From: Crunch Gear ~ Amazon strikes sweet exclusive deal – good for them, bad for consumers
With the latest announcement from Wylie about their exclusive deal with Amazon everyone who owns an eInk reader better start becoming concerned. I believe this is not the last of this type of deal so next maybe Barnes & Noble will find some deal for the Nook.
The problem is people who bought the Kindle cannot read those “exclusive” Nook eBooks anymore than Nook buyers can read “exclusive” Kindle eBooks. Who can?
Anyone who owns an iPad or an iPhone or an HTC EVO 4G or a Droid X will obviously be able to load multiple apps and thus read any of the “exclusive” content making these LCD based solutions far more enticing to customers looking for the most options.
Notice I started this post with that old Wang logo. Wang! Remember Wang?
They were the premier word processor of the 70s they eventually moved into computers during the early days and were a serious competitor with IBM for the big business dollars. Much like eInk readers have tended to be exclusively bound to a particular eBook file format and retailer of eBooks. Wang also had that exact same concept where their computers and software and peripherals were exclusive and only worked with their equipment.
Nothing used by Wang was ever compatible with IBM or anyone else.
Wang eventually faded out because more companies were willing to follow IBM so they could share in IBM’s substantial software library and peripheral base even if they were only providing similar or cheaper machines. IBM of course eventually faded out because almost all the unique aspects between brands began to fade and their quality went down during the ongoing price wars.
The thing is IBM provided more options, more software, and shared functionality with even other computer makers. I just wanted to point that out because with all these exclusive deals comes the fact that the greater cross retailer access of multiple exclusive eBooks and content will make the tablets… either Android or Apple… more price conscious than owning “just a” Kindle device or just a Nook device or just a Kobo device.
Anyway, eInk does not need to feel bad because this same predicament will continue to occur once say someone has purchased oh about $200 of Apple iPad software…
Are they really ever going to switch to Android? Seems like the whole Windows vs Mac thing will continue in the mobile market even if the eInk devices fade out.
Tags: eBook Commentary
