The NYT announced on July 20th that Amazon.com revealed that they now sell more e-books than hardcovers, at a ratio of about 3:2 (& rising). This has happened in the under three years that Amazon has been in the e-book business.
Amazon is aided in this by the ability of owners of other ‘readability’ devices,ie Smart Phones and Apple’s iPads, to read Kindle-sold books on these platforms, but not vice versa. Also, after the initial iPad buzz & buying frenzy, many of the reading public prefer the Kindle for reading, reserving the ‘iPod Touch-on-steroids’ for its other uses. The falling prices of e-readers as a class also contributed to this milestone in the history of the written word.

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If you’re in the market for an e-book reader, the past couple of weeks have considerably changed your options, and for the better. Barnes & Noble’s and Amazon’s new products and price drops have made their e-book reader hardware considerably more affordable, and you now have excellent options available in the $149 to $199 price range. Also, a flood of new reading-centric apps continues to solidify the Apple iPad’s position as the premium media tablet of choice.

Cnet posted 5 questions to ask yourself to help you decide which one to buy:

How much are you willing to spend?

How large of a screen (and weight) do you want?

What’s your screen preference: e-ink or backlit LCD?

Do you need always-on wireless data?

Do you need access to your e-books on additional devices?

Final thoughts: Currently, the Nook, Kindle, and iPad are our top e-book reader picks; however, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Depending what features are important to you–color versus black and white screen, backlight versus readability in the sun, touch screen versus not, cheap versus expensive, lightweight versus heavy–the device you prefer may be different from ours. However, there’s no arguing that the range of choices for e-book readers is better now than it ever has been.

Read the full story on Cnet.

Amazon Kindle, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Comparison of e-book readers, E-book, IPad, Liquid crystal display, Nook

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A new report from ChangeWave Research reveals that less than half of the people who own an e-reader would have bought that same e-reader if the iPad was already on the market.

That’s an ugly stat for Amazon, since the Kindle is the undisputed king of the e-reader market, at least today.

Source: Business Insider

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In the matchup between the iPad and the Kindle, some say it’s game over for Amazon’s e-Reader. But according to industry watchers, it’s still only the first quarter.

In Amazon’s earnings release, Bezos threw a spotlight on the “millions of people” who own the e-Reader, adding, “When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books.”

But when asked about competition from new devices during Amazon’s earnings call, CFO Tom Szkutak would only say, “We believe that readers deserve to have a dedicated device.”

Meanwhile Amazon is not lying idle with its technology. The company is in the process of buying touch-screen technology startup, Touchco, according to reports from The New York Times. The acquisition could mean touch capability in a future generation of the Kindle.

Job openings at Amazon’s hardware division, Lab126, offer further evidence of plans to upgrade the device. More than half of the 50 positions were posted within the past month, while a listing for a “Hardware display manager” reads, “You will know the LCD business and key players in the market.”

Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney also sees improvements like color and touch functionality in Kindle’s future, as well as a drop in price. “The price of e-Readers has to come down over time and so far they have,” he says. And despite pressures from the publishing community, Mahaney still sees flexibility in e-Book pricing, wherein Amazon could use profits on bestsellers to slash prices on other books.

Read the full story on CNN Money

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TUAW has a review comparing the iPad to the Kindle. Here are some of the highlights:
First off, if you were thinking of buying a Kindle DX, I’d say forget it. The iPad is a knockout punch to that device. At just ten dollars cheaper than the low end iPad, there just is no contest. The two devices are the same size (both are 9.7″), but the iPad has a color screen and can do a lot of things that Kindle just can’t do.
…
OK, on to the standard issue Kindle at U.S. $259.00. This decision is a bit trickier. It’s about half the cost of the low end iPad, has a smaller screen, but does have built in no-charge 3G. That’s mainly for buying books, as web browsing is pretty painful. Once again, books seem a bit cheaper on the Kindle at this stage, but I’ve noticed prices creeping up. Battery life with wireless off is about 2 weeks, and the iPad can never touch that.

For the immediate future, Amazon has far more books on offer, but that will likely change over time. If you have the smaller Kindle, I would not have anxiety about the iPad if you are mainly a reader. If you have the DX, I’d feel a bit queasy.
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In the short term, these gradual changes will be invisible, and I’ll happily keep using my Kindle. In the long term, devices like the iPad will win us over and evolve our relationship with our media, just as the iPod did.

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After months of rumors and speculation about a slate-like device, Apple has its say on Wednesday.

The new app that lets you use the iPad as a e-book is called iBooks.

Steve Jobs: “”Amazon’s done a great job of pioneering this functionality with the Kindle. We’re going to stand on their shoulders and go a bit further.”"

• You can choose books from what looks like an actual bookshelf. On the upper left is a button that leads to the iBook Store. Can download books right to the iPad. All five major publishers (Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, MacMillan and Hachette) are on the bookstore starting this afternoon.
• To read a book you tap on it and it opens to be read via portrait or landscape. Tap anywhere on the right to flip forward in pages, tap on the left to go back. You can also pick up a page and lift it by dragging your finger right to left.
• A scroll bar on the bottom shows your progress through the book and what page you’re on.
• You can change font and size also if you want.
• It uses the ePub format. Not just popular books, but textbooks are coming as well.

Source: Cnet

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