Kindle News: Sun-shade for iPad/LCD, Amazon net income, accessories for new Kindles, Kindle Fire: "Millions more" built + good video of demo

COVERS FOR LATEST KINDLES

I saw the "Snugg Amazon Kindle Fire leather case and flip stand w/ elastic hand strap and Premium Nubuck Fibre Interior, high quality" case in a press release today.  It stated a normal price of $39.99, with a"Sale" price of $29.99 currently and will be released on November 15, the same date as the Kindle Fire tablet/reader itself.
  I'm partial to flipstands, but I wish this didn't have that stitching showing.  The product is not eligible for Prime.

Here's Amazon's entire assortment of covers for the Kindlefire.

Update: - See the later article on less-expensive covers also.


These are two more unusual covers I've seen and are for the Kindle Basic (NonTouch) and the Kindle Touch.  The first one is the New "York Times cover" ("View from Riverhouse") and the second one is the "Verso Prologue" cover.  Click on the images to

Here are the covers Amazon has for the new e-Ink Kindles.

Click on the images for more info at the product pages for those.

The most useful bookmark for these is the page for all accessories for each Kindle model.

 Note that although the Kindle Touch is a bit larger than the Kindle Basic (NonTouch), cover makers are making covers that will work for both units.


A good Kindle Fire demo on video
Richard B. Drake at the Amazon Kindle forums recommended a YouTube video'd demo of the Kindle Fire, saying it's the best demo he's seen so far.  It's the best one I've seen also.
  To Kindle-Edition subscribers: The video link for use on your computers is: bit.ly/kindlefirevideo.


A Kindle Confession
I got a kick out of this news story by Pat Snyder for Columbus Local News when I spotted the opening paragraph:

' This is hard to admit in pubic, but I'm finally coming out.

After telling my book club, my children, and the English major in me that real books are better, I've been sneaking around with a Kindle. '

  It goes on to describe the realities of public library lending, so if you have time, read the full article at the link.


"iPad to Kindle: ‘Move Over. You’re in My Sun"
Gadgets Technology features iclipstore.com's iclipse sunshade for iPad ! which is for shading the LCD screen from the sun, "solving the outdoor readability issue."

  I wonder if they or someone will make one for the Fire and other smaller LCD screens.  It's something extra to carry around (flat, they say, and doesn't need to be attached to the tablet) but will mean the difference, sometimes, with whether or not you can view or, especially, read the screen outdoors.


Amazon's lower profits in the 4th Quarter
I mentioned the other day that profits would 'dip' for this quarter and they certainly did, as reported by betanews.com -- a big increase in sales (39% increase over same qtr last year) and a decline in net income, which was down 73% year over year.  Shareholder reactions were as expected.  But Amazon finished the quarter with $2.8 billion in cash -- quite a bit over the same quarter last year, which closed out with $1.5 billion.

"Shareholders reacted poorly to the earnings report, driving down Amazon shares by 15 percent in after-hours trading."

  However, a really excellent article on Jeff Bezos by SUCCESS Magazine's John H. Ostdick, that I meant to post earlier, reminded readers of another period in which long-term growth was Amazon's focus rather than short-term gains.

  The familiar story of Amazon's beginnings with a "book beta test among friends" in a garage/basement in 1994 to a TIME magazine "Person of the Year" cover in 1999, involved an initial business plan that "projected that it would not show a profit for four to five years, and bottom-line anxiety created the first cadre of outside doomsayers Amazon would encounter."

Kindle sales in September after the new Kindles announcement
Expenses for the 4th quarter included development of new technologies - e-Ink Touch Kindles, Kindle Fire, the Amazon Cloud, etc., and now, Amazon needing to build "millions more" Kindle Fire units than originally planned.

 Other related costs are the building of many warehouses and hiring of thousands of new employees all over the country and abroad to handle the growing business, but here's what Bezos said about September:

' September 28th was the biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days," Bezos said in a statement today.  "In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch.  And based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned.” '

Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Kindle app for iPad - it's June 30. Hulu has removed its "Buy" button

The Bookseller has reported that while the world (well, the interested-world) wonders what Amazon and B&N will do about its e-reader apps for iPad and other Apple devices, it is now June 30, and the last day that Apple has indicated it wants "compliance with Apple's strict new rules for in-app payment and subscription links."

Apple has said that e-reader Apps are expected to remove from the app any Buy buttons that link to an external store via a web browser, as Kindle for iPad does. Otherwise, Apple wants an option programmed in to buy it in-App from Apple, which would be easier for iPad customers.

Apple rep Trudy Muller had explained, February 1, re Apple's rejection of the Sony e-reader app:

' "We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines," Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told Ars. "We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase." '

  It's been assumed that Apple's demand would be a 30% cut, which would mean 100% of the Amazon or B&N share of any Big6 publisher book.  However, in connection with that percentage, the only quotes of 30% from an Apple rep were from Steve Jobs during the Subscriptions announcement and then Apple's Internet Services boss Eddy Cue, who said that the announcement applied only to Subscriptions.

  While then it could be possible that Amazon and B&N might agree on something more like 3-5% in order to have a Buy button that would allow iPad owners the option to buy from Apple, it's also possible they wouldn't go for paying Apple whatever fee might be asked, since Apple benefits as much as the other bookstores from having those books readable on its own device and has used that availability in its marketing.  Since iBooks can be read only on Apple devices, the iPad could definitely look less appealing to prospective book-loving buyers, especially those who shop a lot at Amazon and B&N.

  In the meantime, the bookstores could just decide to make their Apple apps read-only and not try to sell books from the Apple apps, since just who does not know how to get to Amazon or B&N these days?

  I had said that Amazon should be able to add wording that the book could be found at their website and do an UN-linked URL to Amazon on the page.

  CNNMoney has an interesting quote from Richard Stephenson of YUDU Media, which has developed mobile apps for magazines including Reader's Digest, who goes further.

' [Stephenson] says he's "pretty certain" that Apple wouldn't block a link that simply says "visit our website."

  "[The problem] is really when you say, 'buy subscriptions from us direct' and there is a clear button to click," Stephenson said in an e-mail to Fortune. "If it's 'visit our website,' then [Apple] will not be able nor wish to block that." '

CNNMoney adds that "Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said he could confirm only that the App Store terms were recently updated, and wouldn't comment on specific apps or whether a "visit our website" link would be blocked."

  Maybe the online bookstores are sending Apple updated apps that are rejected :-).  Those bookstore apps will be on every tablet EXCEPT Apple if apple makes the wrong decision.  Guess who would lose there.

  In the meantime, CNNMoney said yesterday that:

' Hulu updated its iPad app last week to remove a link to its website. The app's opening screen used to feature the line: "Not a Hulu Plus subscriber?  Visit hulu.com/plus to learn more and sign up."  That line -- and the website link -- are now gone, bringing Hulu into compliance with Apple's rules. '

That's a bit of an indication that a linked "Visit us" may not be acceptable :-)

CNN Money's Julianne Pepitone points out that "...digital booksellers rely on customers buying a steady stream of new e-books to read.  Removing all links from within their apps to make new purchases is pretty user-unfriendly."

Maybe they'll compromise on a small fee.  Apple may actually admit to themselves that iPad sales (and retention) will benefit from certain other bookstore books being readable on their devices, since that's been touted as a feature.

 We should know by tomorrow, I imagine.  I'd think the simplest solution, to keep peace in the bookstore universe, would be for everyone to be on a no-Buy button but I suppose if the price is right we could see one.

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For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW:  Apr  May  June 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite

ZDNet's Jason Perlow goes Kindle

March 2010
ZDNet's Jason Perlow, over a year ago (March 23, 2010), announced the burial of the Kindle during 2010, the article headed by a large image of a tombstone for the 'Amazon Kindle 2007-2010,' and said that April 3, 2010 (the Advent of the iPad) would "mark the beginning of the end for Amazon's great hardware experiment -- the Kindle."

And, Perlow felt last year that if the Kindle and Nook apps for iPad would continue to be viable, "...then by all means, put a fork in the dedicated e-book readers, they’re done."

August 2010
In August 2010, the Kindle 3 was released, and that changed things quite a bit.  As others had predicted, the iPad and e-Ink readers were complementary, too different in their features to be compared, with any idea that one would 'kill' the market for the other).

May 2011
But give Perlow credit.  Today he wrote a column titled, "Why I finally joined the Amazon Kindle bandwagon"

It's a somewhat tortured piece, explaining that he just thought it was too high-priced, too closed a system (though he'd mentioned the existing Kindle and Nook apps ready for the Ipad) and then adds today that he's "still a firm believer" that:

' "dedicated e-readers will one day go the way of the dodo bird — extinct.  And I’m sure the future of the Kindle brand itself is almost certainly going to be in the form of a tablet computer running on the Android platform."

Translation: "I was right but my timeline was off."

Why do I say that?  He and his wife have bought two Kindle 3's for their vacation :-)

 Why?  Because Kindles are not LCD tablets! :-) They have an iPad but a dedicated e-Ink reader will meet their other needs.

  He adds that he was right in predicting that e-reader prices would drop.  That was a common prediction;  we're talking Electronics!

  The reason they've bought Kindles?  The same reason that so many have chosen it (or the Nook, Sony, Kobo) while also buying tablets.  It's far easier to read in bright daylight.  And I guess that catchy pool ad got to him (I'm just teasing here.)  What Perlow doesn't mention is that the Kindles are far lighter, easier to carry in a purse or pocket, and easier to hold for long periods of time, when you just want to read books.

  I'm puzzled because he states that he firmly believes the Kindle will eventually be a tablet and to explain this belief, he links us to all the recent news stories about the Android tablets. WELL, they're just like iPads in basic features and readability, and yet he's buying two Kindles. :-)

In time, all our current gadgets/toys will be discarded for 'better' ones.  That's a very safe bet.  (I'm hoping for a vivid-color e-paper type screen that's as fast as an LCD one or a somehow-light dual screen solution someday.)

In the meantime, congratulations are in order.  He didn't have to write a column saying he bought them, since he could have just been doing research.  Hoping they do enjoy them.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

NYT: Amazon tablet? Attorneys: Kindle or tablet? Amazon #1 best-value brand

"The Kindle Is An iPad Accessory" ?

 That's part of the catchy headline in Business Insider's story written by Dan Frommer and carried in the San Francisco Chronicle this week: "The Kindle Is An iPad Accessory, And That's Why It's Still Going To Be Huge " (Thanks to KindleToday for the first report I saw.)  I love the photo (at left) that Business Insider used.

  Frommer's take is that "The Kindle is capable on its own, and many will use it that way.  But the Kindle is now inexpensive enough (and getting cheaper), and light and compact enough, that it's reasonable to consider it an accessory to an iPad, or other larger, heavier tablet.  Or even as a larger accessory to a smartphone."

  Also, his main point in this whimsical piece is that the tablet market will be "bigger and more mainstream" than the dedicated-ereader market, and Amazon, he says, is smart to offer Kindle e-books apps on every tablet and smartphone platform.

  He suggests people with roomy bags can carry both a tablet and a Kindle.  The usual positives are listed:  the Kindle's screen in sunlight, the long battery life,  free 3G access, lower cost, and he doesn't see why people can't be using the Kindle  (UK: K3) to read while one of the tablet features (video, email, music) is otherwise entertaining you on a larger, LCD device.  But many prize quiet, relaxed reading time too.

  In the UK, Carphone Warehouse amd Best Buy will begin giving Kindles away for free "as accessories" (his concept) to customers buying new phones and signing long-term mobile contracts.

  In a survey of those waiting in line to get an iPad on its release-date (the day of the Japan earthquake -- and it was strange to watch the intense focus on Japan's set of horrors juxtaposed with the feverish focus on the new gizmo here), Piper Jaffrey found that about 24% of those interviewed in line owned a Kindle.

NYT:  "Is Amazon working on an Android tablet?"
That's a question from the NYTimes's Nick Bilton and his creative illustration) for the NY Times at the right.

  Well, Computerworld's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, in November 2010, mentioned that Amazon sources were telling him they -will- produce an Android tablet.

  To get one working really well, it should take a while since the new (color) Android tablets present problems to some degree (the operating system programmed FOR Android tablets is new).  But if they did it, it would be not a Kindle but a different type of device that supplements the Kindle and of course would cost more.

Bilton points us to Amazon's Lab126 website and its newest job listings which include more Android developer openings.  These could be, though, he says, for software development for other Android devices.  Who knows?  They did buy Touchco, the touchscreen maker with some advanced capabilities some time ago.
  I bought a NookColor for color magazine, color-photography books, and portable color web-browsing, but I read regular books on the more relaxing text screen of the Kindle because I don't get eye fatigue from that the way I do with even a very good LCD screen.

  I would be surprised if Amazon was not working on a tablet but it would have to be an especially good one, at this point, and we've seen it's not easy yet to produce an Android tablet without some downsides.

Amazon named as 'world's best-value brand'
TechRadar.com's Internet News section has a story by Marc Chacksfield on Amazon having been named "world's best-value brand", beating Microsoft and eBay to the top spot, per a study by Millward Brown, a research agency that specialises in advertising and marketing communications.  It tops both the global and UK lists.  How does that affect us?  Not much, except it indicates an emphasis on offering value and probably quality.

 TechRadar is in the UK and announced also that the Kindle will be sold at both Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse there - available in about 400 stores.

LAW.COM - "Tablet or E-Book Reader?  It Depends"
John Edwards (no, not that one) writes about the difficulty some attorneys are having in deciding whether to get a tablet or an e-reader.

The sub-headline is, "If all you want to do is read books and documents, an e-book reader can be a cheaper and more convenient alternative to a tablet computer."
  I'll quote below the comparisons some attorneys made while considering the options:

' Like a growing number of attorneys looking for a way to conveniently access books and documents anytime, anywhere, Charles Naylor faced a choice:  buying a tablet computer or an e-book reader.

Naylor, a maritime industry personal injury lawyer in San Pedro, Calif., opted for a reader, an Amazon Kindle.  He says he doesn't regret his decision. "I have a laptop and a smartphone, and a tablet just seemed like more technology than I needed," he says. "My reader acts like a book and feels like a book."  Naylor appreciates his Kindle's lower cost, smaller size, lighter weight, and extra-long battery life. "It does what I need it to do," he says.

While some mobile technology experts expect that tablets will eventually dominate the e-book market, others -- pointing to users like Naylor -- predict that smaller and cheaper readers will continue to appeal to knowledge-hungry users who don't need a tablet's sophisticated information management and media capabilities. '

They look at Size and Weight; Usability and Convenience; Readability; Wireless Support; Battery life; Document Compatibility [Read the section there]; Cost; and Security.

Also, Edwards points out that while the Kindle screen is more readable in bright sunlight (or by windows), shiny LCD screens -- unless positioned just so -- "are also vicious light reflectors" and annoying under those conditions.  An LCD screen will be better indoors and in low-light ocnditions..

' "When I first got my Kindle, I was switching over to this job and there were some materials about our products I wanted to read," recalls Elle Byram, corporate counsel for ZL Technologies, a San Jose, Calif., company that provides e-mail and file archiving software for compliance, litigation support, corporate governance, and storage applications. "I didn't want to have to lug around a ton of papers, so I figured I could send them to the Kindle in PDF form." While Byram could use a tablet, she feels that her Kindle is easier to carry, less complicated to use, and costs less. "It's just better suited for what I want it to do," she says.
. . .
Katharine M. Nohr, a sports risk management attorney in Kaneohe, Hawaii, says that E Ink's superior readability led her toward a Kindle. "I use a computer much of the day; my eyes need a break," she says. "However, reading a Kindle is similar to reading a book." '

Under Cost, Edwards mentions, "A reader's lower cost makes it more practical and less financially painful to distribute the devices to colleagues and staff members involved in various types of research."

I was surprised that the cases described were heavily weighted toward the Kindle, but it may be that since attorneys focus most of all on words and not usually on heavy use of graphics, this makes snese.  The lightness of the device and the clarity of e-Ink seem to be quite a draw.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Interview w/ Amazon Kindle-Content head + How many millions of Kindles?

INTERVIEW WITH AMAZON'S RUSS GRANDINETTI

The Los Angeles Times' Alex Pham gets some interesting responses from Russ Grandinetti, who is in charge of content for the Kindle  (UK: K3).

  After pointing out that Amazon currently controls 76% of the U.S. digital books market, Pham gives a brief history of the tensions between the publishing industry and Amazon's efforts to keep bestselling book prices lower, with a $9.99 or less standard that "infuriated a number of established publishers, who feared that digital sales would undercut the lucrative hardcover market."

  Yes, think "The Big5" who did admit to fears that selling e-books at that price would 'devalue' their books, meaning their hardcover books.

  Here are some excerpts:

' ...And its promise in October to give authors who self-publish through its Kindle store a 70% royalty rate, far greater than the 25% in a standard publishing contract, spread fear and loathing throughout New York's publishing houses.

Some folks are irked that they can't easily transfer digital books they bought elsewhere into their Kindles.  Why did you choose a proprietary technology?

We chose a format that we felt would give us better performance and superior ease of use.  It's the reason why the Kindle has faster page turns than some of the other devices.  Because we control our own standard, we can develop applications that let customers read Kindle books on the iPhone, Android tablet, iPad, BlackBerrys and PC.
. . .

Publishers kicked up quite a fuss about digital book prices being too low. Can you actually grow the overall business by shrinking prices?

We think digital books should cost somewhat less than their print counterparts. When we controlled the pricing, we built the business around $9.99.  A small group of publishers have taken control of their pricing, and they've raised the prices.  It's not surprising that publishers who are raising prices are losing market share relative to publishers who decided to keep prices low.  Customers aren't stupid.  Ultimately, the market will drive prices.


Aren't you losing money by paying publishers 50% of the cover price for a $25 hardcover and selling it for $9.99?

Taking a loss on bestselling books is different than taking a loss on your overall book business.  We may lose money on bestsellers, but across the breadth of our catalog, we run a profitable, sustainable book business.


Do publishers now see you as a rival rather than a customer because of your self-publishing business?

We think the efficiencies of selling digital books should not only accrue to publishers but should also accrue to authors.  That means that the middlemen standing between authors and readers need to get more efficient, and they need to pass those savings along.  The 70% [royalty] rate we offer is a way to pass those efficiencies along. '

I left out quite a bit, of course, so be sure to read the full interview.


HOW MANY MILLIONS DID HARRY POTTER'S FINAL BOOK SELL?
For those looking for figures, Amazon insiders had already whispered, to Bloomberg last week, Kindle-device sales of 8 million by end of 2010.   The Daily Planet Dispatch's Martha Astbury and, it seems, every other newspaper, quoted the Amazon press release on the Kindle 3 having passed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as Amazon's bestselling product of all time.

What would that mean?  Astbury points out that Amazon sold 2.5 million copies of that final book in the series (in its debut quarter, per MSNBC) when it was released in mid 2007, three years ago, "and it's safe to asusme they've sold quite a few since then."

Columnists have been trying to explain for weeks why, early this year, their dire predictions of the Kindle's death by iPad by end of 2010 were so wrong.

 The most curious one was by Nick Bilton of the New York Times, who outdid himself by yet again not getting it in that he "admits" that he was "wrong" and then lists a number of reasons why the Kindle is so popular with others (despite his own value system), BUT he doesn't even begin to mention the primary reason - the e-Ink technology that makes it SO EASY on the eyes relative to reading a long-form novel on an LCD screen.

  There ARE people whose eyes need a lot of contrast, and dark gray (or black in the Kindle 3) on light gray may not work for them.  But in reading the NookColor forum, I was amused to see people saying that they can read books just fine by choosing a color scheme that turns the white background to gray.  It does help not to have bright white coming at your eyes and I always turn down the background on my computer screens and my NookColor.

  Back to reading novels -- A novel involves serial, long-session reading of one word after another with no relief from web-browsing's shifting of eyes from this to that area or object.  On an LCD screen which is more or less, for some, like having a dimmed flashlight beaming into your eyes, long-form reading can be a bit fatiguing.  There are those who don't mind it.

  Younger eyes may have less trouble, but an e-reader that mimics the experience of seeing light on a paper book rather than into your eyes has been a real attraction for literally millions now.  There are countless posts on forums about how new Kindle-3 owners felt the words they saw upon unboxing their new e-reader were printed in boldface on something that should be peeled off the screen, only to find out that WAS the screen display.

 Instead, as usual with many tech columnists (gadgeteers by profession) who cannot imagine anyone valuing JUST reading rather than forever surfing, checking email, and watching movies, he cites only that it's lightweight, easy to use, "and most importantly, inexpensive."

Well, of course -- isn't that why all the $99 and other cheap tablets on the market are doing SO WELL? Because they're inexpensive? No, he again misses the point and doubles up on his wrongheadedness by ending with more advice to Amazon that the Kindle will have to get yet cheaper to stay viable -- because he can't imagine that a device just for reading books (primarily) could possibly be of much value to people when positioned against LCD tablets (as he does again).

Granted, if something like Notion Ink's Adam actually makes it to production, with a capability of paper-like display and LCD color in one package, then Amazon will need to adjust its focus, but that's just normal business development.

  Astbury (or her source columnist at MSNBC) gets it though.   She explains:

' Many of the new customers for the e-book readers already have tablets and love them for their touchscreens, their color and their multimedia uses, such as web browsing, movies and games.

But they still like to have a light-weight device they can use exclusively for reading, which doesn’t use up batteries as fast, and uses e-ink technology, rather than colored pixels, which forms a better image for reading... '

  I'm enjoying my NookColor for magazines and the web (WiFi only), but when I leave the house I take the Kindle, as it has free cellular 3G access, is easier to read in daylight (by far), is better for newspaper and book reading, and is very light.  The cost of it has nothing to do with why I choose it as the e-reader that's always with me.  It just provides more of what I personally like, but the NookColor is a great secondary reader despite many quirks which I've already mentioned in a past blog article.  One unusual item for other NookColor users to watch is a charger vulnerability that has 4 reports there.

Ah, it figures.  EWeek has two opposing columns on the Kindle-sales story: one that gives 10 reasons why Kindle sales keep growing, with people who want e-readers, and will continue to do so in 2011 and another column that "explains" that Bezos' statements about the happy co-existence of iPad and Kindle is probably due to his "anxiety" over the "looming threat of the iPad."


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Survey shows misunderstanding of iPad's place in e-reader market

The subject title of this piece belongs to TechGear's Tim Conneally, who is one of the very few writers who seem to have noticed the glaring flaw in the basic premise of the survey by ChangeWave Research which asked consumers which "e-readers" they were likely going to buy this holiday and presented them with the choices of the iPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony, A Smart, and "Other."

  The survey conclusions were regurgitated without any analysis by about 95% of the news stories on the first day.

  The iPad is the portable equvalent of a small computer that runs multimedia apps, and only secondarily is it used for reading e-books.  Has anyone ever expected that it would sell less than a dedicated e-reader which is by design a niche product?

  Never mind that although it was roundly predicted that the Kindle  (UK: K3) would be 'killed' or even entombed by the iPad (or, earlier, by the Nook) by the end of 2010, the Kindle is an item for which demand is so great since April that columnists often mention the error of those predictions and the now-obvious happy co-existence of the two types of very popular gadgets.

  Add that the consumers surveyed include those who would have little interest particularly in getting an e-reader and are drawn to the web-surfing, video, and games features of the iPad (per just about every other survey I've seen, most put the e-reading feature last).

 In other words, does any serious survey pit two entirely different types of gadgets against each other and declare a 'loss' for the one that offers one finely tuned capability at considerably less cost for those wanting that one capability?

  The basic question (as asked in this survey) of what "e-reader" a person might be interested in buying assumes that each participant is actually looking for an e-reader rather than showing an interest if asked -- though many will certainly be interested in an all-in-one.  Should they stop making dedicated, inexpensive printers because all-in-one printer/fax/scanners gaining ground on the less-costly, dedicated ones ?

  Should Canon stop making sub-compact cameras because the iPhone has a very good little camera in it?  Would a serious survey ask people to choose between an iPhone camera and dedicated cameras?

  Actually, the comparisons are based on expected hardware sales rather than on the actual way the hardware would be used.


TECHGEAR/TIM CONNEALLY'S PERSPECTIVE ON THIS
Here's some of what TechGear had to say about the survey:

' ... ChangeWave said Amazon's Kindle holds a "rapidly diminishing lead" over the Apple iPad in the e-reader market, and that the iPad's overall presence in the space has doubled since August.

[Yes, the iPad sold 3 million in 80 days -- and after that, Amazon's can't keep Kindles in enough supply for shipping to other countries without large delays.]

According to buying intent stated by consumers, ChangeWave also concludes the iPad "will be the biggest beneficiary of the expanding e-Reader market this holiday season, followed by the Amazon Kindle."

Naturally, this has led to headlines today declaring that the Kindle is somehow "losing" to the iPad.

Unfortunately, the entire survey is based on an unsound premise, because it seeks to compare hardware e-readers with software e-readers.
. . .
Interestingly, the survey goes on to illustrate exactly why the iPad and smartphones should not be placed in the same category as hardware e-readers.

ChangeWave asked consumers "which of the following types of content do you currently read with your e-book reader?"
  Unsurprisingly, the majority of Kindle users said they're reading e-books, while iPad users said they tend to read newspapers, magazines, blogs and RSS feeds.

  In short, this shows not that the iPad is stealing market share from the Kindle.  But instead that consumers who read e-books are buying e-readers, and consumers who read colorful and web-derived content are buying tablets. '

Yes, and one tablet in particular, but people are really taking to the Samsung Galaxy 7" despite Steve Job's insistence that people are not interested in that size tablet (rather like his earlier insistence that the Amazon Kindle was not going to work because "people don't read anymore."  And there is coming a rain of capable tablets in a month or two.
  UPDATE 12/2/10 - Already there is the Archos 101, a 10" tablet for ~$294.

COMMENTERS TO THE TECHGEAR STORY
Here are some really blunt and insightful comments to Conneally's story:

' ___
By Frankwick:
From a purist point of view the ipad (I own one) is a horrid e-reader.  It is too heavy to hold for long periods of time.  Plus, the screen is way way way too glossy in certain places which makes reading a pain in the eye socket.  As far as ibooks goes, it is miniscule compared to the nook and Kindle stores.  Then there is the cost of the ipad - OUCH! '

___
By skapig
E-reader versus tablet appliance with a very large difference in price between them.  Not the most well-conceived study, but the point is really to get the name of the research firm out there by pushing something with these popular keywords down the wire.

[ Exactly what came to my mind because it is such a carelessly designed study, but today's focus on getting stories out quickly more than anything else means the survey makers will get their name out there when stories are done for "first" announcement and then auto-duplicated wildly rather than the news-seconders actually looking at the story to see if there's anything there.

___
By alan@statistixl.com
Nice to finally find a breath of sanity in this debate :-)  I use both and they are definitely horses for courses.  The Kindle is vastly superior for prolonged reading and reading text (it's much lighter, easier on the eyes, has better batter[y] life and enjoys sunlight).  The iPad is much better for browsing the web and flicking through items that require colour. '

In the meantime, ChangeWave itself describes the following questions answered, in its brief online report

' Going forward, e-Reader demand remains strong for the holidays, with 5% of respondents saying they are Very Likely to buy an e-Reader and 10% Somewhat Likely over the next 90 days. '

Here's their full Consumer Electronics Report ($1,500).


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Amazon finally sells the Apple iPad itself. In stock w/ Amazon customer svc

Apple iPad is now being carried by Amazon itself rather than just through 3rd party carriers.

That second picture is of the $13.69 CrazyOnDigital Black Leather Case For Apple iPad, which is getting 4 out of 5 stars from 86 customers so far and apparently priced, retail, at $39.99.

The third picture is of the Apple iPad Keyboard Dock.

Added here, since many Kindle owners have iPads and many have been considering one for non-daytime-reading purposes.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Best Buy to sell Kindles -- predicted here in April and confirmed

Most of you may have already heard the news that Best Buy will sell the Kindle 3's and, later on, the DXG.  (Thanks to KindleToday for the first report I saw.)

Some may remember that in the April 8 article here questioning whether the Kindle might be sold at Target at the end of April, the title also asked if Best Buy might also get the Kindle.

I had seen a long-time Best Buy employee commenting, on Engadget's site, that

' I have a feeling we are going to start selling the Kindle at Best Buy as well seeing as we just got cases for them in on the truck today. I find it hard to believe we will sell cases for a product we don't sell. '

Later on, in mid-June, more than two months later, tigerbeat wrote on the Amazon Kindle forums:

' Best Buy even had a Kindle cover and they don't even sell Kindles. '

So, it's come to pass :-)
 The Best Buy press release, carried by paidcontent.org, says that consumers will be able to

' compare all of the most popular reading devices by installing new end-caps that display its e-reader selection side-by-side, supported by helpful information about each device’s key features.  Best Buy is the only retailer to carry all of the top e-reader brands in-store so consumers can conveniently compare and decide which is right for them. '

  They are the exclusive retail partner for the Nook and will carry the new Sonys as well.

The first report I saw earlier (can't remember which publication) asked if this wasn't a gamble when the Kindle could be seen side by side with the more colorful and multi-functioned iPad.
 I've wondered when this type of columnist will start asking the publishers to start printing the text of their books in color instead of with black type on white.  But some do judge a book by its color cover.

Today, Mobile Computing compares the colorful, multi-featured iPad to the Kindle "with a dull E-ink screen" but recognizes that

' Where the Amazon Kindle and the iPad are in direct competition is in eBook reading, an area where the Kindle is currently the hands down winner. [Their emphasis.]
  The iPad’s heft makes for an uncomfortable, painful reading experience next to the breeze-light Kindle. Furthermore reading on a backlit LCD screen is a less fun.
  ...This is easy street for the Amazon Kindle. If reading a text-based book is what you’re looking to do, the Kindle runs rings around the iPad for comfort in your hands, comfort on the eyes and battery life, too.'

  That's their opinion although they feel the iPad is a "device that could very well define the future of computing."  Nevertheless, they say,
  "If you’re a book lover on a budget, Amazon Kindle without a doubt."


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.