Archive for the ‘ipad vs ereaders’ tag
Is the iPad Really a Killer? no comments
Well, now that the iPad has killed the Kindle and other dedicated ereaders … wait a minute there, better hold the presses – reports of the Kindle’s death are apparently greatly exaggerated. Amazon said today that not only is the Kindle still its #1 bestselling item; it has seen ever increasing sales in the second quarter of this year – this while the iPad was selling about a million units a month. Amazon says that during this period the Kindle ereader saw increased sales both sequentially month-over-month and on a year-over-year basis.
"We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle–the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books–astonishing when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months."
In addition to the lower price of the Kindle, I’m sure that having the Kindle for sale at Target stores has helped.
The Kindle Store now also has more than 630,000 books, which includes 106 of 110 New York Times Best Sellers. Over the last three months, Amazon has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books.
This is not to say that the iPad has not had a profound effect on the ereader market. If not for the launch of Apple’s “magical” device, we would probably have a much more crowded market. The wave of announced ereaders just fizzled out after it became apparent that the iPad was going to be such a huge success. Price cuts by the major ereader makers further raised the bar to entry into the market by new players.
Pressure from the iPad no doubt played a large part in the sudden and viscous price slashing by Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The prices of ebook readers had to come down as comparison to the iPad lowered the apparent value of stand-alone ereaders for many would-be purchasers. Without the iPad, ereader prices would probably not have come down by as much or as fast.
Without the iPad we would probably be paying less for many of our ebooks, as without Apple it is doubtful if the publishers could have pressured Amazon into agreeing to the agency pricing model.
Rather than killing dedicated monochrome ereaders, it feels to me as though the iPad has forced them into an early cycle of commoditization. I’m afraid that at least until we get some sort of non-backlit color display we are only going to see evolutionary rather than revolutionary improvements to our new ereaders. Exhibit A – Kindle DX Graphite.
Before many devices become mature they are constantly being improved with new and better features by the few manufacturers building them. During this phase consumers are willing to pay for increasingly better products with the new and better features that they have been wanting.
By the time most of the wished for features have been added, more manufacturers will have joined the market, selling their devices for lower prices and competing mainly on the fact that their product has most of the desired features – but nothing new and groundbreaking – at a much lower price. This means little or no new innovation, but lower prices for consumers.
This is one classic way in which markets are disrupted. The new cut-rate manufacturers are working on very low margins and the original builders and innovators of the device are driven out of the market because they can’t make enough money on the product any longer. Amazon and Barnes & Noble prevented this by preemptively slashing their own prices, making it much more difficult for new players to enter the market. They can afford to do this because they make money on the ebooks they sell for their ereaders.
If all of this is true in the case of ereaders in the US, then it means that we probably won’t see a lot of new features until we get reflective color screens. For example, we may not see flexible ereader displays which are much harder to break as soon as we would have otherwise. Take it from someone who has broken an ereader screen – this would be a nice feature.
So, has the iPad actually managed to kill anything?
Last week Gartner reported that worldwide PC shipments in the second quarter of 2010 were up 20.7 percent over the same period last year. That was better than expected. Mini-notebooks (netbooks) had been seeing sales increases of more than 70 percent during the previous two quarters. Sales of netbooks increased in the second quarter 2010, but only by a much lower 20 percent.
I imagine a lot of that slower netbook sales growth is directly attributable to the iPad. I have an iPad, netbook and dedicated ereaders. Personally, I find the iPad does a much better job of replacing my netbook than it does at replacing my ereaders. Netbook sales may well have been affected more than that of dedicated ereaders. Portable gaming devices will also likely be hit hard by the iPad.
Big Trouble in China?
When the iPad launched in the US, the wave of new ereaders that had been announced around the first of the year had not yet launched. But in China the ereader market was already very crowded, with new entrants seemingly being announced every few days. With the high rates of piracy in China (there have been estimates that over 90 percent of ebooks being read there are pirated), the manufacturers of ereaders there cannot rely on making money from selling content like Amazon, B&N and other ereader/ebook sellers in this country do.
There are some signs that the iPad and its clones may be leading to a thinning out of the number of ereaders in China. Digitimes today reported that Hanwang Technology is denying rumors that sales of its ereaders have been seriously impacted by the iPad, and that it is warehousing as many as a half million unsold ereaders.
Trading Markets also reports that the prices of ereaders (as well as the stock prices of the companies making them) in China are coming under pressure from the iPad and other tablets, just as they have here.
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Amazon Kindle Top of the First Consumer Reports eReader Ratings no comments
Consumer Reports for the first time rated ereaders and found the Amazon Kindle to be the best choice for consumers.
Nine different ereaders were tested by Consumer Reports. The Kindles were found to have “crisper, more readable type” in addition to other features that were better than other models.
The testers at Consumer Reports also liked reading on dedicated ereaders more than on the iPad, which was tested but not included in the ratings. “Consumer Reports recommends buying the iPad for e-books only if consumers are willing to compromise to get a multifunction device. “
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Kobo on the iPad no comments
Kobo’s ereading app for the iPad lets you tweak the appearance of your reading experience quite a bit.
With the Kobo iPad appyou can view your library in a thumbnail with details view or with the by now familiar bookshelves. But Kobo adds the option of choosing from seven different styles of bookshelves.
You also have eight different bookmark styles to choose from – including a dead trout, which sounds shocking but is actually kind of cool. There are also four different page turning styles to choose from.
You can, as in the other iPad reading apps I’ve tried so far, adjust the brightness from within the app. Kobo provides a black text on white background or a Night Reading mode that gives you white text on a black background. I find the latter is much easier on my eyes when reading for extended periods.
Kobo gives you four fonts to choose from, three of which feel bolded. The largest font size is a little larger than the Kindle for iPad app which should make it easier to read for those with vision impairments.
Pagination in the Kobo app is a little different. An example would be “CHAPTER 2 – 2 of 51” which would be the second of fifty one pages of chapter 2. This can be a bit of a hassle if you are reading the same ebook on more than one non-synced devices and have to search for your last read page. Reading apps on the iPad have a slider bar you can access at the bottom of the page for rapid movement forward and backward in the book. Kobo’s slider, at least in the ebooks in my Kobo account, just moves you back and forth within each chapter.
There are no search, dictionary, note taking or annotation features in Kobo’s app, at least at this time. To look a word up in a dictionary you can exit the Kobo app and search on the Internet, or you could install Dictionary.com’s free app which does not need an Internet connection.
For some reason, one ebook that was in my Kobo account is shown in my Kobo app’s library on the iPad but I cannot open it. If I try to access it I get an error message – “Content not Available … we’re working as fast as we can to make this available soon.” I can open this book on my ereader, so not sure what the problem is. Judging by this, if you have a lot of books in your Kobo library you may not be able to access all of them on the iPad just yet.
Update: As of 4/7/2010 all of my ebooks are available, so it looks like Kobo has fixed this.
I like the ability to personalize the Kobo ereading app, but they do need to work on adding the missing study tools.
It is too early to tell how popular the Ipad will be for long form, immersive reading. With the iPad we will have access to the largest ebook stores on one device (still waiting for the Barnes & Noble iPad app – so far only their iPhone app is available). Thanks to the agency model imposed by the publishers the various ebook sellers with apps on the iPad will not be able to compete on ebook prices. So they will need to compete with the amount and variety of content they offer (Kindle Store wins here) and with the excellence of their reading apps. Having an app that is able to sync with other devices, including dedicated ereaders, will also be a great advantage.
So far all of the reading apps I’ve tried are fast and all have things to like, but each one also has some missing features and all have room for improvement – but then the iPad has only been out for three days.
Reading apps on the iPad need to have a night reading mode (Kindle and Kobo do) for those of us whose eyes are bothered by extended reading on the backlit screen. Dictionaries, search, go to, note taking and annotation features need to be standard as well.
As for reading on the iPad in general, after using it continuously over the weekend, I have to say that for long form reading e-ink is still better for me. One does have to wonder though if it makes sense any longer to buy one of the larger format ereaders such as the DX, Skiff or Que (providing that the latter two are even released) at their current or proposed prices.
For portable content handling I have at the moment (besides my smartphone) a netbook, iPad and three ereaders.
- The netbook seems best suited for content creation.
- The iPad is best for multimedia content consumption, Web browsing and reading magazines and newspapers.
- The dedicated ereaders are best for more than casual book reading.
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Apple iPad – Update no comments
Some more thoughts on iPad Day 2.
First of all, reading in bed with the iPad is a mixed blessing. Its weight can make it a bit awkward, while the backlit screen helps when reading at night with low ambient light.
I am also finding that reading with the white font on black background really helps control the eyestrain in my case. I’ve been reading some other reviews whose writers say that they aren’t experiencing any eyestrain; maybe this affects me more than usual, or maybe I just spent more time reading.
The iPad has a lot of glare and is a fingerprint magnet – I will get an anti-glare screen protector as soon as I get a chance.
Welcome to App City
Netflix for the iPad rocks! Much more immersive with a good set of earphones, although the built-in speakers are louder than expected and are good enough for use in a quiet environment.
A few other cool apps I’ve installed:
- NPR – very good.
- Marvel – I’m not a big comic book fan, but that may change thanks to this app.
- IMDb is quite good.
Wonder where the Wired Reader app that was shown at TED is?
Kindle for iPad vs iBooks
Yesterday I only used the Kindle app, but today I’ve been trying out iBooks. iBooks has far less books but the iBooks app has more features than the Kindle app – but then Amazon only had an iPad simulator to build their app on so hopefully it will get better. Some of the differences:
- Font size: iBooks has a much broader range of font sizes. The largest font size on the Kindle app may be too small for some readers with visual impairments.
- Font type: iBooks has five font styles while the Kindle app has only one.
- Presentation: iBooks has the bookshelf and the double pages in landscape mode. You can select a list view instead of the bookshelves. The Kindle app lets you choose from displaying the covers only of books in your library or a list.
- Screen brightness can be adjusted from within both reading apps. iBooks seems to have only the black text on white background option though. Kindle has a choice of black text on a white or sepia background, or a white text on black background which helps to reduce eye fatigue (at least for me).
- Note taking: You can take notes and highlight with the Kindle app and it should be synced across devices via Whispernet. iBooks doesn’t seem to have any annotating abilities, though you can bookmark a word or phrase.
- Dictionary: The dictionary in iBooks seems quite good; dictionary coming soon for Kindle app.
- Search: In iBooks you can search for a word within the book, on Google or Wikipedia; search coming soon for Kindle app.
- Content: Kindle Store has 450,000 titles vs 60,000 for iBooks.
- Pagination: Amazon’s app has the location range and the percentage read which will be familiar to Kindlers, while iBooks has page numbers, total number of pages in the book and pages left in the current chapter.
I’ve just installed the Kobo reading app, so I’ll be looking at that next.
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Reading on the Ipad – First Impressions 1 comment
I’ve spent several hours reading today on my new iPad using the Kindle for iPad app. I have not messed about with iBooks or other reading apps yet because I primarily wanted to see how comfortable doing more than casual reading on the iPad’s LCD screen is. Also I took the iPad outdoors to see how well it fared in sunlight.
First, about reading in the sunshine. Yes, it is doable, but not optimal as you will constantly be trying to find an angle to hold your tablet at that shows less glare. An antiglare film is going to be one of the first accessories I get for my iPad. As expected the LCD screen is quite dim and washed out when viewed under full sunshine, but it is readable. Reading outdoors in a shaded environment is much easier. Overall an e-ink screen gives you a much better reading experience when reading outdoors as compared to the iPad.
As for eyestrain, this is going to affect every set of eyeballs differently. If I spend a whole day and into the night on my computer working, Web browsing and playing games – usually a mix of all of these activities – I will feel some eyestrain at the end of the day about 30 % of the time.
When reading on the iPad I was somewhat surprised to feel some strain after only reading an hour or so. Switching to white text on a black background helped a lot and I found myself wishing I had done this from the beginning.
Again, just because my eyes felt the strain does not necessarily mean that yours will. Keep in mind though that when using a computer’s LCD screen we are usually reading shorter blocks of text broken up by graphics, etc. This is much different from reading long blocks of text such as when reading the typical ebook.
So far, after admittedly limited reading time on the iPad, I find that I have not been disabused of my original expectations:
- For casual reading the iPad is fine. For long form, immersive reading an e-ink screen is much better.
- Most dedicated ereaders will be much easier to use one-handed. The iPad is heavier (one and a half pounds) and is best used when held with both hands on one’s lap or perhaps propped in some sort of stand on a table.
- The iPad’s screen is quite shiny and you will find yourself moving it around to avoid glare when reading. Also, although the IPS LCD display that Apple chose for the iPad allows for wider viewing angles than regular LCD displays, at some angles the text on a page will appear to have slightly differing levels of brightness on different parts of the page, which can be a minor distraction.
- While I have been spending my time on the iPad so far just focusing on the ereading experience, it looks like it will be an excellent platform for magazine and newspaper reading, Web browsing, video streaming and probably gaming (I bought Mirror’s Edge but have not yet had a chance to try it).
- As with the iPhone, there are a myriad distractions with the iPad – hard to stay focused on reading.
So far, after one day of use, my impression is that dedicated ebook readers are still best for general book reading, while the iPad will be much better for reading magazines and newspapers and will also be excellent for consuming other forms of media. The iPad will also no doubt be best for textbooks with lots of graphic content, though that may change when we have ereaders with reflective color screens.
As to whether you should buy an iPad or a dedicated ereader, it still depends on how you plan to use it. My recommended path to Nirvana would be to buy both! 
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Sony Adds More Newspapers; Barnes & Noble App for iPad no comments
Sony has announced the addition of more newspapers and magazines to its ebook store. Subscriptions are delivered wirelessly to the Reader Edition or sideloaded onto other Sony ereaders with the Sony Reader Library software.
From the press release:
The following periodicals are available now on the Reader Store:
" All Things Digital
" Chicago Tribune
" Financial Times
" Foreign Affairs
" International Herald Tribune
" Los Angeles Times
" MarketWatch Today
" New York Post
" National Review
" PC Magazine
" Reason
" San Jose Mercury News
" The Baltimore Sun
" The Boston Globe
" The Columbus Dispatch
" The Dallas Morning News
" The Denver Post
" The Nation
" The New York Observer
" The New York Times
" The Salt Lake Tribune
" The Wall Street Journal
" The Washington Times
Sony has agreements in place with a host of additional magazine and newspaper publishers. Subscriptions to the following newspapers, magazines and exclusive content will be available soon:
" Barron s
" China International Business
" Contra Costa Times
" Oakland Tribune
" Orlando Sentinel
" Newsday
" Popular Science Special Editions
" The Providence Journal
" The San Diego Union-Tribune
" The American Scholar
" The Asahi Shimbun
" The Christian Science Monitor
" The Guardian
" The Hartford Courant
" The Mainichi Daily News
" The New York Review of Books
" The Wall Street Journal Plus
Barnes & Noble eReader App for iPad
Barnes & Noble will be making a version of its eReader app for the iPad:
Designed specifically for the iPad, our new B&N eReader will give our customers access to more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers in the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, as well as the existing content in their Barnes & Noble digital library. (That includes eBooks and content customers have downloaded to their nook™ eBook reader.)
It still remains to be seen whether Apple will let ebook reading apps competing with its own onto the iPad. If Apple really wants to try to position the iPad as some sort of superior ereading device it would make sense to allow Kindle , B&N and other reading apps as this would allow access to the greatest amount of content.
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The Apple iPad 3 comments
The wait is finally over; Steve Jobs presented the iPad today, and it is a pretty impressive giant iPod Touch.
Just to recap the features, which you have probably already seen:
- 9.7 – inch backlit LED multitouch display with a fingerprint – resistant coating; 1024 x 768 resolution
- 16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash drive
- Lots of formats supported, including MS Word, PDF, MS PowerPoint, EPUB
- Language, keyboard and dictionary support for European languages as well as Japanese and Simplified Chinese
- Video playback up to 720p
- Battery life of up to 10 hours playing video, using Wi-Fi, etc. Up to one month standby
- Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1; optional 3G
The most surprising thing for me is the pricing: $499, $599 and $699 depending on the size of the flash drive. 3G will cost an additional $130 plus a monthly data plan. I was expecting pricing starting at around $700. Unfortunately (for me anyway), Apple has decided to go with AT&T again for the 3G, which would be unacceptable for me. If I buy an iPad I guess I will have to just get the base model with Wi-Fi.
Some things that the iPad doesn’t seem to have (at least not yet):
- No Flash support for internet browsing
- No Multitasking
- No expandable memory
- No non-backlit screen for ereading
So is the iPad going to make the dedicated ereader extinct? Am I going to rename my favorite gadget the ereaderosaurus and make plans to visit it at the museum? I think not.
I think that the iPad will probably appeal mostly to fans of multifunction devices and, as far as ereading goes, to casual readers. It will be great for reading magazines. Textbooks and other graphics–rich material should also be well suited to the iPad, at least until a color Kindle comes along. Schools will not be embracing the iPad or any other ereading device that does not include accessibility features, but students who choose to do so should still be able to utilize a digital version of their textbook on the iPad rather than the paper version. The iPad does have a VoiceOver screen reader and full screen zoom features, but not sure if this will be enough to satisfy the NFB.
For serious readers who want an ereader to read a lot of books that are mostly text a dedicated ereader will still be best. The iPad’s LCD screen does not compare to e-ink or other non-backlit ereader screens for reading. There are also reports that Apple is letting publishers set the prices of their ebooks, so they will likely be more expensive than versions from the Kindle store. It’s not clear yet if Kindle iPhone apps will be okay on the iPad.
Obviously larger format ereaders will feel more competition from the iPad than the smaller ereaders with 5 or 6-inch screens. The one ereader that I see taking the biggest hit form the iPad is the Plastic Logic Que. At an announced price of $650 and $800 the Que just doesn’t seem to be a viable business plan after today. I hope I’m wrong, of course, we’ll have to wait and see. I can’t imagine that there are many smiling faces at the Plastic Logic compound today.
Multifunction devices such as the Entourage eDGe and even the Spring Design Alex will also probably stand to loose sales to the iPad. Prices will have to come down on these devices as well as the larger format ereaders such as the Kindle DX for them to stay competitive for some shoppers. Netbooks are probably also going to be under pressure from the iPad although most of these are $100 -$200 less expensive.
It also remains to be seen what Amazon has up its sleeves. If we can get a non-backlit color Kindle later in the year with something like a Mirasol or LiquaVista display that would certainly be much better than the iPad for my ebooks.
£149.00
£109
