Economy, Ebooks, And What Else Hurting Local Economy

I went pick up an iPad 3G for a family friend since I don't mind visiting the store from time to time to check out the foot traffic and such. Afterwards, I headed over to Borders to hang out a bit and get some reading and organize my thoughts.

A couple of years ago, I would not have been able to find a table to sit down at. Last night (if I recall correctly, the last time as well) I was able to browse around and then sit down at one of three tables that were not occupied. In the past, if I really wanted to wait for a table, I would have had to hover a bit and then finally, if luck would have it, find a table just as someone was leaving.

Last night the traffic there was light. Okay, it's a Monday night. I'm gonna try to go a couple of more times this week to see how it really is during the week day but I've got a feeling things are not going to be any better.

I also noted a cut in hours at Borders as well. It used to be opened until eleven PM each night while it closes at midnight on Friday and Saturday. Now, it closes at ten every night except for Sunday, which closes at a shocking seven PM.

I wonder if this is just more than a bad economy at work here. Perhaps the shoppers have gone online to Amazon with better deals, free shipping, and not taxes in some states like CA (you're suppose to report your sales tax amount when you file your tax returns but let's be honestly, very few folks do).

How about ebooks? Can that also impact book sales as well?

I see places like Borders, much like the library was a generation or two ago, as the epicenter for social interactions. Regardless of where you get your books these days, bookstores, even mega chains like Borders and Barnes and Noble, offer an opportunity to discover books.

I like the people there and I hope things turn around soon. I happen to live in an area with access to three or four other bookstores and cafes (with a bit of driving) but not everyone will go to the length I would to try working in different environments.

Again, I really hope things turn around soon. I think I will rethinking options about buying ebooks and supporting the local economy a bit more. Also about saving trees versus the pleasure of flipping through a magazine or a book.

Cheaper Readers Coming. Maybe Even Free And New Store Models

I've got three different Audible.com accounts. Essentially, if I sign up with Audible for a year, I got a $100 credit towards any MP3 player I wanted from Amazon. So can Amazon or Barnes and Noble essentially do the same thing with ebooks?

Subscriptions. If publishers can be persuaded to offer books at a lower price in exchange for volume or a promise of minimum cut, it is possible for ebookstores to offer subscriptions to books much like Audible is doing and give users a discount on compatible readers.

And with pricing dropping due to competing readers and stores, i wouldn't be surprised that prices may drop to $99 for the WiFi-only Kindle or Nook in 2011.

Bundles. An alternative for attracting readers may be to bundle books based on authors or series.

For instance, buy the whole Ender series, the buyer can knock off $25 of the Nook. Will this work? If SciFi doesn't fancy the reader, maybe the whole Jack Ryan series will get you $50 off a Kindle.

For years, game console makers, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, have bundled hardware with selected accessories and games or services. Therefore, publishers of literatures like their video game counterparts would, should, be open to such an arrangement.

As booksellers, Amazon, Borders, and BN should do whatever is necessary to embrace the new ebook market. There is still a lot of growing to do. That means mistakes but it also would mean opportunities to experiment with new business models.

If you are offered a discounted or free reader from ebook sellers but in exchange, you have to buy books you're going to buy anyway, why not take it?


-- Post From My iPad

Despite iPad Success, eReaders Might Be Harder To Kill Off Than Expected

Maybe Amazon and Barnes And Noble are going about this the wrong way. Maybe Kobo Reader has it right after all. How so?

Maybe digital book readers should be a combination of the follow two factors that Kobo reader has:  simplicity and a relatively low price (though recently, the Kindle and Nook both had about $50 chopped off their retail price).  

Kindle/Nook Versus "Just Readers. Until the Kindle came on the scene, readers were fairly expensive and it was not easy to upload books into these readers.  Kindle made that iPod-like simple and has since been joined by Sony Reader and the Nook.  However, despite Amazon's claims of success, there is still no figure provided by Amazon about how many Kindles were actually sold and how may ebooks have been bought by Kindle owners since its debut.

But Kobo with its simple read-only device isn't shy about saying how well it's done in New Zealand.  According to Stuff, the first two batches of thousands of Kobo readers have sold out and a third batch is on the way in July.  And with books costing $10-15 (7.15-10.75 USD), this is cheaper than even what Amazon, BN, and Apple sells.

Kobo - Cinderella Reader? So what has made the Kobo such a large success?  It is more simple than the Kindle to install books?  First, the Kobo reader has no 3G or wireless access so the reader would need to buy books form a computer and then install it on the reader.  That might be cumbersome but it isn't any different from what many users do to sync media with Apple's mobile iOS devices for nearly a decade now.

What likely makes Kobo a success is that it just lets the user reader books.  It does not nothing else.  Just read.  And quite frankly, I, and likely many readers, find that refreshing.  I was not always impressed with the Kindle because it has a lot of features and yet it does none of them well.  Then along came the Nook and it was great to see the Kindle with a competitor and while it was based on Google's Android OS, my complaints against it was the same as that of the Kindle. It has features other than being a reader but none of them are easy to use.

Then the iPad came along but let's be honest. It's a great tablet and Apple has been hugely successful by selling three million iPads in just 80 days.  The complaints I had against the Nook and Kindle were solved with the iPad but the iPad isn't a great reader.  I've read only two books on it since I got it and I've got five others to read and I've been putting it off.  Plus, the iPad with its plethora of features, apps, and multimedia functions are a distraction.

And that's where readers like Kobo are different and might find success.  The Kobo reader just let users read books.  And just like a book, it offers no distraction.  When BN released a 3G-less Nook last week at $150, I nearly pulled the trigger (I've already bought two Nooks for family members) on it.  But then the old complaints about it still exist.  Honestly, trying to browse the Web or play games on the Kindle and Nook is very maddening and suffocating.

Borders is currently offering the Kobo reader for pre-order in the US.  So for anyone looking for a dedicated reader that is free from half-baked features like the Kindle or the Nook or isn't in the market for a full-featured tablet like the iPad, I definitely encourage anyone in the market for a good digital book reader to take a look at Kobo reader.  

So I think Kobo and other readers should do well in the market long-term.  I also foresee a significant price drop in the next year or so.  At $150 (Borders price), the Kobo is a still mildly expensive so it isn't out of the realm of possibility to see a $25-$50 decrease in the retail price.  Heck, just wait until a Chinese company come out with a $50-$75 reader in the next year or two.  

Conclusion.  The iPad is a success and its the standard bearer for tablets.  The Kindle and Nook will try to add features because the companies that produced them will try to match them with the tablets feature for feature.  But at the end of the day, book lovers just want to read.  And that where Kobo and others will dominate.

More at Teleread, Stuff, Kobo, And Borders (Kobo's Page)

Note: I've included a link for Borders' Kobo reader page but I don't have any interest (ie. associate link) from any sale of the reader.

eBooks And Possibly Paying Taxes On Devices To Read Them

We believe that Amazon is doing quite a number on the number of eBooks since the Kindle came out. It's not sure just how the shift away traditional to digital copies has resulted with the number of ebook readers on the market. After stating they've sold 2 million iPads, Apple said 5 million books have been downloaded.

It's not known how many of those are free and what the percentage of the iPad owners have downloaded iBooks, Apple's dedicated ebook app reader. Still, it's quite impressive. Personally, I can't wait to see how much more growth Apple, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble can generate through 2010.

Barnes And Noble's Nook is a popular device and I imagine the bookseller, which based it on Android OS, will expand its usability and entice more people to its popular platform for reading. Recently, BN updated the Nook for Web browsing and added games as well.

Of course, it'll be a while before the Kindle and Nook matches the iPad in its multi-use and ecosystem. Therefore, I'm looking for near-term growth in ebook consumption from additional iPad sales and sales of other tablets running on Android and Windows through 2011. As of now, I'm not seeing the love from Amazon and Barnes and Noble on my G1. Plus, we'll see Google get into the game soon.

Taxing your iPad and Droid. During a brainstorming session, one of the "brilliant" (lots and lots of sarcasm here) idea is to tax mobile devices to save the print industry. Absolutely brilliant. Of course, some EU nations tax music players to save the music industry there.

Furthermore, Rassmussen Reports released some polling results showing very little support for this concept. So, tax devices that people when they exercise but, wow, don't tax our sugared and other high-calorie snacks. Brilliant guys.

More at Teleread.

Optimal Size For a Tablet

3.5". Or 10" as what Apple put in the iPad?

Dell's new Android based slate has a 5" screen. Barnes and Noble's Nook offers a 6". So what's the perfect size?

I suppose it depends on what you want to do with it. The iPad offer a good size for viewing documents and the Internet. And as with any video, the bigger the screen the better.

Plus, it offers a semi-full sized keyboard for two hand typing. However, it does take some getting used to. In the beginning, I found it not as easy as typing on the iPhone with my thumbs but it did get better over time.

So it brings me to thumb-typing. I think for folks who complained about typing on a touch-screen, it probably works better then the screen is bigger. I think the ideal size is 4-5 inches though I'm doing quite well on the 3.5" on the iPhone.

At the end of the day though, the onscreen keyboard does play a role in how well the typing experience goes. I simply am unable to type as fast with the Android keyboard. From verion 1.0 to 1.5 to 1.6 to 2.1, Google has made noticeable improvement. Supposedly, 2.2 is even better but even Google engineers say they've got a lot way to go.

Having said that, my experience typing on the Nexus One has lead me to believe that 5-7" screen size would be optimal for a user who want to thumb-type no matter of the OS platform used. Plus, a tablet or slate that is 5-7" should wait much less than the iPad which weighs in at 1.5".

I'm sure we'll see a wide range of screen sizes. Pretty sure we'll see ones bigger than 10". It's a matter of balancing the user's needs.

I'm happy with the 10" iPad because of the large screen that works for both productivity as well as entertainment. Eventually, I think I'll probably have with a smaller size tablet to serve as my mobile communication center when I don't find the need to take the iPad with me. I would be fine with something that has a 5" screen.

On balance, I would be looking for a 7" tablet because it can as a mini iPad that can fit in my jacket or a small messenger bag.

eBook Reader Not For Everyone - My Nook Opinion

eBook readers are another class of mobile devices but a very limited one. I think there are many folks who are in love with the Kindle and other forms of readers like the Sony Reader and the newcomer, Nook. But for what it is, it's quite limited. Here's why.

For mobile warriors like myself who are somewhat also power users, an ereader with its obvious singular function is not going to satify all the other mobile computing needs. Anyone who buys an ereader will know that. Argument closed. But keep in mind that these readers also have wireless connection with mobile service providers. Personally, I think it's just a shame that these devices with dedicated wireless connection are limited to one function.

The Kindle has a rudimentary browser with limited access. The Nook, which I am fortunate to have in my hand, is based on Android, Google's mobile OS, and, yet, all that power is wasted. For instance, the Nook limits me to browse the election of books in Barnes and Noble's ebook store. Where are the apps? Where are the Google web services?

I think once avid readers have had their fill of these readers, ereader developers will need to move to the next step and offer other functions to these reader that will allow users to do more than just read.

• I want to be able to check e-mails. 
• I want Facebook and other social access so I can share thoughts on books with other readers.
• I want basic Internet access.
• I want Google webapps.
• I want multi-touch - it was maddening to trying to press the e-ink screen thinking that I could just touch the selections I want.  I took a while to get used to the fact that I'm limited to the 3" color screen on the Nook.  It was like when I got my G1 and I was constantly trying to do the pinch gesture that I had been used to on the iPhone.

Eventually, these readers will gain enough functions where the link between this class of mobile devices and that of an emerging class of mobile tablets will be blurred.  In fact, I'm hoping that Apple's forthcoming tablet will be the first step towards that. 

A note on the Nook:  Man, is that thing slow.  I love the design and the black and white screen for reading is just superb.  But navigation is just painful.  There ought to be an update in the next week or two.  We'll see if things changed.

BN Gets Back Into eBook Market; Kindle Can't Catch Break

Last week, we reported how Amazon stole back some books it sold to Kindle owners. It will come back to haunt them. Believe me. It's not the kind of news that you want if you're trying to promote your ereader to the masses.

Well, that just got more difficult as Barnes and Noble just announced their intentions to get back into the eBook market that it had started but abandoned because of demand and, though they will never admit it, higher ebooks prices than what users pay for traditional books.

And prices will be what count for most folks I know and especially in a recession. Even the rich and super rich as affected so it says a lot for poor folks like us. So, Kindle's recent price drop is a good start (now starting at $299), it'll need to go lower when Barnes and Noble along with ereader partner,

Right now, go to BN's eBook site and it'll tell you to come back Summer 2009. Well, the press release helps explain why it's summer and we've seen nothing yet. So, what are to expect? Keep in mind that BN bought Fictionwise who bought eReader.com earlier. So, there's been a lot of activities in the eBook market.

• 700,000 books - world's largest ebook store - to reach 1MM shortly
• 700,000 public domain books from Google.
• Works on Macs, PCs, the iPhone platform, Windows Mobile, RIM smartphones
• Upgraded version of ereader software coming. Free books as well.
• BN app for the iPhone includes ability to buy products directly from BN.com
• Support for ePub e-book standard. This is most excellent.

Great. What does that mean for mobile readers? Competition to start. Not just on book prices but also hardware. BN entered into a deal with Plastic Logic to use its reader.

Kindle and Sony eReader has had the market all to itself and while it's good to see the Kindle's price drop, it is still much considering it main function to to serve as a digital book reader. The DX is nice but at $489, only the select few can afford something like that.

ZDNet article writer said it best. He had been planning on getting an iPod Touch until this announcement. He was not thinking about getting a Kindle. Why? Because an iPod Touch can do more than let the user read books. More than that, he neglected to say it has something to do with the price of Kindle.

But we're all assuming that BN's reader will be priced competitively. If not, who cares? We've got mobile devices and smartphones to use. As long as BN and Amazon start hammering each other on ebook prices, I'm cool with just that.

Note: I had also been planning on upgrading my iPod Touch later this year when the new model comes out with the iPhone 3GS' internals. What I'm waiting for is the fabled Apple tablet. Absent that, BN's reader jumps ahead of Kindle given the prank that Amazon pulled last week.