It appears that the next generation of e-readers is upon us. Not simply an expansion by manufacturers into souped up e-reading tablet devices, like the Nook Color, but I’m anticipating a new wave simple, inexpensive dedicated gadgetry. And over the last few weeks, since our prior coverage, my thought process has changed. While I value convergence, even us über geeks will find value in and enjoyment from a (nearly) single purpose device.
Barnes & Noble Nook Touch
The first new e-reader to arrive ahead of the 2011 shopping season is the Nook Touch ($139). It doesn’t actually feature any new technology, yet the Nook Touch is put together in such a way that it’s the most polished e-reader to date. The Nook Touch utilizes the same e-Ink Pearl display as the Kindle 3 and integrates touch screen technology previously seen on Sony devices. Yet, given the Nook’s hardware aesthetics and user interface, it’s the best e-reader currently on the market. It’s not perfect in all areas, but the Nook Touch is clearly the most well rounded. And if I were replacing my Kindle 2 today, it’s the one I’d go with. (Assuming I could find a decent sleeve – versus cover, as I appreciate the Touch’s sculpted rear.)
The Amazon Kindle 4
While it seems inevitable that Amazon will produce a multimedia tablet to move further upmarket and leverage their existing digital properties, such as the Android App Store and video streaming, the Wall Street Journal confirms traditional e-readers are also on tap:
Amazon plans to introduce two updated versions of its black-and-white Kindle in this year’s third quarter, people familiar with the matter said. One of the new Kindles will have a touch screen, which current models don’t have.
Incorporating touch capabilities to the Kindle 4 will be a boon, as it’s provides a much more natural form of interaction. And, as with the Nook Touch, it would conceivably allow Amazon to produce a more compact slate by dropping the physical keyboard. What remains to be seen is what screen technology they go with. Back in May, CEO Jeff Bezos indicated color E Ink (shown above) “is not ready for prime time…the colors are very pale.” So it’s safe to assume at least one variation, if not both, of a new Kindle 4 would continue to feature low power, greyscale e-Ink displays. Yet Amazon is a favored partner of E Ink and was the first company to produce products based on their “Pearl” screen film. So it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see Amazon leapfrog Barnes & Noble by introducing a new, higher contrast E-Ink display to the market.
The Sony Underdog Readers
Sony’s long produced the most handsome e-reader hardware, clad in metal and featuring nice curves. Yet they haven’t gained the same level traction as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Their failure to catch on can be pinned on multiple factors. As an early adopter, I found their PC-only based side loading methodology tedious and Sony’s initial attempts at integrating touch technology didn’t work out so well – with poor screen response and reduced screen clarity. Further, they continue to charge more than the competition. Bloomberg reports that Sony “plans to introduce a line of upgraded digital book readers in the U.S. as early as next month” that “will probably be offered with hardware and software improvements.” But, to make up ground, Sony better improve the user experience and price their offerings more competitively. A marketing blitz wouldn’t hurt either, as many don’t even seem to realize Sony’s a participant in this game.
Will we hit the magical $99 price point this year?
“While I value convergence, even us über geeks will find value in and enjoyment from a (nearly) single purpose device.”
Pshaw. I want my e-reader to also act as a blender for making frozen margaritas.
I want my e-reader to also be a CableCARD-compliant DVR.
I want my e-reader to function as a solar powered SUV.
Also, current e-readers are too heavy. They need to shed a few ounces.
Tradeoffs? We don’t need no stinking tradeoffs.
(And as far as pricing goes, that $99 price point seems a bit high to me. If my local coffee shop can sell me a latte for $4, I don’t see why e-readers shouldn’t be able to compete with them on price.)
PS It’s a deal-breaker for me if the next generation of e-readers don’t incorporate a scanner and OCR to import dead-tree books. It’d be nice if they also incorporated a pulp engine, binder, and printer, so it could incorporate a full two-way sync with dead-tree books, but I understand that might drive prices above my desired $4 price point, so I’m flexible on full two-way sync.
However, I would happily pay $99 for a single-purpose device which is well-crafted to solely follow every bit of detail on Murdoch-gate.
I will buy an e-reader the day digital book prices come down. I always have a huge backlog of books and when combined with the library and constant sales and used copies I never pay near what they want for the digital copy. I just don’t get the attraction since I constantly borrow and loan books out, at least on the ones I don’t donate or sell.
Anything more than a $1 or $2 is too much in my opinion for a digital copy I can’t do anything else with since I don’t reread books.
“Anything more than a $1 or $2 is too much in my opinion for a digital copy”
I’d guess folks might someday be willing to sell you digital copies of books at that price if you’d be willing to accept reasonably intrusive in-page targeted advertising throughout the text.
“And if I were replacing my Kindle 2 today, (the Nook is) the one I’d go with.”
The Amazon ecosystem (and perhaps your existing Kindle purchases) wouldn’t keep you in the Kindle fold?
It’s quite easy to break amazon’s DRM to free yourself from their ecosystem. There’s even a calibre plugin to do it automatically.
Brennok, Not sure ebooks will ever come that low. But I’d be satisfied in the $6.99 or $7.99 territory. The $12.99 you see on some books today seems extreme given effectively zero distribution costs and generally an inability to share or sell read books. Then again, it hasn’t stopped an avid reader like my mom from buying titles (who previously read primarily library copies).
“The Amazon ecosystem (and perhaps your existing Kindle purchases) wouldn’t keep you in the Kindle fold?”
Chucky, nah. I don’t have time enough to read all the books I want, so re-reading my existing purchases is less of an issue. Also, given the resale value of my current Kindle I’d probably just keep it and there’s plenty of mobile apps. In fact, I plan a follow up post that riffs on that mobile element in some ways.
“I’d be satisfied in the $6.99 or $7.99 territory.”
I don’t think you’re ever going to see a pricing point that low on e-books in their “hardback window”. I think the publishers have, and are going to continue to have, a pretty good amount of pricing power. Maybe we’ll eventually get to $9.99, but maybe not.
“The $12.99 you see on some books today seems extreme given effectively zero distribution costs and generally an inability to share or sell read books.”
It’s funny. The last few books I’ve bought have actually been cheaper in the dead-tree form factor I prefer than their Kindle e-counterparts.
Back before the publisher/Amazon spat, I was paying a premium for my beloved dead-tree versions. Now, I’m getting a discount.
“I think the publishers have, and are going to continue to have, a pretty good amount of pricing power.”
That’s certainly what the publishers believe, but they need to look to music industry to see the writing on the wall. How these publishers can justify the high pricing on ebooks I don’t understand. The big 6 switch to the Agency Model shows their true colours. Publishers distribute dead trees and don’t want people to buy ebooks. People don’t want to pay the same price they pay for deadtrees when they don’t have the same options (sell, lend, etc). Most mass market paperbacks new and ebook prices are the same; the difference is the used market is much much less (say 7.99 new, 2.99 used) and no such option for ebooks.
People want to buy ebooks, but the publishers need to realize their competition for pricing isn’t ebook, or deadtree, it’s free. The same places people steal music, you can get DRM free ebooks, except instead of just one album, you get 300 books in the same size. That said, if prices are low, people will buy ebooks vice stealing.
Having said all that, I like Sony’s hardware best, but the Amazon store and their Kindle everywhere strategy is what keeps me tied to Kindle hardware. You know if Amazon had free reign to price ebooks as they wanted, more consumers would be happy.
I would disagree somewhat about new ebooks and mass paperbacks costing the same. Unlike ebooks, paperbacks are constantly on sale. Every time I buy books, I price out what it would cost me for the ebooks and it has never been less than the physical copy. Sure pricing a book one to one will sometimes favor the ebook and sometimes cost the same, but usually I find that same paperback is part of Amazon’s buy 3 for 4 sale.
What Amazon and others need to embrace for people like me to even try ebooks are including the digital copy with purchase of the physical book or even for $1 more.
I realize expecting $1 or $2 for ebooks is a stretch, but it shouldn’t be on old books. I am not expecting that on new books, but I do expect at least a 50% savings on digital over physical. I have never had a need to have it right now so the convenience of immediate delivery doesn’t add any value for me.
“they need to look to music industry to see the writing on the wall”
Apples and oranges.
When we look back, we’re going to see that the music industry was a special case because they were near-sighted and settled on selling their product in a digital format with no DRM. And that little thing made all the difference. That little thing let Apple drink their milkshake.
The film industry still has pricing power. And I see no reason why the book industry won’t still have pricing power.
At the end of the day, moving from the age of mechanically reproducible arts to the age of digitially reproducible arts doesn’t really take pricing power away from the artists if you have DRM and laws that prevent people from monetizing easy ways around the DRM.
Just because a subset of folks can find ways around DRM doesn’t necessarily take away pricing power. Ask Dave’s mom.
“Having said all that, I like Sony’s hardware best, but the Amazon store and their Kindle everywhere strategy is what keeps me tied to Kindle hardware.”
I’m also of the school that says that Amazon will win the e-reader wars because of their ecosystem. As Dave alludes to, they can always match or leapfrog better hardware. But their competitors are going to have trouble catching up to their ecosystem.
“You know if Amazon had free reign to price ebooks as they wanted, more consumers would be happy.”
Sure. But they don’t have that free reign. Like I say, the publishers have pricing power. More consumers would be happy if Netflix could stream them lots of recently released movies in HD at a low all-you-can-eat price too…
“Every time I buy books, I price out what it would cost me for the ebooks and it has never been less than the physical copy.”
Back before the publisher/Amazon spat, Amazon was selling lots and lots and lots of e-books below cost to drive Kindle adoption. I did the math at one point and figured I could pay for the Kindle in six months or so in the savings I’d get by buying e-books instead of dead-tree books.
But I actually prefer the dead-tree form factor, and was willing to pay a premium for it. You seem to prefer that form factor as well. But I think we’re either in the minority now, or are soon to be in the minority. Which is actually nice, since it means we’ll probably continue to get a discount for our preference for a while.
I really appreciate not having to carry a phone, camera, appointment book, email reader and an ereader. What in the world do you imagine would convince me to start carrying dedicated devices again?
“I really appreciate not having to carry a phone, camera, appointment book, email reader and an ereader. What in the world do you imagine would convince me to start carrying dedicated devices again?”
You don’t carry the e-reader with you.
You keep it at home, and only bring it with you on vacations.
You read via your phone game console on your daily commuting routine, if you like reading books on a phone screen. (General purpose tablet game consoles also do the trick, but that’s more carrying.)
Similarly, you buy a dedicated camera if you need capabilities beyond what your phone provides in that department. This ain’t complicated.
Remon,
Because I can read my “books” in the sun and while I’d rather not see the Kindle destroyed by water or stolen, the loss would be much more acceptable than losing my phone. I enjoyed it at the pool several days in Vegas over a long July 4th recovery weekend:
https://zatznotfunny.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/dave-kindle1.jpg
Also about a month of battery life is pretty compelling. Don’t have to travel with a charger.
Chucky, my mom carries her Kindle in a ziplock bag in her purse everywhere she goes. But she doesn’t have a smartphone or camera. ;)
“I enjoyed it at the pool several days in Vegas over a long July 4th recovery weekend”
Funny rehab. I’m glad you cropped the IV bag out of the picture in the interests grabbing of a pure bling shot, though leaving it in would’ve had a certain artistic appeal.
Heh, well the trip was booked months before I knew I needed surgery and non-refundable so we had to go – but it was something of a subdued getaway despite the venue. Fortunately, the sprawling pool deck was quite nice and somewhat shaded until mid day. After nearly four weeks of healing, I’ve managed to get a ton of e-reading in and obviously have thoughts to share. Like I said, got another post in the pipeline. :)
Amazon’s Eco-System will win the day. Probably.
Yup Dedicated readers have their place. I would never take my $599 iPad poolside. And like you say it wouldn’t work in the sun anyway. Yet the Mirage pool had lots of Kindles around it. And all kinds of users. Young and old.
And yes, we’ll see $99 before this Christmas.
Personally I’m more interested in Amazon’s coming entry to the full function tablet space this year. But clearly that’s not where the sales are going to be.
I don’t really see any company other than Amazon or Barnes & Noble succeeding in the US insofar as stand-alone e-readers are concerned. I think, for the next few years it’ll be AMZ and B&N duopoly against Apple.
Speaking of which, I still can’t get over the fact that Cupertino bent publishing industry to their will and convinced them to switch to agency model despite Amazon’s best efforts. That was a huge loss to consumers. Instead of buying $9.99 and under e-books, we are now paying a few bucks over hardcover price (and, obviously, there are some examples when Amazon prices are even wackier).
I’m a pretty staunch supporter of e-books and invested in both Kindle and Nook ecosystems, but even I have my limits, so I recently purchased a couple hundred dollars worth of hardcover books (mostly used) each of which ended up being cheaper than a respective e-book (sometimes, there was no e-book version either).
Anyway, back to devices. WSJ report is really intriguing; it’s been assumed that Kindle4 will be like new Nook and Kobo touch-screen device, so what will the second device be? If I had to guess, I’d say that Amazon will keep current form-factor around but slash the price on it (perhaps even to the supposedly-magic $99 mark) and have a touchscreen e-ink reader at current price points.
“Speaking of which, I still can’t get over the fact that Cupertino bent publishing industry to their will and convinced them to switch to agency model despite Amazon’s best efforts.”
Smart move by the publishers.
Allowing Amazon to further entrench their position in the e-book market would’ve eventually threatened their pricing power. The publishers wanted Amazon to have competitors.
The only way it backfires is if Apple continues apace to take over the world, which I don’t think to be the most likely outcome.
Chucky — as you know, Amazon had tried to establish $9.99 price for new release e-books and the industry probably should’ve stuck to lower(er) price points for a few more years to get wider adoption. If you recall, pretty much all music was 99 cents until fairly recently; somewhat ironic that a champion of single price point for songs (Apple) changed their mind when it came to a market they were way behind in (e-books).
In theory, publishers should have played Apple and Amazon against each other, but I believe the victory belonged to Apple and everyone else, including consumers, lost in the end.
Hey Dave,
You forgot about the Kobo from Borders.
http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_kobotouch
Nope, didn’t forget.
https://twitter.com/#!/davezatz/status/91243484270444545
They’re irrelevant at the moment. Borders isn’t long for this world and even with something like Google Books, I don’t think Kobo will make a dent in the US market any time soon. Or ever. That’s not to say their latest device isn’t appealing (thin, smooth zoom, etc), but if no one knows they exist and their primary book reseller folds it doesn’t much matter.
https://zatznotfunny.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/border-closed.jpg
“Chucky — as you know, Amazon had tried to establish $9.99 price for new release e-books and the industry probably should’ve stuck to lower(er) price points for a few more years to get wider adoption.”
I’m genuinely not sure if you’re correct here from the publisher POV. I can see it both ways, though I’d lean towards a higher price point.
But if the publishers didn’t have their spat with Amazon, and had tried to set a $9.99 price point, Amazon just would’ve sold those books at $7.99.
“In theory, publishers should have played Apple and Amazon against each other”
See, that’s part of what I think they were doing by having their spat with Amazon.
The spat was about 1) preserving their ability to set prices, and 2) not letting Amazon cement its dominance in the e-reader space.
So, by trying to prevent Amazon from cementing its dominance, they were trying to allow Apple (and others) to play against one another.
Well, Borders is being shuttered so that’s one of the potential competitors gone:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-bye-bye-borders-chain-shuttering-all-remaining-stores/
Makes me wonder pretty seriously about Barnes & Noble’s long term viability as well honestly, given that most of the things wrong with Borders are also with B&N in the long run (ebooks killing book stores, shrinking margins, increasing debt). Given the DRM lock in of eBooks, I’d have to seriously think about their long term viability if I were going to invest in a Nook myself.
“Given the DRM lock in of eBooks, I’d have to seriously think about their long term viability if I were going to invest in a Nook myself.”
If Apple weren’t so otherwise focused, they’d produce a single-purpose e-reader to compete with the Kindle.
It wouldn’t be based on the iOS codebase – they’d have to farm the OS out to a third party the way they did with the original iPod, (which invisibly continues with the iPod Classic). All it would display is stuff you get in the iBooks app in iOS.
That way, they’d be genuinely competitive with Amazon on ecosystem concerns, and prevent Amazon from ending up with a semi-monopoly on e-readers. It’d be smart for Apple long-term, but I don’t think Apple is very smart about long-term thinking these days. Après Steve-o’s short lifespan, le déluge.
@Chucky — it’d be interesting to see Apple’s eInk device, but I agree that it’s not going to happen. It’s all about iPads.