Comments on: iLiad said to be moving briskly: Kindle effect? ‘Currently out of stock’ http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:01:59 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: dbReader http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-1042522 dbReader Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:44:26 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-1042522 It is nice to see that one year later the situation with sales is more pleasant (from a customer's point of view) - even if Sony or Irex are out of stock, readers can easily choose among other devices, thanks to increased number of the market players toady. New models coming from them often surprise with advantages and original design ideas. It is nice to see that one year later the situation with sales is more pleasant (from a customer’s point of view) – even if Sony or Irex are out of stock, readers can easily choose among other devices, thanks to increased number of the market players toady. New models coming from them often surprise with advantages and original design ideas.

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-691126 David Rothman Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:35:38 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-691126 Well, Todd, as I've said, keep us posted! As for the posting problem, my apologies. Even with the anti-spam Dobermans at work, we still might not be strict enough. In the future you or anyone else should feel free to email me when a post doesn't go through (drNOSPAMteleread.org). Normally I can dig it out of of the Dobermans' stomachs, but you can include the post just in case. Thanks! David Well, Todd, as I’ve said, keep us posted! As for the posting problem, my apologies. Even with the anti-spam Dobermans at work, we still might not be strict enough. In the future you or anyone else should feel free to email me when a post doesn’t go through (drNOSPAMteleread.org). Normally I can dig it out of of the Dobermans’ stomachs, but you can include the post just in case. Thanks! David

]]> By: Todd Jonz http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-691065 Todd Jonz Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:45:01 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-691065 [NOTE: Third attempt to get this post past the spam filter. Prices and shipping costs have been expunged and URLs have been removed or obfuscated.] David asks: <blockquote><i>I wonder what would explain the different situations. What’s the name and URL of the U.S. distributor you’re dealing with?</i></blockquote> The list of national distributors on the iRex web site pointed me to "eReaderOutfitters dot com." By tossing in a few extra bucks for second day shipping I hope to have semi-instant gratification tomorrow. <blockquote><i>Meanwhile enjoy your new iLiad!</i></blockquote> I'm sure I shall. It will certainly provide a better reading experience than my trusty Palm TX, which is about to be replaced by an iPod Touch. Talk about gizmophile heaven — I'll have two new e-readers to play with by the end of the week! The reasons for my specific interest in the iLiad are probably probably much different than most folks here. I'm a very active amateur musician, and I'm going to try to unburden myself of several heavy folders and "fakebooks" of sheet music. The iLiad was my device of choice for this application since it has the largest screen currently available and supports annotation. I'm still not sure if the display will be large enough for this purpose, but I'll find out soon. What I <i>really</i> want is a Hanlin V9, but according to an item that appeared today on MobileRead there are production problems that will delay it from hitting the street until June at the earliest (and <i>that's</i> according to the manufacturers' undoubtedly optimistic estimates.) [NOTE: Third attempt to get this post past the spam filter. Prices and shipping costs have been expunged and URLs have been removed or obfuscated.]

David asks:

I wonder what would explain the different situations. What’s the name and URL of the U.S. distributor you’re dealing with?

The list of national distributors on the iRex web site pointed me to “eReaderOutfitters dot com.” By tossing in a few extra bucks for second day shipping I hope to have semi-instant gratification tomorrow.

Meanwhile enjoy your new iLiad!

I’m sure I shall. It will certainly provide a better reading experience than my trusty Palm TX, which is about to be replaced by an iPod Touch. Talk about gizmophile heaven — I’ll have two new e-readers to play with by the end of the week!

The reasons for my specific interest in the iLiad are probably probably much different than most folks here. I’m a very active amateur musician, and I’m going to try to unburden myself of several heavy folders and “fakebooks” of sheet music. The iLiad was my device of choice for this application since it has the largest screen currently available and supports annotation. I’m still not sure if the display will be large enough for this purpose, but I’ll find out soon.

What I really want is a Hanlin V9, but according to an item that appeared today on MobileRead there are production problems that will delay it from hitting the street until June at the earliest (and that’s according to the manufacturers’ undoubtedly optimistic estimates.)

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-690989 David Rothman Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:50:25 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-690989 Kyle, great question you're raising. Any specific URLs? Sounds logical, but would be fun to check out the specifics if see if there's a cause-effect. We could be talking about long-term commitments. Thanks. David Kyle, great question you’re raising. Any specific URLs? Sounds logical, but would be fun to check out the specifics if see if there’s a cause-effect. We could be talking about long-term commitments. Thanks. David

]]> By: Kyle http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-690984 Kyle Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:47:26 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-690984 The Kindle and the Reader both share the same e-ink component as well. Thus the Kindle is causing a shortage that is also affecting Reader. The Kindle and the Reader both share the same e-ink component as well. Thus the Kindle is causing a shortage that is also affecting Reader.

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-690974 David Rothman Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:27:32 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-690974 Todd, that's great. I wonder what would explain the different situations. What's the name and URL of the U.S. distributor you're dealing with? Meanwhile enjoy your new iLiad! Keep us posted.- David Todd, that’s great. I wonder what would explain the different situations. What’s the name and URL of the U.S. distributor you’re dealing with? Meanwhile enjoy your new iLiad! Keep us posted.- David

]]> By: Todd Jonz http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-690953 Todd Jonz Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:58:04 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-690953 FWIW, I placed an order for an iLiad on Monday with iRex's U.S. distributor, whose web site reads, "iLiads in stock. Orders received by 4:00 PST will ship the same day." If all goes as expected, I should have my iLiad in hand sometime tomorrow. FWIW, I placed an order for an iLiad on Monday with iRex’s U.S. distributor, whose web site reads, “iLiads in stock. Orders received by 4:00 PST will ship the same day.” If all goes as expected, I should have my iLiad in hand sometime tomorrow.

]]> By: Richard Adin http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-690853 Richard Adin Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:02:37 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/16/iliad-said-to-be-moving-briskly-kindle-effect-currently-out-of-stock/#comment-690853 David, FWIW, the Sony Store has also been out of stock of the Sony Readers (silver version) for several weeks. I think Amazon's announcement of the Kindle sparked an interest in ebooks and ebook readers, causing a high sales volume for the Christmas season. In the U.S., I think Sony Readers sold very well (and I have no inside information, this is just an observation) for several reasons: Sony ran an ad campaign in October, which is when the holiday buying starts, and the Reader was available at Borders bookstores as well as several electronics chains, including Best Buy and Circuit City, all of which are national chains. I suspect that a lot of buyers who thought Kindle bought Sony because of the availability in the chain stores. Sony itself did a very poor advertising job after those October ads, which limited the sales. I think this was the holiday season for the ebook readers. Of course, I don't know whether Ilead, Sony, or Amazon only had stock of 5,000 units or 1 million units, so it is hard to judge the meaningfulness of any of them being out of stock. And, as I have ruminated before, it isn't the number of holiday sales of devices that matter but the long-term sales of the ebooks. Once the holiday/newness effect has dissipated, how many of the receivers of these readers will continue to <em>buy</em> ebooks, as opposed to only downloading free ebooks or not downloading or buying any ebooks? That will be the ultimate determiner. Although the Ilead, Kindle, and Reader are expensive toys, it would not be unusual to find a lot of them gathering dust in a closet rather than being used as ebook readers once the novelty has worn off. David,

FWIW, the Sony Store has also been out of stock of the Sony Readers (silver version) for several weeks. I think Amazon’s announcement of the Kindle sparked an interest in ebooks and ebook readers, causing a high sales volume for the Christmas season.

In the U.S., I think Sony Readers sold very well (and I have no inside information, this is just an observation) for several reasons: Sony ran an ad campaign in October, which is when the holiday buying starts, and the Reader was available at Borders bookstores as well as several electronics chains, including Best Buy and Circuit City, all of which are national chains. I suspect that a lot of buyers who thought Kindle bought Sony because of the availability in the chain stores. Sony itself did a very poor advertising job after those October ads, which limited the sales.

I think this was the holiday season for the ebook readers. Of course, I don’t know whether Ilead, Sony, or Amazon only had stock of 5,000 units or 1 million units, so it is hard to judge the meaningfulness of any of them being out of stock. And, as I have ruminated before, it isn’t the number of holiday sales of devices that matter but the long-term sales of the ebooks. Once the holiday/newness effect has dissipated, how many of the receivers of these readers will continue to buy ebooks, as opposed to only downloading free ebooks or not downloading or buying any ebooks? That will be the ultimate determiner.

Although the Ilead, Kindle, and Reader are expensive toys, it would not be unusual to find a lot of them gathering dust in a closet rather than being used as ebook readers once the novelty has worn off.

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