I think I mentioned that just Wi-Fi, which would eliminate what has to be a significant part of the Kindle’s cost, could be a really significant add-on for the Sony Reader.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

Also the Kindle will require a redesign before it can be launched in Europe since we don’t have EVDO. Despite the fact that ebooks don’t really need a high bandwidth connection, 3G would probably be a sensible replacement choice of mobile connection, as that would work not only in Europe but also in Japan where the mobile phone system no longer supports anything less than 3G.

Wifi should also be added as there are a huge number of wifi hotspots here (for example, in the UK, McDonald’s has free wifi, National Express has free wifi on its East Coast Main Line trains, etcetera).

So while the USA may be a battleground between the big names in ebook machines, Sony can quite easily steal a march on Amazon in the UK and Europe if it plays its cards right.

The ideal situation for writers, publishers, and readers, is if there are those companies that produce hardware readers, and a universal standard file format, and publishers all publishing in this one format, and booksellers, online and offline, that sell the ebooks in that format to be read on any one of those readers.

Publishers insist on DRM – and that is what is crippling the entire notion of commercial ebooks.

This is what allows Amazon to create its own proprietary format with its own DRM, and use its dominant position online, to muscle its Kindle to #1.

Sony tried also to do the whole enchilada, but they did not have Amazon’s pre-existing customer base of millions of people who buy books every year. And Sony did not get the online connection to make browsing and purchasing so addictive, that we hear stories about new Kindle owners spending too much money on books!

With a Kindle, you can surf the web and read blogs and newspapers without even buying books.

The publishers, with their blind insistence on DRM, have given away the store to Amazon, the way the music labels gave their business to Apple.

But now that the music labels are selling non-DRM mp3 songs, Amazon (and others) can compete with Apple.

Book publishers need to get on the ball and follow the music labels’ lead here.

(Unfortunately, there have been quotes from RIAA lawyers indicating that non-DRM music is just a tactical ploy, and temporary, until they can leverage some sort of universal DRM where they get paid every time anybody listens to any song, or any fragment of a song.)

I think that for me is the biggest reason I’m buying from mobipocket, killing the drm, and from there I convert to LRF so I can read the book on my Sony PRS-505.

Basically, the guys at mobile read are doing a much better job of converting the classics to LRF than the Sony Connect Store which isn’t a good sign for the company.

Sony’s multiple failures at “killing” the iPod (largely because of the extreme schizophrenia between Sony’s hardware and content divisions) do not lend confidence to the likelihood of their being able to “kill” the Kindle.

@Fred: Sony here in America has tried its best to make the Reader more open than Sony Japan would ordinarily want it to be. It’s had, for instance, SD card capability from the start. It was originally the Librie in Japan (with more buttons than the Kindle!), failed, and was reborn here. It’s not even sold in Japan!

I’ve also heard from a small e-book savvy publisher I work with that Amazon made it a lot easier to move a book into Kindle format than Sony did. That’s got to change as well. Publishers aren’t going to move in Sony’s direction if a lot of technical hurdles are placed before them. They’ll take the path of least resistance.

The publisher I’m thinking of still hasn’t commenced direct work with Sony, preferring to provide a Reader-compatible format on his website with Fictionwise as a second avenue for a Sony-compatible format.

If content is king, then Sony might well be ignoring it at its own peril. And I say this as a much pleased Sony Reader user who doesn’t want her Reader experience to end.

Item 3) should have read `poor visibility in sun/say light conditions`

………..

Rich

But, the one thing the Rocket engineers got right was the ERGONOMICS!!!!

It is easy to hold in my left hand and turn pages with my left thumb. That’s forward and backwards folks.

First, Sony needs to make it easy for publishers to offer Sony-formatted eBooks. Sure ePub is okay and I’m glad they’re doing it, but why not put out a “Creator” like Mobipocket’s and make it as cheap for publishers to add their books to the Connect store.

Second, Sony needs to really bend over backwards to get Fictionwise on their side. Amazon/Kindle/Mobipocket is a formidable retail machine. Sony Connect isn’t. Fictionwise has a great list of books and publishers, and its own eBook reader, the eBookWise, is aging.

Third, Wi-Fi as quickly as possible.

Good luck, Sony. I’d hate to see the market devolve to only Kindle in the tablet space and iPhone in the pocketable space. But Sony had many months of lead and didn’t really carve out the market. It’ll have to work doubly hard to catch up now.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

With the Kindle you are stuck with Amazon. With Sony you can choose any site or multiple sites that you like. In fact, with all the Adobe Digital Edition sites competing for business the prices are bound to be lower; unlike the one source with Amazon. Also, with Adobe Digital Editions you can have up to six computers and devices authorised to read your books; Kindle, only one.

Don’t count out Sony just yet.

Ed