There has been a lot of talk in the Kindle blogoshpere about how the new Kindle 3 is the beginning of the end of the ebook reader wars. I think that this is a silly idea and there is plenty of room for ebook readers that are already on the market. Here is why
Defining the context
I think that the first thing that needs to done is defining what exactly an ebook reader is. In the scope of this discussion (and I think in all discussions about ebook readers) you can’t include the iPad as an ebook reader. The reason for this is because that the iPad can do a whole lot more that just read books. Yes, you can do long form reading on the device but it’s not all that it can do. I think that it can be placed into a different argument about specific ebook platforms (a Kindle reader being on all kinds of devices, iBooks or Barns & Noble’s Nook reader being on kinds of devices). However we need to make a difference between the platform and the device. So for the scope of this discussion, we’ll just be talking about the hardware devices like a Kindle, Nook, eReader, etc.
Price Point
Now that we have the question of “what is an ebook reader?” out of the way, we need to look at some of the reasons why people are saying that the war is over. The first one that I’ll tackle is price. The price for the 2 models of the Kindle is very attractive ($189 for the 3G and $139 for the wifi only version). In fact I think that they are $10 cheaper then the Nook on either product. There is nothing to say that Barns & Noble won’t be dropping their price points? Not to mention any of the other manufacturers out there (especially the sleeping giant – Sony). Their profit margins may be razor thin but they will try to make it up on people buying books on the store.
The Tech
That new eink display on the Kindle 3 looks really sharp and clear, no other device (save for the Kindle DX) has such a display. Will that always be the case? Of course not. It wouldn’t surprise me if the other manufacturers get the new display shortly or maybe skip it entirely for the newer generation of displays/readers.
It’s a constant game of cat and mouse. One company gets the ground breaking tech and then the others rush to keep pace or leap frog to the next generation.
The Features - There can be more than one
This is the meat of why the war isn’t over, people like different ways of doing things and having a choice. Do you like having a graphical interface to choose your book? Don’t like some of Amazon’s policies? Get a nook.
Do you get Amazon gift cards from your Amazon Associates account? Get a Kindle.
Do you want your kid to have a ebook reader but not the ability to buy new books or connect to the internet? Get a Sony eBook reader.
The scenarios are endless and that is why there won’t be only one app out there on the market – people want a choice in what they want to buy. It’s that reason why I object to what was called “Highlanderism” on the AMB Podcast a while ago. Everyone (mainly the press and bloggers) want to position this device or another to be a Product X Killer. That is just being plain silly.
There is also the issue of DRM. Do you want to have all of your books DRM free and in the ePub standard? Do you like eBooks with DRM? If so which kind? Again the options are endless.
Wrapping things up
Competition is good. In any walk of life or profession, being challenged to be better is a good thing. It brings out the best in you and your products. Having two or three companies fight it out for you dollar just makes the products better and the pricing more competitive. I would love to see some open standards for DRM books that all ebook readers would support but since that is a while away enjoy the competition and buy what best fits your needs. The ebook war is far from over.
