The Land of eBooks - Comparisions in Availability and Pricing of U.S. eBooks

Gideon · 07-21-2009, 01:08 AM

I just finished a rather large chart comparing the prices and availability of ebooks at some of the major stores - Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble, BooksOnBoard, and FictionWise.

You can see the chart and full explanation here:
http://blog.gideonaddington.com/2009...and-of-ebooks/

I was motivated to do this because of Sony and Barnes and Noble's insane claims regarding their book selections (and to a lesser extent Amazon's) given that they are including all of the public domain books available through Google - books available to pretty much anyone. Also, I wanted to see what Barnes and Noble was doing and this was the best way to get some answers.

I checked 28 books - the top two from each catagory from the NYT Best Seller lists, and then a group of my recent purchases and things on my wishlist that were not available on the Kindle when I placed them there. So it isn't the most scientific study in the world - but it covers a wide range of material and genres.

Conclusions:
1 book was not available on any platform

Amazon 27/28
Sony 23/28 (big improvement)
BooksOnBoard 20/28
FictionWise 17/28
Barnes & Noble 13/28

Barnes and Noble really sucked here. So you can take a look at the graph as well as more analysis on my blog linked above.

Hellmark · 07-21-2009, 02:51 AM

Link 404s, and no recent post about ebooks.

emellaich · 07-21-2009, 02:52 AM

Gideon,

Thanks for sharing your work.

Gideon · 07-21-2009, 02:58 AM

Yeah, that was weird. Somehow it got set to private (which is weird as that setting is kind of out of the way and I never use it). Should work now. Sorry!

Hellmark · 07-21-2009, 03:09 AM

Wow, thanks for publishing the info. Never would have thought that there wouldh ave been as big of a difference on some of the books.

Sweetpea · 07-21-2009, 05:17 AM

That Michael Jackson book, did you want this book?

https://www.fictionwise.com/servlet/...&bi=92065&si=0

Gideon · 07-21-2009, 05:22 AM

No, it was something edited by a fellow named Joe Funk. Thanks though.

07-21-2009, 01:08 AM	#1
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	The Land of eBooks - Comparisions in Availability and Pricing of U.S. eBooks I just finished a rather large chart comparing the prices and availability of ebooks at some of the major stores - Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble, BooksOnBoard, and FictionWise. You can see the chart and full explanation here: http://blog.gideonaddington.com/2009...and-of-ebooks/ I was motivated to do this because of Sony and Barnes and Noble's insane claims regarding their book selections (and to a lesser extent Amazon's) given that they are including all of the public domain books available through Google - books available to pretty much anyone. Also, I wanted to see what Barnes and Noble was doing and this was the best way to get some answers. I checked 28 books - the top two from each catagory from the NYT Best Seller lists, and then a group of my recent purchases and things on my wishlist that were not available on the Kindle when I placed them there. So it isn't the most scientific study in the world - but it covers a wide range of material and genres. Conclusions: 1 book was not available on any platform Amazon 27/28 Sony 23/28 (big improvement) BooksOnBoard 20/28 FictionWise 17/28 Barnes & Noble 13/28 Barnes and Noble really sucked here. So you can take a look at the graph as well as more analysis on my blog linked above.

07-21-2009, 02:52 AM	#3
emellaich Wizard Posts: 1,101 Karma: 4388403 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis	Gideon, Thanks for sharing your work. Last edited by emellaich; 07-21-2009 at 02:59 AM.

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07-21-2009, 02:51 AM	#2
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,552 Karma: 3799999 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	Link 404s, and no recent post about ebooks.

07-21-2009, 02:58 AM	#4
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	Yeah, that was weird. Somehow it got set to private (which is weird as that setting is kind of out of the way and I never use it). Should work now. Sorry!

07-21-2009, 03:09 AM	#5
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,552 Karma: 3799999 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	Wow, thanks for publishing the info. Never would have thought that there wouldh ave been as big of a difference on some of the books.

07-21-2009, 05:17 AM	#6
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	That Michael Jackson book, did you want this book? https://www.fictionwise.com/servlet/...&bi=92065&si=0

07-21-2009, 05:22 AM	#7
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	No, it was something edited by a fellow named Joe Funk. Thanks though.

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