Comments on: Amazon Kindle- Show me some numbers! http://www.mobilitysite.com/2007/12/amazon-kindle-show-me-some-numbers/ Mobile News, Reviews, and Views. Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:10:21 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Future Technologies http://www.mobilitysite.com/2007/12/amazon-kindle-show-me-some-numbers/comment-page-1/#comment-2329 Future Technologies Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:45:03 +0000 http://mobilitysite.com/2007/12/amazon-kindle-show-me-some-numbers/#comment-2329 Interesting comparison between ebooks. Having read some of the comments it appears that some readers think the problem is the ebook reader being expensive. I think content and the device are both expensive for what they are, but if you had a choice you would rather pay for the Kindle and get the content cheaper. Kindle is a one-of purchase. Books are not. If I know that I have to pay $400 to get the device but each book will cost me only $1, then I know the more I use it the more I will save. In fact it may even change my reading habits. I will explore more books that I normally don't. On the other side of the scale, if Kindle is given for $50, then its very tempting to buy it because its cheap, and since ebooks are generally cheaper I can see that at some point in the future it may even out. So it seems that the current pricing is still a bit balanced in the middle and doesn't encourage paying for the device for almost free books, or get an almost free reader to read digital books. Of course Amazon can easily change its pricing model in the future. It all depends on competition now ... ----- Future Converged http://www.futureconverged.com Interesting comparison between ebooks. Having read some of the comments it appears that some readers think the problem is the ebook reader being expensive. I think content and the device are both expensive for what they are, but if you had a choice you would rather pay for the Kindle and get the content cheaper. Kindle is a one-of purchase. Books are not. If I know that I have to pay $400 to get the device but each book will cost me only $1, then I know the more I use it the more I will save. In fact it may even change my reading habits. I will explore more books that I normally don’t.

On the other side of the scale, if Kindle is given for $50, then its very tempting to buy it because its cheap, and since ebooks are generally cheaper I can see that at some point in the future it may even out.

So it seems that the current pricing is still a bit balanced in the middle and doesn’t encourage paying for the device for almost free books, or get an almost free reader to read digital books.

Of course Amazon can easily change its pricing model in the future. It all depends on competition now …
—–
Future Converged
http://www.futureconverged.com

]]> By: Pete D. http://www.mobilitysite.com/2007/12/amazon-kindle-show-me-some-numbers/comment-page-1/#comment-2327 Pete D. Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:02:08 +0000 http://mobilitysite.com/2007/12/amazon-kindle-show-me-some-numbers/#comment-2327 You are assuming the Amazon pricing will be like this forever. It most likely will not be. These are equivalent to those low "teaser" rates that banks give you on new credit cards. Presumably Amazon realized that bloggers all over the world would start writing articles like this one doing calculations to "prove" the kindle is really not expensive by making the same unproven assumption you are making. The original wording on the Amazon site, for the first 2 days after kindle was released, implied that NY Times best sellers were "always" $9.99. When articles appeared in their own forums questioning this, they changed it on about day 3 to say "unless otherwise posted". The "always" languaged lasted exactly 48 hours. And this only applies to about 100 NY Times best sellers, a tiny fraction of the entire catalog. In addition, I was unable to find any guarantee anywhere that says the EVDO is free forever. Eventually whatever deal Amazon struck with sprint will expire and will be renegotiated. There is no guarantee that monthly fees won't be added later for this service. If you recall, this is how cable TV started: basic service was free, with no commercials at first. Once lots of people bought into it, everything started getting fees attached. Oh, and they added commercials too! The fact that you "don't need a contract" for EVDO is actually a double-edged sword. No contract also applies to Amazon. They can change the deal at any time because there is no contract. In fact, even their "free" web browsing is clearly not going to stay free. The wording in the kindle manual has wording to the effect that "it's free for the time being." There may be some serious surprises in store for Kindle owners in the future regarding fees. In my opinion, devices must stand on their own merits unless there are guarantees about how long special pricing on content will last. And devices that are open and do not lock you into a single vendor are preferable. You are assuming the Amazon pricing will be like this forever. It most likely will not be. These are equivalent to those low “teaser” rates that banks give you on new credit cards. Presumably Amazon realized that bloggers all over the world would start writing articles like this one doing calculations to “prove” the kindle is really not expensive by making the same unproven assumption you are making.

The original wording on the Amazon site, for the first 2 days after kindle was released, implied that NY Times best sellers were “always” $9.99. When articles appeared in their own forums questioning this, they changed it on about day 3 to say “unless otherwise posted”.

The “always” languaged lasted exactly 48 hours.

And this only applies to about 100 NY Times best sellers, a tiny fraction of the entire catalog.

In addition, I was unable to find any guarantee anywhere that says the EVDO is free forever. Eventually whatever deal Amazon struck with sprint will expire and will be renegotiated. There is no guarantee that monthly fees won’t be added later for this service. If you recall, this is how cable TV started: basic service was free, with no commercials at first. Once lots of people bought into it, everything started getting fees attached. Oh, and they added commercials too!

The fact that you “don’t need a contract” for EVDO is actually a double-edged sword. No contract also applies to Amazon. They can change the deal at any time because there is no contract.

In fact, even their “free” web browsing is clearly not going to stay free. The wording in the kindle manual has wording to the effect that “it’s free for the time being.”

There may be some serious surprises in store for Kindle owners in the future regarding fees.

In my opinion, devices must stand on their own merits unless there are guarantees about how long special pricing on content will last. And devices that are open and do not lock you into a single vendor are preferable.

]]> By: avagee http://www.mobilitysite.com/2007/12/amazon-kindle-show-me-some-numbers/comment-page-1/#comment-2324 avagee Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:12:21 +0000 http://mobilitysite.com/2007/12/amazon-kindle-show-me-some-numbers/#comment-2324 It would be interesting to see some discussion of the cost structure as well as the comparison of costs. How much does it actually cost to distribute these eBooks? It would be interesting to see some discussion of the cost structure as well as the comparison of costs. How much does it actually cost to distribute these eBooks?

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