The New York Times is reporting that both Amazon and Google are entering the eBook business this year, joining Sony and others who already have products (the image to the right is Sony’s Reader).
The new Amazon product and service will be called The Kindle and will compete directly with Sony. Google will begin charging users to read the full text of some of the books they have indexed.
Amazon: The Kindle
The Kindle will be a device to read books - black and white screen, internet connectivity via EVDO and a keyboard to take notes and surf the web. The device, which will cost $400-$500, will interact with an ebook service run by Amazon.
The fact that the device can access books without being separately connected to a computer will be a big selling point over Sony Reader, which sells for $300. The Kindle will also be able to surf the web and users will also be able to read newspapers, magazines, etc.
I’ve had a chance to test the Sony Reader on a number of occasions and found it to be a great way to read books, although the content selection wasn’t great. The Kindle will also use E Ink technology for displaying content. It’s great for reading text in all light conditions but does not display video or other animation.
Amazon isn’t supporting the industry’s open standard around eBooks. Instead they are using their own proprietary format from Mobipocket, a company they acquired in 2005.
Like the iPod, the key driver of sales of the device won’t be the depth of content available on the associated service, but the availability of pirated, free content on BitTorrent and other P2P networks. eBooks are coming, but they’re not here yet.
Google isn’t getting into the device business. Instead, they will start charging users to view some full text books that they’ve indexed, although this is separate from the Google Book Search Library Project. No word on whether Google is sharing revenue with publishers.
Its about time, no more cr@p buy at the last minute overpiced paper backs at the airports and train terminals.
As an fyi, amazon’s service will also include tonnes of premium, non-ebook content from news sources, blogs, research groups, etc.
It’s really about getting “the content you want, when and where you want it”.
anonymouse - all it needs is an RSS reader (or a browser) and all that content is already available.
Great news.
I’ve been using the Sony reader for 10 months now, and very happy with it.
However, the two main problems for me is that I can’t add notes to books I read, and can’t go online, so I guess if the Amazon device has those features I might switch.
Right now whenever I see some long article on the web that I’d like to read (long being more than 2 pages) I actually copy it to a text file and download it to my Sony, since the reading experience is so much better than a computer screen. Being able to access that content directly would be nice.
However, that the device can access books without being connected to a computer isn’t really important - downloading books from computer to the device is very simple, and you only do it once in a while anyway. It’s probably much faster than downloading a book over a cellular connection too. Think of the iPod - is it really a problem that you have to connect it to your computer to download songs?
Hi Michael,
There are things I like and others I do not like about the ebooks. A common book is less fragile, more handy, do not need energy and last longer.
eBooks on the other side are more powerful when we search, digital manuals are great. When I am developing something and I forget a command there is sevelar ways to find it, the usage, the examples, etc…
Reading a novel on a computer is not fun for me.
Mario Ruiz
@ http://www.oursheet.com
Looks kinda cool
I have the eReader, and I will never again buy a device that is on a proprietary format unless it has total ubiquity with all books that exist in e-format (any e-format). It makes me angry when I finally find a book that exists in e-format (unlike, say, the Harry Potter books, which stupidly have not been made available - legally - in any e-format) and discover it is not in the format of my device. Makes me want to throw the thing in the lake - along with the decision-makers who chose siloed architectures in this day and age.
What a horrid name for the Amazon device - Kindle? As in “to start or cause a fire”? For an book-related device? Genius.
No word whether Google will share revenue? From the fifth paragraph of the NYT article: “Publishers will set the prices for their own books and share the revenue with Google.”
I wish Amazon would just make it so I can get books from them an download it to my Reader, because I am not about to go buy another device.
Mike,
Don’t give me another gadget to have to lug around. Why can’t I download and read books on my iPhone/Nokia etc. With screen sizes big enough to watch videos, I should be able to read books too.
I remember Harold Bloom(?)’s great comment at a New Yorker panel (I know, I know) that the codex (book) is always going to be preferable to the scroll.
Anyway, maybe Aimie Street pricing model could work here as well, considering the large percentage of book that get remaindered.
Some days when I think about never getting around to reading the books on the shelves, I do entertain thoughts about getting rid of them altogether.
thanks for this info. im have a same idea with this situation. Oh,it would make a good item for ourselve
Greed, damn greed
Here you have an easy shot to wipe out all that greedy nonsense.
Sell ebooks on iTunes for 99cts for use on your iPod touch or iPhone.
Instant worldwide hit.
Thanks, I’ll be here all day collecting royalties.
I have a PDA with microsoft reader already on it and paid less for full PDA functionality, Plus a reader, than Amazon is going to ask for a reader with the added internet functionality. Seems to me Amazon is making a mistake here and giving us a product that is already dated and outclassed by the common PDA.
I was wondering when Amazon was going to tackle eBooks.
Reading an an ebook is very cool ! We like cool!
The eBook format is efficient and cheap.
The portable devices market is growing so will the
demand for eBooks. Great move Google and Amazon.
Second movers can become very successful.
hmmm…kinda raises the question as to why we still read old-fashioned paper books in the first place…
Think about it: we don’t always read to do research. We don’t always read to be looking up more information or what another blogger or our friends on a social network have to say about the book.
We often read for the simple pleasure of reading–of disappearing into another world. And sometimes we want to go to that world as an escape from devices, many of which are part and parcle of our brave new jobs. When it comes to our off-line time, the only “device” some of us really need, or want to use, for reading is a pair of glasses.
As for the key driver of sales–well, that will be the hype factor and whether or not educational institutions force students to use them. The regular old non- cutting edge tech geek, who likes to throw a book in her purse or his briefacase will probably still opt for the regular kind. Portability and convenience are still key drivers of sales–not to mention the ease of browsability. Ever try browsing an e-book? hardly an easy thing.
And where is Apple in all of this? The iPhone, and now the “Touch”, would make great little ebook readers. I can even see myself turning the pages by flicking the screen right-to-left.
They need to do to the moribund book industry what they’ve done for music..
I guess I’m old school, but I prefer paper.
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According to mobileread.com, Sony is giving their reader away for $60 if you sign up for a Sony credit card. You can certainly buy the Sony reader for well under $300 at various place online, so the Amazon reader looks expensive at twice the price.
Even at a $50 price point, the incompatible DRM formats of these different ebook systems dooms them to only marginal success. Without wide support for a single ebook standard from both device vendors and publishers, are people really going to spend their annual book budget (probably nearly $1000 in my household) on formats that are tied to a single reader architecture? I doubt it and all the evidence to date of heavily DRM’ed online media initiatives (with the exception of the iTunes/iPod ecosystem) seems to agree. As much as I love Amazon, if the Kindle experience is anything like Amazon Unbox video, it’s going to suck.
So, Adobe and MSFT both tried their hands at eBooks years ago. It will be interesting to see how this push will be different.
Michael: yep, but amazon will be charging for it.
I don’t think this stands a chance. A stand-alone e-book reader doesn’t make sense. The only e-books readers will achieve any significant adoption is if they are bundles with pdas and phones - iPhone.
Most will probably just prefer books. There’s a good article on this, not by me:
http://www.bestcashcow.com/tec.....for-ebooks
Excellent post. I have been running Bookyards (a free online library located at http://www.bookyards.com ) for the past 7 years, and I have been waiting just as long for a reliable ebook reader. Let us keep our fingers crossed.
Instead of making the users buy another device, they should make it compatible with existing mobile phones like Palm Ebook Reader, or provide a secure PDF format books. It won’t be successful in the long run if it is just tied up to one device.
$500???
$200 is the top price point I’d be willing to pay for an e-reader, and that some includes a library of books on the device to start me off.
Michael Long - I was wondering the same thing. With the “Jesus Phone,” aka the iPhone, steadily generating hype, associating it with e-books could be the blessing the digital book market needs. I can’t imagine an e-book on anything else.
From a style perspective, the Sony Reader looks horrid. It needs some spray paint and gloss as it reminds me of the first generation handheld devices.
I got the Sony Reader when it came out, and am thrilled with the technology. If you’re mad that every single last title ever you want, isn’t available, geez whatever. Is every meal available for microwave? When I go e-book shopping it’s a 90%+ that I will get what I want when I want. The 10% or less (harry potter)might have to be a real book or from another service. Big deal. I love travelling with my next few dozen books on me in a tiny device that goes weeks between recharges. I guess when we have jetpacks to travel in, you guys will be mad when they burn your feet. It’s just how it is…
9. Mac: Agreed, Kindle is a terrible name, they might as well call it the 451.
Call me old fashioned, but I’d like to keep my books in paper form.
This is like a match made in heaven. Amazon understand the consumer in this case so much better than anyone else before who has tried it with E-book’s.
I have high expectations for this case.
I was wondering when Amazon was going to tackle eBooks.
Sounds like a cool device, however, what is this about Google charging for books they have indexed? Legal issues? More profiteering on a level that may be over the line?
I can understand books you would buy on the shelf, but books already indexed. I am wondering exactly what they mean by that..
Tony