The main pro of the Kindle is the Amazon bookstore and this is why, imo, they are resisting epub. It would essentially allow other Reader users to take advantage of their store without having to buy the kindle. They seem to be acting out of fear at the moment. I would like to think Amazon would get the message that increasing the ebook market would have a net benefit to them and they would certainly sell a lot more books but companies rarely take this line when they can follow a proprietary option. The only reason i think Sony supports epub is because they see the Kindle as a real challenge.

BTW, lots of bookshops outside the US are starting to display and demo Sony ereaders.. this includes places like Dubai as well as UK

The first was the fact that Whispernet has limited availability in Alaska (where I live). From what I’ve seen in all of the “which is better” discussions around the web, the wireless connectivity of the Kindle is one of major features that people seem to point to when declaring the Kindle champ. Seeing as it won’t work well — or at all — where I live, that made it a non-feature for me.

Another issue (though I admit this will sound superficial) was the color of the device. I just can’t use a white gadget. I never even owned an Ipod until the original black Nano arrived. I work outside all day and though I end up washing my hands too many times to count, 2 times out of 5 when I reach for a “gadget” my hands are probably a little grimy. I just couldn’t imagine that pristine Kindle getting filthy. Sure I know I can get countless covers and screen protectors and ‘armor’, having a device be dark right out of the box is admittedly a selling point for me.

The final point in Sony’s favor was the simple fact that I already had quite a few PDF book files. Dozens more just in the past 6 months or so, from the TOR email list. Knowing I could instantly slap those onto the eReader right out of the box really was the last thing I needed to know before ordering. I have to say I’ve been a very happy owner since — though I am jealous of the Kindle Book Store I have to admit.

1. Yes, the length of time on the market counts–that’s an excellent point–but I suspect that early Reader sales were not that big in the stats. What’s more, Sony has achieved these numbers without wireless. Just wait until it gets wireless and makes wireless arrangements with a bunch of indie stores.

2. We were taking about hardware, not books, though even in that respect Sony could be competitive in the future through its wireless partners. I don’t know the rev split if any. But if nothing else, that should make the Sony hardware more attractive compared to the Kindle than it would be otherwise.

3. As for ePub, I doubt that many of the 200,000 titles are in that format yet. That’ll change. But if that happens, and if the Kindle can’t easily read ePub, DRMed or otherwise, Amazon will suffer. If ePub becomes a true MP3 equivalent, rivals can just pick up the ePub, while Amazon will have to mess with conversions. What do you think? Long term, Amazon’s insane obstinacy about native ePub for the Kindle could hurt its bottom line (caveat: I’ll assume that the current Kindle hardware can do justice to ePub with slight tweaks; maybe not). Significantly, eReader will sprout ePub capabilities in the near future.

Thanks,
David

Maybe…possibly…probably?

Wasn’t Sony’s ereader on the market two years before the Kindle?

Is comparing three years of Sony hardware sales to one year of Kindle hardware sales an apt comparison?

Care to wager who has sold more individual ebooks?

I doubt that “technical bungling” has anything to do with amazon/epub. What format does amazon receive from the publisher the titles they ultimately convert to Kindle format? Care to wager that at least some of those titles are delivered to amazon in epub format?

Interesting speculation on Kindle formatting. Something to consider–many, perhaps most, of the books available for Kindle were submitted through the Mobipocket system. So, Amazon gets them in Mobipocket format. Unless they went back to the publishers, they’d have to convert from Mobi.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

N.F.W.

I still think less than 100,000 and I’m sticking to that. And I’m being *very* generous too.

It would be nice if we didn’t have these “format” wars in the eBook industry. The concept is too new to chase people away with proprietary, hardware-specific formats. I want to be able to read any ebook on my Kindle, not just those converted to an Amazon format.

It’s the same with apple, i mean reading tech news and blogs and ignoring sales stats you might be forget that dell still sells more laptops them apple.

starbucks is the exact same thing btw, it’s more that sometimes the press reports more from the subculture it shares with part of the blogosphere then the actual whole of society.

In the ebook world you need to remember that the total for commercial ebooks would ranks at maybe 5% of Project gutenbergs downloads, or maybe about half the revenue of a local newspaper’s website.

But that aside, there’s certainly no denying that Fictionwise is really in a good position to benefit from the iPhone/iPod platform’s popularity. For publishers wanting to sell encrypted books to iPhone owners, and iPhone owners wanting to buy books from encrypting publishers, they’re the only game in town.

And the longer Amazon waits to let Mobi release their iPhone client so that people can buy encrypted books from other e-tailers like Mobipocket.com, the better off Fictionwise will be. Hm, maybe I should stop hoping they’ll get off their butts and release it after all.