e-book readers | Brown Book Loft Blog

Posts Tagged ‘e-book readers’

Growth In E-Book Reader Market Spells Good News For Independents

January 27, 2010

Electronic book readers have been available for quite some time now. The Franklin eBookman is generally considered to have been the first and launched in 1999, over a decade ago. Other readers slowly appeared – the Sony PRS launched in 2006 and the first Amazon Kindle hit the streets in November of 2007.

2009 was however, the year that e-book readers seemed to really catch the public imagination. A great deal of the credit for this must go to Amazon. The Kindle 2.0 launch in February, rapidly followed by the launch of the large format Kindle DX in June created a real buzz around e-book readers and established them as the “must have” gadget of the year. Very rapidly, the Kindle became Amazon’s best selling product. Over the 2009 festive period it became Amazon’s “most gifted” product ever. On Christmas day, Amazon sold more Kindle books than they did hardbacks and paperbacks combined. Both Barnes and Noble and Sony had launched new readers in advance of the 2009 Xmas rush – but concerns over delivery combined with the fact that the Kindle was already so well recognised meant that Amazon’s dominance continued.

There is no shortage of e-book readers to choose from right now. There is a long, and impressive list, of manufacturers who now have their readers on the market, or who are developing them for release in the very near future. Industry analysts are anticipating that 2010 will be a big year for e-book readers and the level of sales is expected to increase.

It is effectively a brand new market sector which didn’t exist, at least not in any meaningful way, until very recently. Apart from the companies who manufacture e-book readers, there are implications for publishers, educational institutions, independent suppliers and of course, the reading public.

The sudden creation of this sector has been very good news for companies like M-Edge, who supply a wide range of accessories for the Kindle, including reading lights, covers, chargers and such. There are many other suppliers of this type of accessory who also stand to profit. Currently, much of the focus is, quite understandably, on the Kindle reader. However, as the market expands and other readers establish themselves there will be further opportunities for the third party accessory suppliers.

The e-book reader market is still nascent. It is growing and developing at an incredible rate. Amazon has been instrumental in the development of the market to date and enjoys a 60% share of the American market as a result. Their dominance will be strongly challenged in 2010, as will Sony’s current second place (with a 35% market share). However, this new market offers plenty of opportunity for companies with the vision and innovative skills to establish themselves at this early stage.

Check out Amazon’s Kindle reader and learn how you can save money by downloading free Kindle books – right from Amazon’s website.

Digital Textbooks – Saving Money And Benefiting Students

December 16, 2009

The world of academic publishing is perhaps not the first thing that many people would think of when considering new and innovative technology. So it may be somewhat surprising to learn that it is exactly this very arena which is driving huge changes in the way that we read books.

The Amazon Kindle ebook reader was first launched in November 2007. At that time, it didn’t really register in the academic community. When the new Kindle 2 was released in February 2009 there was perhaps a little more interest – but not that much.

It was only with the announcement of Amazon’s Kindle DX that it became clear that our reading habits were about to be subject to major modification. The large screen of the DX, coupled with its native pdf file handling ability, made it ideal for academic textbooks containing large quantities of graphs and pictures.

Educational establishments quickly cottoned on to the fact that they could save money by using digital textbooks and e-book readers. Without the cost of paper or ink, and with none of the distribution fees which would normally be required for a physical product, e-books are a much cheaper alternative to a conventional paper book. Considerable financial savings could be made by schools, colleges and universities by making the switch to electronic textbooks.

In addition to financial considerations, updating of electronic media is much faster and easier. Currently, there is an average gap of seven years between revisions of standard textbooks. A change to digital textbooks would allow much more frequent revision and help to keep textbooks up to date and current.

Another benefit which is of interest to many academic establishments is the environmental aspects of electronic books and e-book readers. Even considering the materials used in the manufacture of the readers and the electricity required to operate them they are much more eco-friendly than the normal paper based alternative.

Whatever way you choose to look at it, the introduction of electronic textbooks makes perfect sense. They are already in use in many educational establishments and, when you look at all the potential benefits outlined above, it seems highly likely that their usage can be expected to increase rapidly in the near future.

Find out more about Amazon’s Kindle reader – including how to save money by downloading free Kindle ebooks.

E-Book Readers – What Does The Future Hold?

November 25, 2009

In February 2009, when Amazon updated their Kindle e-book reader with the release of the improved and enhanced Kindle 2 reader, it was the only reader offering the facility of wireless connection. It took until June of this year for another reader to offer a similar wireless connection service. Even then, that competing reader was Amazon’s large format Kindle DX, which was specifically aimed at the newspaper, magazin and academic textbook audience.

It looked like the only competition to Amazon was Amazon itself. There were certainly no other serious challengers in sight.

Even now, in late November 2009, there are no readers outside of the Amazon Kindle family which offer wireless functionality. Amazon have enjoyed a commanding lead for some time now.

But that is about to change. Sony will be launching their new Daily Edition reader around about the middle of December and Barnes and Noble’s Nook is planned to hit the stores at approximately the same time.

Both of these readers have wireless functionality and some additional features, such as touch screen controls which will, in many people’s eyes, put them ahead of the current Kindles. The Daily Edition reader even allows users to borrow e-books from participating public libraries.

The Nook will allow its users to access a collection of over 1,000,000 e-books on the Barnes and Noble website. Users will even be able to lend e-books to friends and family – just like a real book.

Whether you consider the situation from the viewpoint of technical specification or from the user features and usability angle, the Kindle may find itself in the unaccustomed role of the second, or even third place option.

Next year competition will increase even more as manufacturers start to launch large format readers to slug it out with the Kindle DX. The good news is that consumers will benefit from increased competition which will tend to force prices lower. Considering that the Kindle has now become the number one selling product for Amazon, it seems highlylikely that they will respond to this competition in a positive manner. Expect to see further device enhancements and quite possibly new services. 2010 will see convergence on a standard e-book format – probably ePub – and this, combined with reduced prices and improved functionality – should be enough to allow e-book readers to morph from high tech toys into mainstream consumer products.

Discover the Amazon Kindle reader and see the full range of Amazon Kindle accessories.