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Regardless of the position of this article, Amazon has agreed with the public that revoking these books was an inappropriate action for Amazon to take, and has
by Skeuomorph 17y ago
Regardless of the position of this article, Amazon has agreed with the public that revoking these books was an inappropriate action for Amazon to take, and has said it will not take that action in the future.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/drm/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218501227 http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/drm/showAr...
As for the enemy being DRM itself instead of Amazon, I'm not sure it's DRM as much as fragmented or proprietary 'standards' that are the problem for casual users just trying to experience frictionless media. Consider the cross-device annoyances of unprotected WMV, DIVX, or Flash, for example. I understand why Amazon and Sony want to protect their "software" sales, but am disappointed that these protected books are not cross compatible. Both ebook stores have a limited selection, yet each device meets a usability niche.
On that point, I also would argue against the final jab from the article:
"can we stop making silly comparisons between the Kindle and Sony's or whoever's two-bit book reader that no one's ever heard of?"
In December 2008, Sony said that it had sold 300,000 units of its Sony Reader since the device launched end of 2006. Meanwhile, TechCrunch says Kindle sold 189,000 units in 2008.
Originally, however, the Sony Reader was available only through Sony and Borders. Sony began selling its Reader and related accessories in Target stores at the end of 2008.
By mid-2009, Sony Readers are sold at Apple stores, Best Buy, Borders, Brookstone, Costco, Fry's, Office Depot, Sam's Club, Sears, Staples, Target, Walgreens, Walmart, and many web retailers including Amazon. It is also available in the UK in Waterstone's, Dixons, and more. The Kindle is available from Amazon.com in the US only.
Given the Sony Reader's wide retail distribution, it's unlikely "no one's ever heard of" it, and purely anecdotally, I feel I see more of them on planes.
(Disclosure: I own an original Sony PRS-500, a newer Sony PRS-505, and a Kindle DX. My leisure books are on the Sony Reader for ergonomics, battery life, and travel. My technical books and documents, both Word and PDFs, are on the Kindle DX for the screen size, though it needs to be recharged from dead every few days.)
- randomwalker 17y ago"Regardless of the position of this article, Amazon has agreed with the public that revoking these books was an inappropriate action for Amazon to take, and has said it will not take that action in the future." I am aware of that, and indeed Amazon's ability to see right from wrong and admit that they messed up is part of what prompted me to write the article. "In December 2008, Sony said that it had sold 300,000 units of its Sony Reader since the device launched end of 2006. Meanwhile, TechCrunch says Kindle sold 189,000 units in 2008." Point taken. Perhaps I was biased by my own anecdotal observations. I've seen half a dozen Kindles "in the wild," i.e, not counting early adopter friends, but not one Sony Reader. But in terms of the data, note that you're comparing Sony's worldwide sales with Kindle sales in the U.S. Besides, the numbers you quote are from Mark Mahaney, who later revised his estimates to 500k for 2008, which would mean almost a million up until now. http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20090203/citi-says-amazon-sold-500000-kindles-last-year-12-billion-business-next-year/ http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20090203/citi-says-amazon-so...