So, the original Kindle ebook reader is now selling below $200. The newest version, the Kindle 2, is selling for $299 which is down from $359 a month or so ago. I think when the original Kindle can be had, easily, for about $100, the age of the ebook will truly be upon us. FYI, Fictionwise, a Barnes & Noble company, now sells ebooks in a format readable by the Kindle. The time is getting closer for the true rise of the ebook as a major distribution channel. And, when that time truly arrives, the publishing industry had best have re-invented its business model.
Rants, Raves, Rambles and Incoherent mumblings as I pinball through this life.
About Me
- El Zorro Viejo (aka; Jim)
- I'm a son, brother, nephew, cousin, husband, father and grandfather. Family rules. I have been rich and I've been poor. Right now I'm closer to the latter than the former. But that will change...again.College major was Anthropology but my various careers only touched on that background tangently. Politically and socially liberal with a touch of conservatism tossed in.
2 comments:
Bah. I truly don't think the ebook will replace the printed book anytime in our near future. Cases in point: 1. If I drop a book, I have some dinged pages. If I drop a Kindle I'm out a heck of a lot of money. (same goes with losing a book) 2. A lot of reading takes place near water, on the beach, in the tub etc. Not particularly conducive to electronic reading. 3. Books require no power source needed. Ebooks do.
>:D I'm such a rabble rouser.
On the other hand, I find I prefer reading books on the Kindle. It is not as heavy as hard cover books, and it is not as difficult to hold as mass market books. And the cost per read keeps going down. I have 43 titles in my Kindle library, and that number will continue to grow. 90% of the books I have been interested in cost $9.99 or less. Just on a guess, I would bet that I have spent about $75 to $100 less on those books than they would have cost as physical books.
Now, I do admit that I buy bargain books at B&N whenever I see one that I even vaguely want. I can get a bargain book for about $5.25 with my employee discount. Most of the time that is a lot less than I can buy a book on the Kindle. On the other hand, mass market books on the Kindle are only about $0.40 more than I can get them at the store. For 40-cents, it is worth it.
And there is another thing: I can carry a library of 100+ books in a 10-ounce package. For traveling, for vacations, for anytime you want to have a diverse set of reading material and you are not home, at a library or in a book store, the Kindle and fellow travelers are the perfect answer. The Kindle is also the perfect research assistant in that you can carry your research with you.
Finally, if you walk off and leave your Kindle, well that's sort of Darwinian. In other words, you probably deserved to lose it. Same goes for dropping on hard surfaces or getting it wet. If you can't give it the same protection you give your laptop, then you probably deserve what happens. (Yeah, yeah...reading at the pool/beach; OK, the Kindle is not a good choice for those venues. So, when sitting poolside, drinks and conversation are probably in order...)
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