebook reading is a function that's going to get subsumed into other more general purpose devices. If you think your current laptop or phone isn't up to the experience, well, the next generation is around the corner. How would you feel about reading on the mythical Apple Tablet or Microsoft Courier? In the long run, that's where the mass market will be captured. Sorry, Joshua, mom's going to go to Barnes & Noble, perhaps smile at the Nook, and then buy her paperback book and get back in the minivan... at least for now.
Michael Gartenberg is vice president of strategy and analysis at Interpret, LLC. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net, and he can be emailed at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
Kindle is beter.
cruisin for a trollin arent you?
I don't understand fanboyism... :(
If you had one, and actually read books, you may be able to spell "better" correctly.
Until then, read the article before commenting based on the cover image.
=]
Perhaps you need to read your Kindle more.
I would have to say the kindle is still viable because the B&N nook has CRAZY lag when scrolling through books. It is seriously painful. That is a big one-up for the kindle over the nook. That being said, Amazon must come up with a great new kindle in order to remain competitive.
Really, kindle fanboys? That's weird.
Now, one thing I know for sure is that my Cuisinart toaster is the best! Take that KitchenAid fanboys!
Barnes and Noble nook
Amazon Crannie
A phone, by and larger, does one thing for most people. Some of them cost more than any ebook.
They are correct -- this is a device marketed to the moms. I thought about getting one for my wife who is pregnant.
I love the dedicated e-book reader vs reader apps on other devices.
For me, it's the screen. E-Ink just makes sense with books... battery life in page turns. When I read a book, it's often sporadic, so I don't want to have to charge a reader the next time I want to read it. I want it to be there, on the same page I left it on.
E-Ink is also a lot easier on the eyes than an LCD screen.
I agree, ereaders have always intrigued me because of the eink, I own a few ebooks, but never have finished one, actually I don't read as much as I should in general. I have an iPhone, I have a nice laptop with a big screen, but I can't read a book on either, why would I read when I could watch a movie, or play a game, or surf the web, I want a dedicated e-book reader so that I actually read, and the Nook is the first one that seems to cover all my needs, It has a brilliant color screen, which was always a problem I had with the kindle, while both of their reading surfaces are the same, the buttons on the Kindle were always boring and unexciting looking, the nook looks good, the ability to select books just by choosing the cover makes it more "fun" and more motivating to pick it up and start reading. I know this might sound like a ridiculous reason to want to get a nook, but I am a gadget freak, and having a gadget for reading will make me read more just to play with the toy. Though the real reason I want the nook over the kindle is the ability to take the standard ereader, epub and pdf formats, which the kindle doesn't allow. I already have an iPhone I don't want another walled garden device. So I don't think the nook will only be popular with suburban moms and I definitely think there is a very large potential market for such a device. As a college student I have made the nook the #1 item on my holiday wish list, it costs less than a few textbooks, and has the potential of leading to free textbooks on torrents, and the ones that I can't find for free, I've already found a textbook ebook site that sells them for cheaper than my local student store's used section. (textbooks.com, though some aren't compatible with the nook) So in my mind it will pay for itself, though I am a film major, so things like pictures and charts aren't as important as they may be in science and math courses. So the black and white display is fine, but to get the rest of the college market they need to sell the textbook ebooks on the B&N store, and an eventual nook with color eink screen (Which is inevitable).
I think with this future of all of our digital needs being merged into a single device, will eventually need to be reversed, for many reasons, one product can't cover an entire market, the entire gadget industry would crumble. Software can't do everything, we will continue on this trend of merging all our devices into our cell phones and continuously smaller tablets for a few more years, but for reasons of market diversity, the market will need to shift away from these Jack of all trades master of none devices, and focus on products that excel beyond what these single devices can do. When you merge a phone and a camera, you make sacrifices on quality, and often a very low quality flash if a flash at all. Cell Phones and computers haven't replaced cameras for good reasons, and the same is with these ereader devices the eink is the key to their success, because it is what makes it better than multifunction devices. I also believe these are the only way to save the print industry, again as I stated earlier, my computer and iPhone are too distracting, I can do so much more stimulating things on them, just because watching movies, surfing the web, and playing games are more fun/stimulating, does not make them a substitute for reading. I plan to subscribe to NYTimes when I get my nook, and thats just because the way its delivered, and the content that it has, it makes print media more stimulating just because its an electronic device, and I know I am not the only one who is shallow like that, where I need it to be electronic to give me motivation. I look forward to a future where my backpack for school is a nook and a computer.
Gah I got too into this discussion, sorry for the wall of text.
Prodigious comment!
tl;dr
I don't think they're going to be a mass market product for the moment. But we're still in the early rounds here. The iPod wasn't an immediate hit either. Also, I'd disagree with you on why it won't be a huge hit just yet. Yes of course the price matters, but the other things you cite? I'd have to point out the lack of color (magazines, newspapers, comic books), lack of support for other formats like PDF, word docs, etc, and the current DRM system. Honestly the iPod never would have been as huge if most people didn't have a way to get non-DRMed content onto the thing (e.g. ripping CDs).
If we're going to live with their stupid DRM schemes they need to work across devices. I'm sure there are lots of Kindle owners right now rethinking all those books they bought as they look at the Nook and realize they're locked in and didn't realize it until now. Book stores need to sell books. There need to be eBooks available that support various stores. Until that happens the market will remain nichey.
Of course they also need to figure lots of other stuff out--how to render PDFs that were designed for bigger pages, how to handle page numbers for students when there aren't any pages, how to allow note-taking in the margins, how to loan books, how to resell them, and on and on. All of this stuff will work itself out over time.
Single function device? Sure, right now. But over time this stuff will merge. Maybe some sort of combo LCD/transflective screen will be the solution. Color and video when you want it but better battery life than current LCD tech. Or something else. The single function eBook thing will only last for a time. Then there will just be form-factors, e.g. fits in your pocket, or in your purse.
They'll get there. This is an emerging technology. Unfortunately, too many in the media see it as their duty to judge every product on absolute grounds rather than in the context of evolution and growth, which always requires several iterations (at least) to get right.
Yeah, but why not judge on absolute grounds? It's still a product, and as a consumer we want reviews that help us gauge if the product has enough value to merit it's purchase. If it's a step in the right direction, but not really useful then I'll consider myself informed when I hear about it, but I'm not going to buy it. It's about value, which has a pretty black and white gauge on it: Worth it, not worth it, bought, not bought.
Back on the subject of eReaders: Yes, I think there is a market for them. My father, who is for all intents and purposes technophobic actually wants one, which is saying something. I think the portability, and ease of acquisition of hundreds of books will draw people to them, although not necessarily en masse. Print books aren't going anywhere for a while.
EVERY new product is prohibitively expensive when it first debuts. EVERY new product lacks certain features in the beginning that would make it more usable, mainly because adding them at the start would make it even more expensive. And EVERY emerging technology like e-ink requires time to mature, which happens when enough people buy the first few generations to justify the manufacturer's improvements. Judging it on absolute grounds like these cynically warns intrepid consumers away from spending that money and getting those improvements made.
Can you imagine if Engadget writers had reviewed the first refrigerator, or the first television? These were products that cost a fortune in the beginning and all had serious flaws. But hey, that must mean there's no market for them.
I'm not saying don't mention a product's shortcomings in a review, but Michael is using these very normal growing pains as a reason to suggest that there's no market for this product at all, which is crap. It's like he doesn't understand technology at all.
Afaik, the most popular device used as a ebook reader is ... PSP! The screen is bigger than most mobile phones, but still too small for me. Laptops are too heavy to be held in one hand. Or dun last long enough. I think there is definitely a market for dedicated ebook readers.
"...and why Sony's making a mistake by ignoring the opportunity."
Err, Sony stated months ago that their in the process of ditching their own proprietary format and switching to ePub.
I totally disagree. There is a huge market for dedicated book-like devices. Trust me, when my 65 year old mother asks me which one to buy, like she did last week, mainstream acceptance is coming soon.
I just want a smart, portable computer with an e-ink screen. (Okay, as long as I'm imagining this, an e-ink on one side and OLED on the other), aimed as a multi-purpose device (like today's smart phones) but _different_. Plain and simple, a practical information device as opposed to an entertainment device.
My favourite idea from the Kindle is being able to access Wikipedia. Meanwhile, I would love to see Interactive Fiction on this medium. It makes a lot of sense on e-ink. Done right, it really is a powerful art form.
The long battery life and the ability for stuff to stay on the screen for a long time makes a lot of sense for a scheduler, too.
I think the world is big enough for two different categories of multi-purpose portable gadgets with screens.
I'm kind of with you, in a way. I don't really care about having both OLED and e-ink in one device, but I'd like a tablet with e-ink that refreshes fairly quickly and runs a real OS, that has a pen/touch display and can use a bluetooth keyboard. I'm not sure how small "small" is for you, but for me I'd like something big enough to display A4 and Letter pages at full size (which, incidentally, works out to a 14.5" screen or larger). Color would be pretty sweet, but I would likely buy a well-priced, functional device that was gray-scale.
I'm a student. My physics textbook weighs something like six pounds, which doesn't sound like much, but combine that with my calculus text, which is almost as big, plus my laptop and the weight of my bag itself... hell, most days I only have one book and the computer, and the walking and stair-climbing is killing my knees and shoulders. If I had an e-reader device with all my books in electronic format, that weighed 2-3 pounds? Hell yes. If it had a pen input and I could carry around a bluetooth keyboard to go with it, I might not even need the laptop every day.
I remember there being a netbook that could turn to e-ink with the click of a button
I'm sure I saw it here on Engadget.
Author makes same mistakes about this device as most who have written about the subject. To address the three missing pieces:
1) They are a bit on the expensive side. The kindle does save on actual books, and pays for itself, eventually, given ebook pricing, and the large number of completely free classics, which you'd have to buy to read on paper.
2) Booklights work as well on a kindle as they do on a book. They cost about 5 dollars for the bedroom. Also, I'm not sure if you've been on an airplane since about 1950, but they have pretty good lights for reading magazines, books, and yes, ebooks. Non issue.
3) Refresh rate is a red herring. It takes less time to display a new page on my kindle dx then it does to turn a page on a normal hardcover book. Sitting with a laptop in bed is incredibly awkward, it gets hot, and, while it refreshes fast, grabbing for the trackpad to turn pages is not exactly comfortable while horizontal. Reading an entire novel on an iphone... c'mon, really? That's beyond silly for at least 3 reasons too obvious to insult people with by typing.
Cost is the main issue here. It isn't "moms" (people other than moms do read, you realize), back lighting, and refresh rates.
You mad brah?
Well I think refresh rate is a bit of an issue. It makes flicking through books and menus a bit tedious, but I do agree for actual page-turning while reading it isn't an issue at all.
"However, mobile reader apps like those from Amazon and Barnes & Noble can easily tap into more casual markets, allowing users to leverage the investment in screens they already own instead of buying a dedicated device."
Come now. I stopped reading at this point - do we really need to tell the *engadget editors* that e-ink displays are *different* to the LCD displays people already own? Seriously. Different.
By "suburban mom" they don't literally mean all women who live in the suburbs and have kids (and drive a minivan and take their kids to soccer practice). It's just a term they use for the masses, that is, if a suburban mom is willing to buy and use a product (an iPhone or Kindle, for example), then it is accepted into the mainstream.
The stereotypical suburban mom just wants a device that looks decent, is easy to carry around, is priced for the masses (rather than for the enthusiasts/geeks), and "just works" with minimal fuss. That's one large reason why the iPhone is so popular, and why eBook readers still have a ways to go.
Until they do, they'll have a limited market. As intrigued as I am by the Nook, I know I'm not an indicator of mass adoption. Once my mom asks me about a device, then I know it'll have mass appeal.
Book lights are also an annoying pain in the butt, despite there being many, many instances when natural lighting is insufficient. I've owned probably a dozen in my lifetime, hated them all, but they necessary evil until 6 years ago. Between bulbs, batteries and bulk, they always found a way to make life less convenient.
In 2003, I began reading on my palm m500 (a monochrome LCD screen with very comfortable backlighting), using eReader software (the company B&N bought a few months back before giving ebooks another go). Once book selection improved, I abandoned paper entirely. My e-library, not including free public domain books, is now as large as my actual library. I haven't owned or used another booklight since, and my reading experience (and my eyes, for the record) is (are) better for it.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/07/pixel-qis-3qi-lcd-screen-sized-up-with-kindle-cto-sheds-light/
Ideally, what I'd like to see in a dedicated eReader on this issue is Pixel qi screen tech. It's an LCD with a twist -- when put into epaper mode, the backlight goes completely off and various layers and reflective techs make it look a lot like eink -- and is perfectly visible in direct sunlight. It definitely would have less battery life as an LCD, but for me, that would be less of an issue than having to lug around and maintain a booklight, much less paying a premium for eink.
Slightly less ideally would be an eink reader that has a well-concealed well-designed booklight built in and tied to the ereader's battery. Instead of having multiple things to carry and multiple batteries to care for, it would all be part of the reader itself. Props to Sony for trying a sidelit reader, but their design undermined readability in all circumstances too much.
reading an ebook on an iphone may very well be silly. Doing it on a phone that actually has a decent screen (both in size and DPI), such as the HTC HD, is not silly at all. I in fact read 2 books per week like that, and have been doing so all year. I only read books with illustrations in printed form.
Actually I have read about 10 full-sized novels on my iPhone with the Kindle app. We are talking novels that would be around 500 pages or more when printed. I love the convenience, and the fact that I don't have to remember to grab my book off the night stand before I leave for work in the morning. I read around 4-5 books a month. Since I started using the Kindle app, I have only found myself missing the book covers, but not the book itself. After all, a good story should take you away from the reality that you are not actually holding a book in your hand. I am looking forward to the Nook, and will definitely buy one as soon as I can. I do wish they would come down on the pricing for individual books, though.
As a high-schooler, I was quite apathetic about the Kindle, and any excitement I had was because it was a new product, not because it was something I wanted. With the announcement of the nook, however, I'm getting pretty pumped about owning a e-reader, especially with two different screens (seems very useful).
I do have a question concerning the consumption of e-books: is there a Zune Pass-esque way to purchase books from any e-book retailer? I feel that books ESPECIALLY apply to the 'consume once' aspect of media, and I don't think I'd like to buy each book at full-price for one-time use. That, more than anything, would convince me to get an e-reader.
I would also buy this in a heart beat if you didn't have to spend so much on books with it. They really should make a Zune-Pass kind of thing for this.
Oh wow, yeah that would be huge, a subscription service would be killer for an ebook reader, and probably the first company to do one, will have the biggest upper hand, it would be like a commercial library and especially if they had textbooks, college students would immediately switch. Just like Video Games, the cost of Textbooks are very much influenced by the fact that students sell back their books, (Look at how much cheaper games are on services like steam, when you remove the invisible "Sell back tax", prices become much more reasonable). With a medium in which you can't sell back books, a subscription based service would be economically feasible, because the actual value of textbooks would plummet, and still be profitable.
I feel like I am inside a a new facebook game/app called "Spamville" .
Good job engadget for removing the spam! Now my post just looks awkward...
Well... I feel the need to comment on this. Amazon, BnN listen up. My wife can be described as a suburban mom, we have three kids, three dogs, etc... She has called the sony ereader (505 model i think) one of the best gifts I have given her. She used to read 2 novels a week made from trees, now shes all electronic. She also used to not like the idea of ereaders, but after she tried it she loved it. I could go on but im typing with my thumbs so ill get to the point. The only thing that needs improvement is the price of the ebooks. If the amount saved with ebooks offset the cost of the reader for an average book worm after a year there would be a whole new layer of new users.
Old news. My mother inlaw been doing ereader for a year now on iPhone n my kid too. She bought over 40 books in 1 year. By the way free reader on iPhone. Sick or what.
Get with the times people.
and have your mother's eyes been bothering her lately?
?Who want's to read an 800 page novel on a phone? What's that about 10,000 screens
My 60+ Dad really wants an e-reader, sees all the benefits but wants colour pages and a cheaper price point. I'd like one for reading webpages, getting magazine and newspaper subscriptions and reading books (mainly non-fiction, but a good recommendation app built in would make me expand my fiction reading) but again I want colour for the web/magazines and £180 is too much to pay.
Give me a 7 inch colour screen, a built in system for recommending books I might like, a web browser and a sub-£150 price point and I'll bite. But I get the feeling that that might be too much to ask for a few years yet.
I don't want to read on a backlit screen, or anything LCD as it is not comfortable for long periods. Screen refresh is not a concern, as stated by another commenter I have to wait to turn a page at the moment and I'm not going to be watching video on it.
Imagine when prices get down to the point where you can buy an ebook reader preloaded for a comparable amount to a new hardcover or two.
The Nook would be a HUGE hit if it was priced in the $90 - $120 range. As it is, people all over are cutting back on non-essential spending, and the current price for this thing puts it in the category of luxury electronics.
It will get there like anything else. It takes time for a company to recover their initial costs with a new product.
When I can get an e-reader that I can read Newsweek or WSJ with the related graphs and pictures in a respectable resolution than I'll be all over it. Call me crazy but I believe that many of the articles don't have the same impact without the pictures or graphs that accompany the print version.
Apparently all those who complain about an LCD must not work with a computer because I look at my computer monitor for hours and I personally woudln't have a problem at looking at one to read for a few hours especially if I can control the brightness, etc...
I work on a computer all day and I most definitely prefer my Sony 505 for long stretches of reading. There's a difference between working on a computer and reading a novel on one. I've tried it, I'll pass on the LCD.
Do NOT assume that what is true for you is true for the whole. Everyone is different.
My eyes definitely start to strain after awhile in front of the computer. Especially with the glossy LCD on my laptop (my matte desktop LCD is a bit more tolerable).
To address what you think is missing:
1. PRICE: The Nook & Kindle are each about the cost of 12 hardcover books. For a tech guy like you, that may seem like a lot; for someone who buys a lot of books (like my wife), not so much.
2. BACKLIGHTING: e-ink is easier on the eyes than backlit screens, causing less eyestrain headaches for people (like my wife) who don't use computers regularly throughout a typical day.
3. HIGHER-REFRESH RATES: Page turns are about as fast as turning the page of a physical book, and will likely be even faster in the next generation. While that may seem annoyingly slow to you as a tech person, it's not as egregious to paper book readers, especially since it's easy enough for readers (did I mention like my wife?) to predict when to instinctively "pre-click"...that is, click the next page button about half-a-second before finishing reading the current page.
All of your arguments about why the Kindle & Nook won't be successful are coming from someone more tech-savvy than the target audience. You apparently already have an iPhone that can download ebooks wherever you go, and you don't mind reading those ebooks on its tiny screen. For the non-tech market who reads a lot (and yes, people who read printed books still exist in surprisingly large numbers), these readers are much more comfortable. And integrated cell-based online shopping makes it a convenient, affordable, portable nirvana.
2. Backlights
Maybe it's not important to regular readers like you, but at least it's an surplus for many geeks like me, who during the working day hours DON'T have much time for casual reading---yes that's the only thing ereaders are good at as of now. I will need to keep the entire room light up for some pre-bedtime reading---how lame is that? Hate booklights coz they bring intolerable flare and drains the battery super fast.
"Hate booklights coz they bring intolerable flare and drains the battery super fast. "
Old style incandescent booklights had sucky battery life. The same cannot be said for LED based ones. And flaring can be minimized through proper positioning.
I had a Rocket ebook reader when it was the latest thing. It didn't use e-ink, so it was backlit, which they all should be. Then I switched to Palm TX, which I really liked. When the Palm Pre came out I thought maybe it was time to switch to a smart phone, but, since the iPhone has so much more memory, I went with it, even though it has the (big) disadvantage of not being able to multitask. I am an iPhone convert. (I still disdain other Apple products).
I'm not really sure how you can say the ebook price of Amazon is lower than BN. A cursory glance shows that best sellers go for 9.99 at both locations. I even found some books cheaper at BN than I did Amazon. I've decided to get a dedicated reader, and I'll admit that I'm leaning towards the nook just because of storage options and replaceable batteries.
Not true. In many instances I have found B&N's eBook prices higher than Amazon's and also even higher than their own physical version. That's the fact, Jack.
Well people are free to visit both sites and then laugh at you for being so wrong.
On the B&N store though there are a lot of free public domain books from the google books project, and cheap $2-$5 for older, or less popular books, the best sellers are the same, but the are a lot of hidden deals within the B&N store, that just are more reasonable than Amazon.
Not only does BN not have SEVERAL titles of future books that I want, but over 50% of the titles that I have looked at for possible purchase have been much more expensive on BN than AMZ.
\
@ Mruthyu
That is exactly what I found when I first checked out the nook. Amazon is going to kill them because of that reason. Many books I want are NOT even in the B&N eBook store but are available in the Kindle format on Amazon's site. Glad I purchased a Kindle...
Eric,
You are mistaken regarding the pricing I believe. There's several threads over at bn's blog site for nook with proof of many non-Best Sellers being over priced compared to Kindle. A few examples:
Ken Follett's World Without End, Amazon Kindle edition: 9.99, B&N Nook's edition: 17.60
Jared Diamond's Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed, Amazon: 9.40, B&N: 13.6
Descartes' Bones, Amazon $9.99, BN $20.86
Gates of Fire Kindle: $6.39 Nook: $7.99
The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education Kindle: $9.99 Nook: $14.99
Sookie Stackhouse Set Kindle: $29.90 Nook: $51.13
Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood Kindle: $9.99 Nook: $20.80
Kite Runner Kindle: $9.51 Nook: $11.20
The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters Kindle: $9.99 Nook: $9.99
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives Kindle: $9.99 Nook: $12.00
Dune 7.99 at Amazon, 13.6 at B&N
SuperFreakonomics12.95 at Amazon,14.99at B&N
The likeness 9.99 at Amazon, 12at B&N
In the woods 9.99 at Amazon,11.2 at B&N
"Too Big to Fail": B&N 14.99 Kindle 9.99
"D-Day" (Beevor): B&N 14.99 Kindle 9.99
"Ayn Rand & the World She Made": B&N 28.00 Kindle 16.38
"Goddess of the Market": not available as an ebook at B&N, Kindle 9.99]
Generation Kill by Evan Wright: Amazon $10 BN $11.20 [11.2% more + tax]
Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil Amazon $10 BN $15 [50% more + tax]
Too Big To Fail by Andrew Sorkin Amazon $10 BN $15 [50% more + tax]
Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin Amazon $8.42 BN $16.80 [99% more + tax]
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger Amazon $8 BN Not for sale
Nixonland by Rick Perlstein Amazon $11.42 BN $16.79 [47% more + tax]
Fiasco by Thomas E Ricks Amazon $10 BN $12.80 [28% more + tax]
The Soloist by Steve Lopez Amazon $10 BN $20.76 [108% more + tax]
The Stand - B&N $40 / Amazon $7.19
The Shining - B&N $28 / Amazon $6.39
Salem's Lot - B&N $28 / Amazon $6.39
Night Shift - B&N $28 / Amazon $6.39
Carrie - B&N $26 / Amazon $6.39
I can't believe the arguments of Mr Gartenburg.
Price will come down, that is a plain fact of any emerging technology.
Reading on a iPhone or PC is eye straining, maybe it works for a sporadic reader, like yourself, but those platforms are terrible for reading. The eInk is supposed to replicate paper, you have the same issues with a book.
On higher refresh rates, again this is an emerging technology, it will get better, especially now that Nook is providing a great competitive product. There are numerous
My reasons for why e-readers will become popular:
1) in 5 to 10 years, these devices will replace textbooks for students. Who wants to carry around heavy textbooks? Long term cost savings for school districts.
2) Books require lots of space on a shelf, think of the space savings.
3) E-books don't fall apart because of binding glue degrades over time, pages don't tear, your investment will last longer.
4) Classics are available for free (Project Gutenberg), again big cost savings to schools if students were using e-books.
I'm going to say there is a market. One thing that many people forget when they get into these arguments is that the vast majority of people are not computer savvy.
Most people who fit the suburban moms demographic are such. They may own ipods and other devices, but if they like ebooks, they are more likely to want a dedicated device for reading them. Even if you show them that they can read ebooks on the ipod. Or some other highly integrated device they have, it still won't matter.
Actually, if I didn't prefer actual paper over virtual displays and if I didn't have an aversion to buying books when there are so many in a library that I haven't yet read, I'd be on the kindle or some other ebook reader bandwagon. For a couple years, when I was on my big pda kick (had a sony and a tapwave zodiac), I did read lots of ebooks - mostly free ones because I could download pdfs or txts from project gutenberg and read on the pda.
Still, my sthick is free. Suburban moms probably don't have that hangup. Give it about 5 more years before the market needs ebook readers that can also stream their music collection (that's about the time it takes for people who are capable of doing this enter the market).
Don't forget that the eInk display is much easier on the eyes than a backlit LED screen. I can read for hours without getting sore eyes.
One reason my voracious reader of a missus won't get an ereader is that she can't lend the books. She goes to the library often, and has access to a huge range of books on every topic, all for free.
She can cope with the inconvenience of going to the library, as well as the extra hassle of actually having to carry books, because libraries are an amazing resource.
most libraries lend ebooks now in either epub or pdf. with an ereader she wouldnt have to "cope" with going to the library- she could just visit the website and borrow the ebooks.
I'm waiting for the Alex, as it does eReader but is powered by Android and you can view web content. There is so much on the web tp read but it would be nicer on the eyes with e-ink. The Alex seems the best of both worlds to me, if it is ~$250 it would be a fine alternative to a netbook really.
I think this sort of product will inevitably win, if there is a 'war' any Chinese company can easily pair Android and e-ink as well into a variety of devices, and we may actually see that $99 average-mom price point, Wal-Mart style devices soon. If they are Android it means they can become a lot of devices all by themselves, it may be they are the wave of the future with a combo small screen.
What would be really cool would be a 'dumb' screen that lets you paste from a variety of devices so you just use whatever cel phone you like, and 'print' to the screen when you want to read longer content. Some peripheral standard would be cool, just like desktop monitors.
I have an Amazon Kindle 2 and I love it. When the Kindle 1 first came out I got it asap and purchased a lot of books. When the Kindle 2 came out I gave the Kindle 1 to my father-in-law. Since you can have six Kindles on one Amazon account we share all of the books he and I have purchased through my account. Now I have 128 books on my Kindle. Since I have no more physical room for books in my computer/study room getting the Kindle was a no-brainer. Plus it is cheaper buying eBooks than the physical version.
I have looked extensively at what is online regarding the B&N nook. Nice, but no thanks. They do not allow multiple nooks on one B&N account - that right there is a no-go. Also, if you look carefully at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble you will see that Amazon's prices are much cheaper and their selection of eBooks is better than B&N.
Amazon's Kindle may not be perfect, but I will say that it is the most useful IMHO. B&N has a huge problem where the eBooks are MORE expensive than the physical book. Sorry, B&N. Go back to the drawing board. If they'd allow multiple nooks on one account I'd consider getting their product.
I love my new Kindle 2i!!! I've charged it once since I've had it!!! That's a week and it still shows a bit over 3/4 of the battery life left. I keep the wireless turned OFF and turn it on briefly every day to automatically grab what's new for that day and then turn it off. the NOOK with it's second screen and not Eink at that seems like a battery drain to me. My cell phone drives me nuts how fast it drains the battery for hardly being used and only for voice calls. I've compared prices on ebooks and Amazon IS the cheapest with B&N coming in Second, and SONY trailing behind with their crazy prices!!! The book wars have helps with ebook prices. For example 'Under the Doom' by Stephen King is also $9.00 for the Kindle version like the Hardcover version now. Normally it would sell for $9.99 when on the Best Seller List for a new release. There's still the long wait for the ebook version, but I have a lot of other books to read.
A ebook is worth it for all the FREE and low cost books you can also get. It's nice that I can go to Wikipedia and other places for FREE where ever I happen to be in the U.S.!!! My home is small, and if I don't have to have books all over the place, that's a huge plus. The Eink display is nice to read and easy on the eye's, and a cheap book light allows you to read in the dark and with no glare. I don't want it doing a bunch of other things. I want it to be GOOD at what it does. I think a Color display is almost Pointless. The books I read aren't in COLOR other the the book cover, and who cares about that. Is it worth the higher price a Eink display would be? Not really. So you can see Color Comics on the Sunday Newspaper Edition? The Grey scale on the Kindle 2 looks pretty good to me.
I don't like the Sony Ebook readers. The Nook looks Interesting with the non Eink color screen which WILL be a battery drain. It has it pluses to the Kindle, but the Kindle has it's own pluses that the NOOK can't do that I would miss. Again the ebooks at B&N are higher priced in general. Competition is a good thing though. With the Nook announcement, Amazon has already stepped it up. I can't wait to see what's in store for the Kindle 3. The ebook will get you reading again just for the enjoyment.
Another annoying article by a pretentious author. I have an idea for some you can do with that bagel you're so in to...
I did it all for the Nook,
C'mon
The Nook
C'mon
This thing is a turd. When I see someone with an e-book reader (well only one so far), I point and shout "LOSER!". Then those in the area did the same to the e-book fool.
I'm beginning to wonder if you've researched any of this.
Yes, you can have multiple nooks on one account. You can even share subscriptions to newspapers or magazines on two different nooks. The prices are almost exactly the same for every title.
All of this is easily confirmable on the nook.com site and the amazon kindle site. I'm thinking you're just fighting buyer's remorse.
I've e-mailed the idiots at B&N and they still do not answer that question. Specifically, can you have multiple nooks on one account and share all the books on that account like Amazon has with the Kindle? Still, no answer after three different e-mails. They keep dancing around the question.
Show me where you can have multiple nooks on the same account! Even B&N can't even answer that bloody question!
Heres the link that BN says you can have up to 5 nooks and share newspapers/books/etc if they are all on the same account
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Unbound-The-eReading-Blog/Newspapers-Here-s-the-Latest/bc-p/405108#M207
@ Eddie
Thanks for the link. Well all I can see is two nooks. Where does it say five? If it is up to five I may consider it but I doubt it. B&N's eBook pricing is much higher than Amazon in many instances.
# People > # People who can read > # people who *want* to read > # people interested in titles available on e-readers > # people who purchase the half-dozen or so books per year to make a reader worthwhile > # of people who prefer to read on an electronic device instead of an honest to goodness book.
That's just realistically trying to look at who'd be interested in buying one. We're talking a lot of subsets here. I think people who view these as smash hit home runs vastly overestimate how many people are in these subsets.
And that's not to say that e-readers don't have their place or their value. I know people who LOVE their Kindles. That's not the point. They just won't be as ubiquitous as, say, an iPod - but that doesn't mean they won't be successful products in their own way.
he should have added that they need to be in color, for example the kindle dx is marketed to people who want to read textbooks and I myself would buy one, being a student who doesn't like heavy textbooks except for one problem, there not in color. A lot of what is in textbooks is color coated to divide parts and I wouldn't be able to see that. Also there should be a textmarking option in touch screen ones so that People could make notes like you could in a real book
Color eInk is still in its infancy. Be patient, Grasshopper.
important discussion to be having, but asking for a backlight misses the point of e-ink. the high contrast, passive display is much friendlier on the eyes than any backlit screen. When reading a book, not suffering from eye fatigue is an important factor!
One Nook to rule them all.
One Nook to find them.
One Nook to bring them all
and in the bookstore bind them!
Content is king. Always has been. NO reader will become a breakout product until publisher get their act together and support the format. Right now they are acting coy, on pricing and release dates of eBooks. Right now some eBooks cost more than their hardcover or paperback editions of the same title. That's nuts and a huge turnoff to most consumers. Until that changes, and they come up with a universal eformat and reduce the DRM burden eReaders will be nothing more than a fetish product. Publishers are screwing this up in a big way.
Same goes for newspapers. Example: The WSJ is $179 a year on the Kindle while the online site is $103.
I will agree with Nilay on this. These things simply are not ready for general mass market despite the craze to launch an ereader these days.
As stated, they are too expensive and technologically restrictive at this point in time (i.e. No backlighting and poor refresh).
On top of that, it is yet 1 more gadget that only does 1 thing that people have to buy. However, it would make more sense to get a tablet or MS Courier due to the complete nature of the package. By itself, ebooks are not compelling except to the tech happy, tech conscious groups. But would a tablet or Courier compelling even then? I think even those will be niche with the caveat that the Apple tablet will be a breakout success for tablets only because their base will buy it regardless of need or function. So in essence their will be an artificial market for it so you will still see other players having a hard time.
Look at it this way, ebooks are currently a fad with too many linitations, high initial cost and let us remember what happened with a certain company reaching into your device to delete your ebook at their whims and fancy.
As a gadget man, i still favor paperback reading while lighter reading can be done on my smartphone or tablet/laptop. Also it looks acceptable to carry around a book and a laptop/smartphone under one arm while you look like a douche carrying around an ebook, laptop and smartphone.
Why are people so hung up about no backlighting with eInk? I have a Petzl Tikka XP headlamp for reading my Kindle in bed at night. Works for me...
sure it isn't a problem if you have sufficient lighting via lamp or what have you. But limiting the device to such a constraint makes the device even harder to justify. Why would anyone only want to read when there is 'sufficient' light when a book is readable even in semi low light?
For people who keep their houses mood lit at night there isn't sufficient lighting for it. That would mean the ebook is relegated to day use only. And during the day is when most people are too busy to read.
And if i go on vacation or to the beach i know what i would rather bring; my novel not a 150 ebook.
So for now it is very limited. It will change in the future but currently the justification and use case for it are not compelling enough.
First, please please please stop with the tedious sexist crap of Mom == technological illiterate.
Second, for many actual middle aged people, I am regularly surprised not to see the big advantage of e-books mentioned: scalable fonts. True, the display is not yet big enough in most cases to take advantage, but this will make a big difference to people I know. The selection of large print books is narrow and confining, and e-books hold the promise of letting people who used to read for pleasure read again.
"...for many actual middle aged people..."
As opposed to those pretend middle aged people. Pure genius.
Back lighting is a waste. You might as well use a PC then. A Cheap book light is all you need. I can easily see the screen with no glare at all in a completely dark room. With the LED book light I have, it has 2 LED's and I only need one turned on, the battery's in that lasts a long time also. I haven't charged my new Kindle 2i in a week and the battery icon is still over 3/4 full!!! Try that with a Laptop, Net-PC, IPHONE, or anything else! I can pick up my Kindle at any time and start reading right where I left off and not worry about the freeken battery.
I can go on Vacation, the Beach and bring my ebook and easily read it like any normal book, but with one hand, and a drink in the other!!! While also looking up a word easily that I don't know, getting the Daily newspaper, ect. If you can read your normal BOOK in low light, you can ALSO read a Eink display in that SAME low light. There is ZERO difference. That's the whole point. You only need a CHEAP book light in a DARK room.
I wish my iPhone 3GS battery would last as long as my Kindle's battery. :-(
I've read all the entelligence articles, and so far I haven't seen any of the wit and insight only Michael can provide.
ebook readers need to be cheaper? Wow, did you figure that out on you're own? How insightful!
Backlighting? You would rather read a book on a tiny, eye-straining iphone screen than a big dedicated reader that's easy on the eyes? I remember seeing a protective case for one of sony's ebook readers that has a built in booklight. Problem solved.
And the refresh rate is a huge non-issue. You aren't watching a video or scrolling down a web page, you're turning a page on the book, and the refresh rates on current readers are still much faster than turning a page in a real book.
Someone repeatedly commented that nobody would ever even consider reading ebooks on an iPhone, but I do that all the time. I haven't bought a paper book in six months, maybe longer. Sure, you're flipping pages pretty often, but so what? It works. To simply say that it's not possible without trying it is not what I would consider scientific proof.
As to the cost, I built a FileMaker database when I started reading ebooks to keep track of what I had read in the past and wanted to read in the future. It also lets me (semi-) automatically compare Amazon's prices of ebooks vs. paper books. Now that Barnes and Noble is selling ebooks, I added them into the mix.
Here's some data:
I have 55 books in my "to read" list. 25 of those are currently available as an ebook. 6 of those are the same price for both Nook and Kindle. 13 are cheaper on the Kindle, 3 are cheaper on the Nook. 3 books are only on one of the platforms, not both. Another way of putting this is that 19 out of 22 are either the same price or cheaper on the Kindle. Also, sometimes they're shockingly more expensive on the Nook. Most of them are close, within a couple of dollars, but 6 on my list that cost $10 to $14 on the Kindle are $20 or more on the Nook, and some of those are double the cost or more.
So in my somewhat limited sample, Kindle books are almost always cheaper than Nook books.
One factor is that the Nook is brand new. Six months from now, the prices may equalize. They'll have to, I think, if they want to stay in the business. Or maybe they'll have a price war and the prices will come down for both. Also, one of the things I've noticed since I've been keeping track in the database is that the ebook prices change fairly often. Mostly they go down, but I've also seen them go up as well. Sometimes I feel like I'm following the stock market when I check the ebook prices.
All in all I've been pretty happy reading Kindle ebooks on my iPhone. They're occasionally a dollar or two more than a paper book but not always (which is why my simple book list turned into an interactive database). One benefit is that since they're on my phone they're always with me. I occasionally forget a paper book, but I never forget my phone. Another benefit is that I can read an ebook in the dark. Downsides? I can't lend a great book to my daughter when I finish it. Also, as @gruber has said several times, he can keep reading his paper book, and chuckle about it, while the plane is landing, but I have to shut off my phone. Possibly the largest advantage of ebooks? No piles of books around the house!
Okay, I see the "Why not read on your iPhone?" comment so often in these discussions, and no one brings up why this won't work for me (and probably many other people over the age of 40): My eyes just aren't that good! Bumping up the font size enough to make it comfortable for me to read on an iPhone-size screen would allow for three or four word lines tops. When you read your eyes continually scan taking in chunks of words at a time (you don't just read one word and move onto the next). With so few words on a line this breaks down and your reading pace slows markedly. I've tried reading on an iPhone and find it a singularly unpleasant experience. For those of you under 40, or the fortunate above 40 with perfect eyesight, this may work, but for *many* of us it is a total non-starter.
The best thing about your article is that it brings up questions that have already been answered by the iPhone. On Launch the iPhone was $599.00, that didn't stop the iPhone from becoming a whooping success. Second, the lack of backlighting can easily be fixed by a small book light, or remote light switch, like the kind I have at home. Thirdly, sure the page turning is annoying now, I suspect will be improved just as the iPhone's camera, GPS, and other system software improved over time. None of the issues you raised will stop eReaders from being huge. Especially in the college/education market where kids now carry 50 lbs backpacks.
What's up with all the e-reader hating?
E-readers have the potential to revolutionize reading, in general. Sure, the functionality is not yet fantastic: the refresh rates are slow, and you sometimes have to pay a premium for the ability to open a PDF file; but this is a device that is intended to mimick a book, not a laptop. I don't WANT to browse the Internet or watch a movie on my book.
I'm in grad school, and I have a ton of books that I lug around every day. If these readers become mainstream, publishers will distribute electronic versions of their textbooks, and my backpack will be 30 lbs lighter!
Also... sure, I can read ebooks on my ipod touch, but have you people ever done this? After 5 minutes of reading, the muscles in my eyes become fatigued, and I pay more attention to throwing my eyes to the left and the right than I do to absorbing the material.
I desperately want an e-reader. The only reason I don't have one is because I can't even come close to affording it. That's the only thing that is keeping e-readers from becoming mainstream (at least in colleges). If Amazon and B&N knew what was good for them, they would sell these things at a loss because the inevitable, drastic increase in sales would offset the money lost in the device, with a huge net profit on the top.
amazon doesnt make any money on the kindle- they make it by locking you in to buying from them.
The other thing is that eReaders will track similarly to cell phones where a household has multiple cell phones for each member of the family. Believeme eReaders will be huge!!!
http://eReaderQuestions.com
This might be irrelevant, but...
If the author was referring to certain latin works that begin with "De" in his title (De Officiis, De Amicitia, etc...), then he should have started it out "On..." or "About..." as "De" in latin does not mean of, as in spanish or other modern languages, it means on or about.
I keep trying to get my mom to buy one, but it's definitely a no-go. Stubborn and convinced that the internet is a fad... go figure.
Sorry Engadget. After watching Josh wear those way too tight hipster jeans and blunder his interview with Balmer (way to lead a guest and be generally juvenile), I'm not taking anything you have to say about the Nook seriously.
I just have to disagree with Gartenberg. The single biggest reason to buy an e-book reading device is e-ink. It's just something no device can possibly hope to compete with. Sure you can read on your iPhone. You can read on you laptop, or even the mythical Apple tablet.
But the reading experience will never be the same as reading on an ebook reader and that's that.
But as for now, ebook readers have a long way to go before becoming mainstream. I think these are what ebook readers need, and soon:
1. The first thing we need are color screens. While black and white is fine for novels and documents, to really break into the market and start selling, manufacturers are going to need color - that's when it'll begin to look interesting for students.
2. Price - right now readers are just too expensive for the majority of people to invest in. The only reason I have one even at 250 dollars is because I save money buying the 70-80 books I read every year as ebooks instead of the physical form.
3. Refresh rates - TheManTheyCallJayne says refresh rates aren't an issue, but I think they are, especially if I'm going to use the ereader for textbooks. The biggest advantage of a physical textbook is the ability of flip around it easily, and that's not yet there with the slow refresh rates of current ereaders. While it's okay for reading fiction, I just don't see myself doing that when I'm studying special relativity on my physics book.
4. Universal Formats ? - While the fiction world is gravitating towards epub as the mainstream format, the textbook market is woefully complicated. At last count, I saw 12 formats for
etextbooks and if the situation stays that way, I really don't see students getting all eager to start buying.
5. Ease of use -as simple as using e reading devices is becoming, it's still pretty complicated especially when it comes converting to different formats and DRM. Using ebooks has to get much more easier before anything that happen.
I guess that's what I'm looking for. Man, am I long-winded or what?
i agree with this article. i think they need to be a lot cheaper and do one thing and one thing WELL. They shouldnt have multiple uses that works pretty well.
also in the second paragraph you said "cameras have not been displaced by music phones," i think you meant camera phones....
The Kindle succeeds because most people who shop on Amazon are comfortable with the web. Barnes and Noble does not understand the internet and does not get its market -it's the people who like to hang out and shop for books and walk out with them in their hands. B&N shoppers, I think, generally distrusts the internet. There will be a small amount of people who will buy the Nook based on looks, but in the long run, the market and the future is with Amazon.
I don't think lighting is an issue. People who have been reading print books have been solving this problem for hundreds of years using these things we call "lamps" and more recently with "Book lights". Seriously. This is not a new or unique problem, and it's already solved. What I think the next generation of these devices needs is a built in light. Not a back light, but a light which easily covers the screen with enough light to read. Adding an LED or two would be a perfect solution. (I'm personally not a fan of the flip-over "light shield", it adds another layer of material to look through)
The page refresh is not nearly as bad as many think. It feels long when you're looking at someone else's reader. Once you've sat down and read with one yourself though, the screen changes are nearly invisible. You just don't pay attention to them anymore because you're reading.
The biggest problem (IMO) facing the industry right now is the treatment of ebooks as similar to print books. Publishers need to recognize that an ebook costs significantly less than a printed book and has many advantages that a printed book does not. It's less to produce, distribute, sell, and the secondary market is entirely different. The industry needs to adjust itself to these realities and start selling books at prices in the low single-digits. The profit margin on an eBook is almost always higher than on a printed book, and that can be a relative margin, rather than a direct margin.
If Barnes and Noble plasters their stores with Signs that say "Get this as an ebook on your nook for $3.00" where the hardback sells for $15.00, the ebook industry will push forward in ways the world can hardly imagine right now.