One big reason readers choose e-books over ink and paper versions: The digital ones are cheaper.
That wasn't the case when e-books first appeared a decade ago. But Amazon has made a point of selling its Kindle titles at a discount to physical editions, even if it means losing money.
And then there are the titles that Kindle owners really, really love--the ones they get for nothing. As the Washington Post noted earlier this week, the list of best-selling Kindle titles is dominated by free books:
Amazon's customers have made it clear that $9.99 is still too high for their taste. Most titles in the company's list of top 100 Kindle bestsellers are priced below $9.99, and the most popular price point is $0.00.
The good folks at MediaBistro have gone ahead and counted, so you don't have to. As of a day ago, 64 of Amazon's top 100 Kindle titles cost nada.
How exactly does that work? I understand why Amazon is able to hand out public domain works like "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and "Pride and Prejudice" for free. But I'm not sure what's going on with titles like Noel Hynd's "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker: Recipes for Entertaining" (#9). Anyone want to weigh in?
I'm also not sure what conclusions we can draw from the dominance of freebies on the Kindle charts. I'm tempted to say that Kindle buyers are rabid but indiscriminate readers, and they'll lap up whatever you put in front of them.
But without a real sense of the numbers, which Amazon is never going to cough up, it's hard to tell what the sales patterns really look like.
I suspect, for instance, that a lot of the freebies are picked up by readers in the first few weeks that they own a Kindle, when they're looking to download something simply for the sake of downloading something.
I also assume that the Kindle charts are skewed by hardcore early adopters' reading habits. And that the patterns will start changing now that more casual users are picking up the Kindle for the first time.
And in case you were wondering--because I was--says it is not counting free book downloads when it releases sales statistics like the one it put out on Saturday, when it said more customers had purchased Kindle titles than physical books on Christmas Day.
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Amazon's second-generation Kindle
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)Amazon.com on Saturday released its annual post-Christmas statement on holiday sales and made one thing clear: the Kindle was king, perhaps fueled by continued shifts in plans for shipments of Barnes & Noble's competing Nook e-reader.
"We are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history," said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.
In another milestone for the e-reader, the company noted that on Christmas Day, for the first time ever, Amazon customers bought more Kindle books than physical books. The company didn't offer specific numbers for either category.
The peak shopping day for the online retailer was December 14, when customers ordered more than 9.5 million items worldwide, "a record-breaking 110 items per second."
Among those items bought between November 15 and December 19, the top electronics, following the Kindle, were Apple's iPod Touch 8GB and the Garmin Nuvi 260W GPS.
CNET News Poll
In the video game category, ... Read more
A not-so-merry holiday gift for Amazon.com: hackers say they've successfully cracked copyright protections on the company's Kindle e-reader, making it possible to export e-books to other devices.
One hack reportedly resulted from a Kindle DRM challenge issued on Israeli forum Hacking.org. On that site, an Israeli hacker known as Labba claims to have created a tool that lets e-books stored on the Kindle be transferred as PDF files.
A U.S. hacker has written a program to crack copyright protections on the Kindle for PC application.
(Credit: Amazon)A U.S. hacker who goes by the name "i♥cabbages," meanwhile, created a program called Unswindle that promises to convert books stored in the Kindle for PC application into a different file format.
The free Kindle for PC app lets book buyers read their books right from their PCs without having to buy a Kindle reader. Unswindle has to be used in conjunction with MobiDeDRM, a program by another hacker named "darkreverser."
Posters on i♥cabbages' blog give Unswindle mixed reviews, ranging from "works like a charm" and "worked flawlessly" to descriptions of various errors.
... Read more
(Credit:
Plastic Logic)
Plastic Logic, the maker of the much anticipated, vaguely understood Que e-reader, will finally announce availability, pricing, and design at CES 2010.
Although its business division is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Plastic Logic's technologies were born in Cambridge, England. The research team spent 10 years finding ways to use plastic transistors for the e-reader screen instead of silicon.
Professors at the Cavendish Labs in Cambridge eventually came up with a flexible e-reader, one that can't shatter, unlike the Kindle's and Nook's glass screens.
Manufacturing is commissioned to a company in Dresden, Germany, and for all we know, there may be thousands of Ques waiting to be shipped.
Plastic Logic, which will distribute its e-reader in Barnes & Noble stores, doesn't appear to view the Nook or Kindle as competition. The company is targeting business professionals who may benefit from an e-reader with an interactive platform offering the likes of digital sticky notes, annotations, and drawings.
Next up for Plastic Logic is a full color e-reader, backed by ... Read more
CNET News Poll
He's not just wearing it to be jolly. He always dresses like this.
(Credit: Matt Hickey)If you'd have told me a year ago that late 2009 would see a new format war brewing, I would have said, "Great, I love a good format war!"
If you'd have told me it would be an e-book format war, though, I might have laughed at you and made fun of your stupid Christmas sweater. Because a year ago the Kindle was the only game in town, and by the looks of it you shop at the Mervyns outlet.
This week we got our hands on the Nook, the tight little ... Read more
Cori sent us treats! <3
(Credit: The 404/Sadacori)Believe it or not, the fourth host on today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast is the Nook, Barnes & Noble's e-book reader with a color touch screen and Wi-Fi. The device is currently sold out and on back order throughout B&N, so it wasn't easy to obtain. We had to walk 500 miles and battle a Nazgul to get it, but the in-studio demo was worth the wait. If you haven't seen a Nook up close, you're in for a treat.
Speaking of treats, the holidays come early for The 404 this year! Today's episode starts off normal enough, with another story about a crazed girlfriend who destroys her boyfriend's precious PS3 and a couple making their own paranormal activity to fund their wedding, but the real story is the package we receive halfway through the live show from dedicated 404 listener Cori (Sadacori in the chat room). We've received care packages before, but this one is definitely the best. Just check out the picture up top! Thanks a million Cori, we really appreciate all the Yuletide pounds! :)
Our ill-deserved holiday break is coming up in two weeks, and we get awfully lonely if we don't hear from you, so won't you leave us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET and let us know how your holiday season is going? We'd love to hear your voices, but you can also e-mail us at the404(at)cnet[dot]com or add us on Twitter and Facebook as well!
EPISODE 481
Listen now: Download today's podcastSubscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video
... Read more
Tom and Rafe talk about the gadgets they've been using, like Windows Home Server, a Canon printer, and the PS3 as a Blu-ray player.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Subscribe with iTunes (audio)
Subscribe with iTunes (video)
Subscribe with RSS (audio)
Subscribe with RSS (video)
... Read more
Win this Kindle!
(Credit: Amazon)While we've got no Nooks to give away, we do have a spiffy Amazon Kindle to offer up for today's daily holiday giveaway. The Kindle remains our highest-rated e-book reader, and I know you want one.
Quick thanks goes out to Amazon.com and CNET's Shopper.com for making this prize available to Crave readers. In case you didn't know it, Shopper.com powers CNET's price-comparison engine and it's a great site for finding the best prices on products.
Normally, the Kindle would cost you about $259, but you have the chance to get it gratis.
So, how do you try to win this Amazon Kindle? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.
- Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
- Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever
On Sale Now: $259.00
View the latest prices for Amazon Kindle wireless reading device (U.S. and international wireless, latest generation)
Amazon has announced small enhancements to certain Kindle models.
(Credit: Amazon)Just in time for the holidays and facing heavy competition from Barnes & Noble's upcoming Nook e-book reader, Amazon has announced that it has improved the Kindle's battery life when the wireless connection is turned on and will now be offering native PDF support for its e-book reader. Both the battery-life boost and native PDF support will be available to owners of new Kindles and some older models via a firmware upgrade.
In a press release, Amazon says the Kindle now has battery life of up to seven days with wireless turned on compared with four days previously. However, battery life with wireless turned off remains the same (around two weeks).
"Battery power management for portable wireless devices is a complex technical area, and the battery life improvement announced today is the result of a six-month firmware improvement and testing program," the release notes.
As for the native PDF support, Amazon says you can now "read professional and personal documents in their original ... Read more
On Sale Now: $259.00
View the latest prices for Amazon Kindle wireless reading device (U.S. and international wireless, latest generation)
(Credit:
Ditto Book)
Though Amazon and Barnes and Noble are grabbing headlines with e-readers aimed at consumers, Ditto Book--a CES 2010 exhibitor--is marketing its device for niche markets.
The $249 e-reader doesn't compete with Nook and Kindle specifications, as it is not wireless, has a 6-inch screen in four shades of gray, and doesn't support the standard ePub format yet.
Its focus is on customization; companies interested in ordering the e-reader in bulk can add a logo, brand name, color, and welcome screen. A unique option is to load the e-readers with bundled content.
Ditto is a subsidiary of Macrotron Systems, a Silicon Valley company that offers design, engineering, and manufacturing services. By targeting corporations, nonprofits, and possibly education agencies, the company might be able to stand alongside its larger competitors.
The device is also available to consumers, but customization requires a 250-unit minimum. According to business developer Hentry Jebasingam, Ditto Book's goal is to support many formats, including ePub within the next few months.
