Nowadays eBook readers are big business. The Sony Reader was once a serious competitor in the eBook and tablet industry, but due to decisions made at Sony headquarters, the Sony Reader is becoming less relevant. Is Sony accidentally killing its own eBook readers?
Ever since the Kindle hit the market, I was very interested in purchasing an eBook reader. I’m a big-time book fanatic, I’ve spent lots of money at Borders and Barnes & Noble, and I also possessed tons of PDF books stored on my computers. Although I was interested in eBook readers for years, I didn’t feel that the technology was perfected enough until Sony released the Sony Reader PRS600 – also known as the Touch Edition.
I purchased the Sony Reader Touch as soon as it hit store shelves, and was happy with the eBook reader – kinks and all – until the Apple iPad was announced. Unlike Sony’s Touch eBook reader that used E-Ink technology – and only possessed 8 shades of gray scale coloring – the Apple iPad used LCD technology which allowed quicker browsing and a full colored screen. The iPad was also much more than an eBook reader; it allowed users to browse the internet, listen to music, watch movies, play games, and lots of other applications.
If Apple’s iPad wasn’t bad enough news for the Sony Reader, Sony also faced tough competition from other E-Ink technology using eBook readers like Amazon’s Kindle, and Barnes & Nobles’ Nook. In the same market where the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader were once the two top dogs, Sony found itself as the underdog.
Facing the changing state of the eBook reader industry, Sony responded – and continues to respond -as stubbornly as possible. Sony started off by stating that LCD screens aren’t good on reading eyes – which was proved to be false – then Sony announced that they’d never release a colored eBook reader, and as a final show of bull-headedness Sony refused to create an economically priced eBook reader to compete with Kindle’s new $139 eBook reader.
Due to what appears to be Sony’s pride; Sony won’t bend to the current trends in the eBook reader industry. Sony constantly claims that they won’t budge and will survive due to their high quality – but with all the Sony Reader glitches; their quality claim doesn’t hold much weight.
If Sony continues to play the holier-than-everyone-else role, they’ll find themselves completely replaced with the tons of eBook reading device up-and-comers that are aiming at Sony’s place on the food chain.
For more, read Will the Birth of the IPad Be the Death of the Sony Reader?, Sony Reader Responds to Apple iPad: No Color for Now, and 5 Features the Sony Reader Needs That it Doesn’t Have.
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