... that my $50 e-reader idea is passe.
I've run into a couple of cheap e-readers in the $50-$80 range lately, but they're no-wifi, good-for-nothing-except-reading-books machines. Who'd pay that much for that little when multi-function, wifi-enabled Android tablets are now breaking into the sub-$100 range?
Take a look at the specs for that $99 Android 4 ("Ice Cream Sandwich") tablet, the Novo7. It's got a 1GHz CPU. It's got wifi. Two built-in cameras. Capacitive touch screen with "multi-touch" capability.
I'm still quite happy with my $130 Android 2.x Cruz Reader, which I've had for most of a year now, but we're talking iPad-level tech for less than a hundred bucks now. I'm already juggling my budget numbers to figure out how I can afford one.
So, the dedicated e-reader died before it hit the $50 price point. Yeah, I'm sure they'll be going for less than $50 in discount bins soon but I was talking about as a retail launch product.
The new price range is $99-$199 -- Novo7 at the low end, Amazon's Kindle Fire at the high end -- for a tablet that does the e-reader thing and a whole lot more.
But no, none of these are "iPad killers." The iPad's price will probably drift down into the $250-$300 range for a wifi-only model, but Apple fans will continue to be willing to pay a little more for their favorite company's products.
Showing posts with label Kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kindle. Show all posts
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Friday, August 27, 2010
Notes toward a Market Requirements Doc for a true mass-market ereader
I know we're going to get there eventually, but I'd rather not wait.
No, I'm not going to pony up $150-$200 for a Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader or Kobo. Ain't gonna happen.
Right now, I buy most of my dead-tree books used for $5 or less, shipping included. No way am I going to spend the price of 30-40 books (assuming I read one book per week, that's the better part of a year's reading!) on a device to read books with.
The max price point needs to be no more than $50, preferably less. $50 is my line of separation between "purchase requiring household discussion and perhaps earmarked savings" and "something I'll either jump on immediately or talk myself into by the time I've walked past the end cap display at Micro Center a couple of times."
For that price, some hardware concessions are obviously in order.
It doesn't have to sport color graphics (good contrast control and a backlight are enough).
It doesn't have to be able to store a bazillion books. It needs to be able to store several, but not a bazillion, as long as I can change them out and store what I'm not reading on my computer's hard drive or a thumb drive or something.
The battery life doesn't have to be stellar. For that matter it doesn't have to have a built-in rechargeable battery. I'll pop for the AAs or AAAs.
It doesn't have to offer Wi-Fi or 3G/4G connectivity (I'm willing to download the books to my computer and port them via USB).
It doesn't have to support multiple file standards. The ePub format strikes me as the likeliest candidate, PDF a distant second.
It doesn't have to support Digital Rights Management. As a matter of fact I'd rather it didn't.
On the other hand, there's one inducement which might lead me to tolerate DRM or some other scheme for keeping me tied to your store for my e-book needs: Cheap book prices.
If you'll sell me a cheap device and make reasonably new titles available for $3-5, and price current bestsellers at no more than $7-$10, I'll probably accept DRM.
Hell, I'll even willingly pony up a buck apiece for all those old public domain titles (Ivanhoe, Les Miserables, GK Chesterton's stuff, etc.) that I read for free on Stanza or Bookworm now, if I can read them in bed on an inexpensive, back-lit, hand-held device.
The company that brings a device to market meeting the above specs (plus one more spec -- it can't fall apart after a month) can count on selling me the device, and on a perpetual revenue stream from my wallet somewhere in the low double digits per month.
Update, 08/31: I follow up here.
No, I'm not going to pony up $150-$200 for a Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader or Kobo. Ain't gonna happen.
Right now, I buy most of my dead-tree books used for $5 or less, shipping included. No way am I going to spend the price of 30-40 books (assuming I read one book per week, that's the better part of a year's reading!) on a device to read books with.
The max price point needs to be no more than $50, preferably less. $50 is my line of separation between "purchase requiring household discussion and perhaps earmarked savings" and "something I'll either jump on immediately or talk myself into by the time I've walked past the end cap display at Micro Center a couple of times."
For that price, some hardware concessions are obviously in order.
It doesn't have to sport color graphics (good contrast control and a backlight are enough).
It doesn't have to be able to store a bazillion books. It needs to be able to store several, but not a bazillion, as long as I can change them out and store what I'm not reading on my computer's hard drive or a thumb drive or something.
The battery life doesn't have to be stellar. For that matter it doesn't have to have a built-in rechargeable battery. I'll pop for the AAs or AAAs.
It doesn't have to offer Wi-Fi or 3G/4G connectivity (I'm willing to download the books to my computer and port them via USB).
It doesn't have to support multiple file standards. The ePub format strikes me as the likeliest candidate, PDF a distant second.
It doesn't have to support Digital Rights Management. As a matter of fact I'd rather it didn't.
On the other hand, there's one inducement which might lead me to tolerate DRM or some other scheme for keeping me tied to your store for my e-book needs: Cheap book prices.
If you'll sell me a cheap device and make reasonably new titles available for $3-5, and price current bestsellers at no more than $7-$10, I'll probably accept DRM.
Hell, I'll even willingly pony up a buck apiece for all those old public domain titles (Ivanhoe, Les Miserables, GK Chesterton's stuff, etc.) that I read for free on Stanza or Bookworm now, if I can read them in bed on an inexpensive, back-lit, hand-held device.
The company that brings a device to market meeting the above specs (plus one more spec -- it can't fall apart after a month) can count on selling me the device, and on a perpetual revenue stream from my wallet somewhere in the low double digits per month.
Update, 08/31: I follow up here.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Yes, I'd like one of those handheld book-reading gadgets
And I'm willing to pay as much as $29.95 for it. $49.95 if it features wireless connectivity so I can download the books directly instead of having to plug it into a USB port on my computer. Maybe even $99.95 if it lets me browse the web, too.
Speaking of the books, I'm willing to pay 99 cents for classic titles, $1.99 for books from the general current catalog, and $2.99 for current or recent best-sellers. Or if the machine does have web capabilities, make the classics "free" and stuff'em full of ads.
Think of this post as an MRD or RFP of sorts. $199, $299 or $489 just won't work for me. For that kind of money I can buy a cheap new or expensive used netbook or laptop (or, come November, a spanking new Crunchpad!) and rely on Project Gutenberg, Lulu et al to keep me in e-reading material. Or, you know, real books.
Speaking of the books, I'm willing to pay 99 cents for classic titles, $1.99 for books from the general current catalog, and $2.99 for current or recent best-sellers. Or if the machine does have web capabilities, make the classics "free" and stuff'em full of ads.
Think of this post as an MRD or RFP of sorts. $199, $299 or $489 just won't work for me. For that kind of money I can buy a cheap new or expensive used netbook or laptop (or, come November, a spanking new Crunchpad!) and rely on Project Gutenberg, Lulu et al to keep me in e-reading material. Or, you know, real books.
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