Comments on: Sony Reader knocked in Computerworld column

By: LC

LC — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 19:03:11 +0000

If Amazon really wants to suck the rest of the business from Sony, through Mobipocket they should go the Napster route. Not the pirate Napster, but the current one. Subscription service where you can load the device up with as many books as you want under a flat monthly fee. Cancel the subscription and the books no longer work.

Of course they would still sell books that you would own (unfortunately DRM’d), but I have had books I wanted to keep and others that I wound up giving away because I knew I would never read them again.

If they could work this out with publishers I would certainly sell my Iliad and buy an Amazon reader (Hopefully a more stylish one than that 80′s throwback).

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:59:38 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts, Ryan. Although David Haskin is down on e-books right now, his opinions are worth quoting. I myself feel that e-book will be under a burden for now, given the DRM and Tower of eBabel issues, not to mention the ergonomic ones. Beyond that, he makes sense about the Reader vs. the expected rival from Amazon:

“And Amazon would have several advantages, such as its relationships with publishers and its already well-established distribution channel.”

Translation: Sony’s 10,000 books won’t cut just it against all the books that Amazon can put in the pipeline. What’s more, I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon started a price war—involving both the books and the Reader.

Thanks,
David

By: ryanramseyer

ryanramseyer — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:24:41 +0000

The problem is, David, that his ultimate conclusion is that E-books, generally, will likely not succeed.

“E-books are an old idea that has been tried numerous times by many vendors, including Franklin and Palm. So far, the idea has met with indifference from consumers, and it’s hard to see why Sony will succeed this time.”