Brown Book Loft Blog

E-books and e-book readers are a relatively new development. However, the book buying public seems to have grown accustomed to e-books very quickly. Much of the credit for that must surely be given to the Amazon Kindle reader – in particular the Kindle 2.0 which hit the market in February of 2009. The third generation Kindle was released in August of 2010 and, despite prophecies of doom for the Kindle following the release of the Apple iPad, is selling faster than ever. There can’t be much doubt that it was the Kindle 2.0 that really helped e-books to take off.

Another key factor was the large number of Kindle books on offer. Amazon has always been ahead of the chasing pack in terms of the number of titles on offer. At the moment they have more 750,000 Kindle books available on their website – and those are just the paid titles. There are also an additional 1.8 million titles which are out of copyright and are now available for download free of charge.

However, although the public seems to have accepted e-books, it’s debatable if the same can be said for many of the big publishing firms. E-books have completely revised the long established publishing cycle. It’s not just that e-books are cheaper than printed books (since they consume no paper, ink or bindings) – there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be on sale simultaneously with the hardback edition. No need to wait for the paperback, the e-book version is immediately available from day one.

Clearly, the availability of a cheaper version alongside the hardback is something which could have an impact upon the sales of hardbacks. At the moment, Amazon are shipping 180 e-books for every 100 hardbacks that they sell. This seems to have created quite a stir for many of the major publishing houses. They have already had several run ins with Amazon over the pricing of e-books.

Publishers like Penguin, Hachette and Harper Collins recently switched to the “agency model” for their e-books. What this means is that the publishers set the price rather than the retailer (Amazon). This has generated elevated prices for some e-books – with some of them actually costing more than the printed version.

Kindle owners rapidly retaliated by awarding “one star” reviews to books where they felt that the Kindle book price was excessively high. Some fairly critical comments were left on Amazon’s website – aimed at the publishers for the most part – some went so far as to suggest that potential customers boycott both the Kindle and the hardback versions until prices are set at more reasonable levels. There have already been some price reductions.

The adoption of such a profit oriented approach seems to be more than a little short sighted on the part of the publishers. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to assume that e-book readers owners read a good number of books. People who read a book a month or so are unlikely to buy an e-book reader wouldn’t you think? In other words, e-book reader owners are the target market for the major publishing houses.

It seems obvious – just even – that e-books should cost less than traditional books. Apart from the lack of paper, ink and bindings, they have no delivery fees associated with them. They are also more environmentally friendly – even when the materials used in the e-book readers themselves are taken into consideration. It seems probable that e-book reader owners would not only be able to work this out for themselves but would, quite justifiably, anticipate that the price would reflect this.

Whilst it’s not out of the question that the publisher’s tactics may help to maintain their profits in the short term, they run the risk of antagonising their best customers by adopting this approach. Artificial price fixing is likely to antagonise the buying public and, after a series of one star reviews and public calls for boycotts, authors would most likely also be discontented. Publishers have just as much to gain from the e-book revolution as the public. The savings apply on both sides of the fence, publishers save money – which should be passed on to the public. If publishers can adapt to e-books, in the same way that readers have, they may continue to thrive. On the other hand, if their desire for short term profits inures them to the possible opportunities offered by this new medium, they will be rejected by both their authors and their readers.

Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.

Amazon’s recently upgraded Kindle 3 reader is selling like hot cakes. According to Amazon, it is selling faster than any previous edition of Kindle did in the equivalent post launch period. It’s a very different scenario to the death of the Kindle which was widely forecast in the wake of the Apple iPad’s release.

In spite of all the hype surrounding the iPad, and despite the criticism about the lack of a color screen, the inability to play video and a web browser which is basic at best, Amazon has tenaciously maintained its position that the Kindle is a specialist device which is intended to be used primarily as an e-book reader. The result of this is that the Kindle reader is, by some distance,currently the best and most popular e-book reader available on the market.

The latest third generation Kindle features a host of improvements and upgrades. However, it’s clear that these are all intended to improve the performance of the Kindle as an e-book reader rather than to introduce new functions in different areas which might make the device more multi-functional.

One of the most critical characteristics for any e-book reader is the display. The already excellent e-ink technology display has had its contrast increased by 50%. This means that it is even better to read on. The display remains the same size at 6″ across the diagonal – but the overall size and weight of the Kindle has been reduced.

In addition to the size and weight reduction, modifications to the QWERTY keyboard – it now has four rows of keys instead of five – the use of smaller page turn buttons, and the repositioning of the D-pad switch, make the Kindle even easier to use with only one hand than ever. Navigating on the new Kindle is very easy indeed.

The battery life has also been extended. Up to a month between charges is now possible with the Wi-Fi switched off. Memory storage is doubled from 2GB to 4GB. That’s sufficient for up to 3,500 books.

One of the biggest innovations has to be the introduction of a Wi-Fi only model priced at only $ 139. This is perfect for someone who doesn’t have any requirement for 3G connectivity. The Wi-Fi plus 3G model is on sale for $ 189. Which one you choose will depend upon your own individual needs – but the fact that both have lifetime internet access included in the purchase price, and that there are no monthly fees, remains a big advantage for the Kindle.

Although the Kindle success story looks pretty much unstoppable right now, Amazon are not getting complacent about its ongoing development. They are actively researching color e-ink technology screens, investigating the option for touch screens that maintain the readability of the current e-ink technology and looking into ever faster refresh rates for their displays. It’s even rumoured that they might be thinking about developing other personal electronic items. Amazon is certainly not resting on its laurels.

However, it seems clear that any new technology will be introduced only when it is fully developed and at a stage where it will enhance the end user experience. Amazon are not about to release a color screen just because the iPad has one, or a touch screen simply because Sony’s reader has one. They seem determined to make their top selling e-book reader the very best – of its kind – on the market. It’s a strategy that seems to be working be very well for them.

Learn more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.