Radio Babylon’s comment (covered in the previous post) got me thinking about all the different ereaders and ebook stores entering the market and how they benefit us readers.
Lets look at ONLY the good ideas and initiatives each company is bringing to the table, whether the idea is being adopted by other companies, and the benefits to us.
Sony and the Sony Reader
- They were the first big company (in this current era of ebooks and ereaders) to launch an ereader and restart the push.
- PDF and ePub support.
- Low prices and the first $199 eReader that is reasonably up to date in terms of features.
- Worldwide availability.
- Preventing Amazon from totally overrunning the eReader market.
Amazon and the Kindle
- WhisperNet and WhisperSync. Plastic Logic and Sony will both match this by early 2010 and we are well on the way to having wireless book delivery becoming a standard feature for ereaders.
- $9.99 prices - Shortcovers, BN, Sony have all matched this recently.
- Validating the market. If not for the success of the Kindle, there would be much less interest.
- Self Publishing.
- Addressing the textbook market with the Kindle DX.
Apple, iPhone App Store and the rumored 10″ Apple iReader
- App Store and providing a channel for publishers to address once-a-month readers.
- Allowing lots of people to test out various ideas via the App Store.
- Rumored iReader has given Amazon and Sony motivation to release new products faster.
- Probably, really good usability when its out.
- Probably, really good looks when its out.
Google and Google Books
- Scanning Library Books. Amazon signed up with the University of Michigan so this idea is spreading.
- Free Public Domain Books. Again, Amazon offered this (7K books though, not a million), and B&N and Sony are using Google Books.
- Trying to make orphan works available.
- The threat of advertising based books. Forcing Amazon to apply for a patent. For the people that are OK with books subsidized by advertising, this is good.
Barnes & Noble and eBookstore
- A device independent ebook store.
- Retail Locations for users to try out ereaders.
- Reduce the overwhelming advantage Amazon enjoyed over other ereaders.
Indigo and Shortcovers
- Device independent ebook store like B&N.
- Added competition for the bigger players.
- Support for BlackBerry and Android before other companies.
iPhone Reading Apps – Stanza, Classics, etc.
- Validating the market for reading on iPhone.
- Creating a popular category of Book Apps.
- Providing publishers alternate channels.
- Forcing Amazon to support iPhone.
Plastic Logic and its eReader
- Large Screen Sizes and unbreakable screens.
- Probably caused a quicker Kindle DX launch.
- Hope for non-US customers and probably accelerating Amazon efforts to launch in Europe.
- Promise of a 3rd party app store.
Gutenberg, The Internet Archive, ManyBooks, etc.
- Actual altruism.
- Lots of free ebooks.
- Support for most formats.
- Device independence.
Dell Tablet Reader
- Promise of a subsidised $0 reader and a subscription model.
- Validating the idea that eReaders are big.
Pixel Qi and its 3qi screens
- Promise of color screens for cheap and a couple years ahead of schedule.
- Great battery life on color screens.
The 11 Next Big Ideas and Initiatives
While different companies have created some huge advances, there are still some really big ideas left to be implemented (am including a few ideas from above that are not yet implemented) -
- Technology that smartly leverages network effects and word of mouth.
- An App Store for eReading devices.
- A well thought out Social Reading option.
- An ebook rental model.
- A solution for independent authors to get a fair chance.
- Color support.
- Better eInk for Faster Refreshes and Better Contrast.
- Foldable or Rollable Screens.
- A well executed subscription model.
- The evolved version of the eReader that replaces paper, and not just books.
- An idea that reduces the distance between authors and readers - both literally and figuratively.
Filed under: evolution Tagged: | eReader, future of epaper
