01-13-2011, 02:36 PM | #1 | |
Enthusiast
Posts: 33
Karma: 2236
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle DXG, Kindle Oasis
|
Will Kindle become the ereader orphan?
Quote:
I just don't see how Amazon can hold the line on this. There must come a time, and soon, when they provide Epub capability on Kindles. |
|
01-13-2011, 02:46 PM | #2 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
I honestly can't see why. They have the world's largest ebook store and they own their own format and DRM mechanism. There's no reason at all for them to adopt ePub. They want people to buy from their store, not from other people's.
|
Advert | |
|
01-13-2011, 02:57 PM | #3 |
Enthusiast
Posts: 33
Karma: 2236
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle DXG, Kindle Oasis
|
I can see your point when it comes to other ebook sellers such as B & N, but Google is a BIG player.
I think this could be a battle like VHS vs Beta where there can be only one winner. |
01-13-2011, 03:12 PM | #4 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,942
Karma: 198500000
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
Quote:
|
|
01-13-2011, 03:15 PM | #5 | |
Enthusiast
Posts: 33
Karma: 2236
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle DXG, Kindle Oasis
|
Quote:
(Not sure fosterers is actually a word but you get my point.) Last edited by GoversAU; 01-13-2011 at 03:31 PM. Reason: missing word |
|
Advert | |
|
01-13-2011, 03:27 PM | #6 |
Publishers are evil!
Posts: 2,418
Karma: 36205264
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Rhode Island
Device: Various Kindles
|
I wish Amazon supported ePub, but I agree with Harry. Supporting it would only encourage their customers to shop at competitors. I also wouldn't bet against Amazon, especially since the Google software has its own issues. If I were buying my first eReader today it would still be a Kindle.
|
01-13-2011, 03:37 PM | #7 |
Tea Enthusiast
Posts: 8,554
Karma: 75384937
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Somewhere in the USA
Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2
|
If Amazon feels that it is in its best interest to support EPub it will support EPub.
Given that Nook, Sony, and Kobo readers are buying books from Amazon I am sure that adding EPub to the Kindle would only increase the amount of money that Amazon makes. Honestly, I am not all that worried about it. |
01-13-2011, 03:42 PM | #8 |
Evangelist
Posts: 408
Karma: 646
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: none
|
Yay Google again!
|
01-13-2011, 03:49 PM | #9 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
Amazon won't ever need to provide epub support, unless someone else is offering a substantial collection not available at Amazon.
If Google gets the actual rights to sell orphan & out-of-print books without directly negotiating for each of them (that's what the settlement includes, but it hasn't been approved, and it faces some serious obstacles), it could eventually push Amazon into supporting epub. But unless there are thousands of much-desired ebooks that *can't convert* to Kindle formats, they don't need to broaden their support. Right now, the indie presses aren't competing with that market, because non-DRM'd ebooks can just run through Amazon's converter. And if Google books are only readable online, that won't be a factor, because they won't be readable with the Kindle anyway. (Unless Kindle's web viewer allows them, in which case, still not a reason to expand.) But if Google is offering thousands of *wanted* books in epub (... if they get better than raw OCR output for their books...), buyers might get tired of having to send them through the converter. Instead of upgrading their Kindles, they might a Nook or Sony when they want a new ebook reader. It'd take a huge collection and a fun-to-browse ebookstore to make it worth considering a switch. That, or a shift in ebook standards so that people demand the formatting abilities of epub that are missing in mobi. That'd take publishers providing ebooks in other than basic text-with-ital/bold for ebooks; I don't see that happening anytime soon. |
01-13-2011, 04:00 PM | #10 |
Addict
Posts: 288
Karma: 1094000
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Essonne, France
Device: Kobo Forma; Sony PRS600B; Sony 350; Sony T-2
|
Amazon doesn't have to provide ePub capability on their Kindle. They actually could simply offer both mobi and ePub editions of some or all of the e-books they sell.
It won't happen tomorrow. But I bought my Sony Reader from an Amazon vendor. I figure it's more likely they'll offer ePubs in some fashion eventually - if not through Amazon directly, then through one of their "Marketplace" vendors. Cheers, Bev |
01-13-2011, 04:56 PM | #11 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,516
Karma: 2567610
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD
|
All I can tell you is that I've tried out the Google bookstore a couple of times now. For a company that made its name off of being a search engine - that search is about a sucktastic as it could possibly be.
But I agree with the above, for Google to orphan Amazon they will have to offer something that Amazon doesn't. Better prices, different books, something. Simply entering the game at this point isn't going to do it because we all already HAVE plenty of places to shop for eBooks. |
01-13-2011, 05:40 PM | #12 | |
Addict
Posts: 229
Karma: 1234
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Earth
Device: Kindle 1. Kindle 2. IPAD. KDXG. Kindle 3.Fire
|
Quote:
http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/12/google-search/ |
|
01-13-2011, 05:47 PM | #13 |
Peace, Love, and Books
Posts: 355
Karma: 1242738
Join Date: Sep 2010
Device: Kindle 3(3g), NookColor
|
Why is no-one ever ranting about how come Google or B&N don't support azw or mobi?
|
01-13-2011, 05:55 PM | #14 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
|
01-13-2011, 06:03 PM | #15 | |
Addict
Posts: 219
Karma: 404
Join Date: Nov 2010
Device: Kindle 3G, Samsung SIII
|
Quote:
It is true that just switching to epub would not help dramatically: it is also about too little advertisement and too small focus. The reader has to be ordered from US, US warranty conditions apply etc. However, it is likely that Amazon will try to reconsider and focus more on Europe at some point - and at that point they might HAVE TO start supporting epub. Last edited by janvanmaar; 01-13-2011 at 06:07 PM. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Augen "The Book" is a Orphan | RadioMan52 | More E-Book Readers | 31 | 02-10-2012 06:02 PM |
The Key to Magic -Book I: Orphan | Rhynedahll | Self-Promotions by Authors and Publishers | 17 | 01-20-2011 07:48 AM |
How to prevent ellipsis orphan? | Chad48309 | ePub | 2 | 08-16-2010 08:43 PM |
Preventing "orphan" right smartquotes? | kjk | ePub | 6 | 11-11-2009 03:40 PM |
Copyright and orphan works | VillageReader | Lounge | 40 | 06-01-2008 06:05 PM |