Most of the Kindle books I'd be interested in are still more expensive than mass market paperbacks, though cheaper than trade paperbacks or hard cover.
Your post does broach the question that's been in my mind about the Kindle, which is "who does Amazon think its target audience is?" Judging from the price structure of Kindle offerings, it seems to me that Amazon is targeting two main groups: 1) people who read a lot of NYT bestsellers and hard cover or trade paperback fiction, and 2) people who are reading a lot of e-books (from Gutenberg.org or other places) anyway and could use a more convenient way to do so.
I don't fall into either camp. I don't read a lot of Baen's fiction--much of it is SF military fiction or other hard SF in which I'm not very interested. Nor do I read a lot of fiction that comes out primarily in hardcover or trade paperback. Yes, I read some, and I'd likely read more if I *had* a Kindle, but I don't read enough of it to justify my purchase *of* a Kindle.
The other type of book I read a lot of is non-fiction history. Many of these books are books about costume, costume-related archaeological finds, or non-costume archaeological finds, for which photographs, and photograph quality, are essential. The Kindle isn't good for that (yet, at least) and most such books aren't being released for the Kindle anyway.
And, sadly, the out-of-print ones aren't showing up yet on Gutenberg.org either. :-(
I agree it would be nice to have large quantities of book in a light, convenient package for when I travel, but the books I want aren't on the Kindle yet, and some may never be.
I'm curious about which books you have found to be more expensive on the Kindle. Everything I've seen is either cheaper or the same price.
Or not available at all, which I agree is a problem, although it is diminishing for fiction, at least. And yes, it's a poor choice for anything where photos, or even illustrations, matter.
We've agreed that books in which photos are critical are not really a good choice for the Kindle (and if you look at my Wish List you'll see that none of the history-related books on there are available for Kindle, whether or not they contain photos).
As for fiction, well, let's see. Let me look at a number of fiction books I've bought lately in other media and price them. (That's not the best metric for determining whether my assertions about the cost of fiction books on the Kindle are correct, but it will at least explain where I'm coming from here).
For example, here are the present prices for Jacqueline Carey's "Kushiel" books, most of which I have in mass market paperback, from Amazon itself:
Kushiel's Dart: $6.39 Kindle. $7.99 new in mass market paperback (but available in MMP from Amazon Marketplace vendors starting at $4 new, and $2.75 used);
Kushiel's Avatar: $5.69 Kindle. $7.99 new in mass market paperback (but available in MMP from Amazon Marketplace vendors starting at $4.22 new, and $2.65 used);
Kushiel's Chosen: $7.99 Kindle. $7.99 new in mass market paperback (but available in MMP from Amazon Marketplace vendors starting at $4.15 new, and $2.85 used).
Granted, a lot of fiction is no longer published in MMP anymore, so let's look at a trade paperback I just bought today from Chester County Book & Music Company: John Maddox Roberts's latest SPQR murder mystery--Under Vesuvius.
I bought it for $14.95 list. It's not out on Kindle, Amazon sells the paperback itself for $10.17. Amazon Marketplace sellers have copies new from $8.46 and used from $8.99.
There's a previous SPQR mystery, which I don't own, called "A Point of Law," that is on Kindle. Its list price in trade paperback is also $14.95, and its Kindle price is $10.09--a significant savings. But Amazon Marketplace sellers have copies even cheaper: new from $5.00 and (used copies right now, interestingly, start at $10.80).
What this says to me is 1) I cannot count on the new fiction I'd like to read being available on Kindle, and 2) even when it is, if I feel like shopping around a bit, I can get a dead tree book considerably cheaper than the Kindle price.
Now, I don't think that this is a stable situation, and it may well change in Kindle's favor in the near future. But right now, it doesn't pay me to buy a Kindle, IMHO.
I think you're forgetting the +$3.99 shipping on used books at Amazon. I mostly don't buy used paperbacks if they're still in print, unless I can find them in batches on ebay, because the shipping tends to raise the price to close to new. That's an interesting point, though; as far as I know there is no way to resell a Kindle book. I generally keep books anyhow, unless they're just bad, but people who sell most of their books would also not be well-served by the Kindle.
I think you're forgetting the +$3.99 shipping on used books at Amazon
I didn't emphasize it, to be sure. But I'm aware it's there. However, in many cases, it *still* doesn't raise the price above the Kindle price, and in any event Amazon itself sells some of the books in which I'm interested in dead tree versions for less than list price (if not for less than the Kindle price); Amazon, of course, will ship for free if you buy $25 or more from it in a single order. And I've been able to get used books amazingly cheaply elsewhere on the Web; I just stuck to Amazon as an example because I wasn't feeling so great and was lazy when I composed my reply to your last comment.
That's an interesting point, though; as far as I know there is no way to resell a Kindle book.
There isn't. I found a comment thread on the Kindle 2 (?) Amazon page to the effect that you can't even easily share a Kindle book, purchased by one Kindle owner, with another Kindle owned by a different person (the example was of a husband and wife, both having Kindles). Apparently you can get around this (I think by getting the Kindle book converted, as brandyeileen mentions above), but it is something of a disincentive.
You also make an interesting point that people who like to resell old books would not really be interested in a Kindle, though that again may be a dying market.
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Your post does broach the question that's been in my mind about the Kindle, which is "who does Amazon think its target audience is?" Judging from the price structure of Kindle offerings, it seems to me that Amazon is targeting two main groups: 1) people who read a lot of NYT bestsellers and hard cover or trade paperback fiction, and 2) people who are reading a lot of e-books (from Gutenberg.org or other places) anyway and could use a more convenient way to do so.
I don't fall into either camp. I don't read a lot of Baen's fiction--much of it is SF military fiction or other hard SF in which I'm not very interested. Nor do I read a lot of fiction that comes out primarily in hardcover or trade paperback. Yes, I read some, and I'd likely read more if I *had* a Kindle, but I don't read enough of it to justify my purchase *of* a Kindle.
The other type of book I read a lot of is non-fiction history. Many of these books are books about costume, costume-related archaeological finds, or non-costume archaeological finds, for which photographs, and photograph quality, are essential. The Kindle isn't good for that (yet, at least) and most such books aren't being released for the Kindle anyway.
And, sadly, the out-of-print ones aren't showing up yet on Gutenberg.org either. :-(
I agree it would be nice to have large quantities of book in a light, convenient package for when I travel, but the books I want aren't on the Kindle yet, and some may never be.
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Or not available at all, which I agree is a problem, although it is diminishing for fiction, at least. And yes, it's a poor choice for anything where photos, or even illustrations, matter.
(no subject)
As for fiction, well, let's see. Let me look at a number of fiction books I've bought lately in other media and price them. (That's not the best metric for determining whether my assertions about the cost of fiction books on the Kindle are correct, but it will at least explain where I'm coming from here).
For example, here are the present prices for Jacqueline Carey's "Kushiel" books, most of which I have in mass market paperback, from Amazon itself:
Kushiel's Dart: $6.39 Kindle. $7.99 new in mass market paperback (but available in MMP from Amazon Marketplace vendors starting at $4 new, and $2.75 used);
Kushiel's Avatar: $5.69 Kindle. $7.99 new in mass market paperback
(but available in MMP from Amazon Marketplace vendors starting at $4.22 new, and $2.65 used);
Kushiel's Chosen: $7.99 Kindle. $7.99 new in mass market paperback
(but available in MMP from Amazon Marketplace vendors starting at $4.15 new, and $2.85 used).
Granted, a lot of fiction is no longer published in MMP anymore, so let's look at a trade paperback I just bought today from Chester County Book & Music Company: John Maddox Roberts's latest SPQR murder mystery--Under Vesuvius.
I bought it for $14.95 list. It's not out on Kindle, Amazon sells the paperback itself for $10.17. Amazon Marketplace sellers have copies new from $8.46 and used from $8.99.
There's a previous SPQR mystery, which I don't own, called "A Point of Law," that is on Kindle. Its list price in trade paperback is also $14.95, and its Kindle price is $10.09--a significant savings. But Amazon Marketplace sellers have copies even cheaper: new from $5.00 and (used copies right now, interestingly, start at $10.80).
What this says to me is 1) I cannot count on the new fiction I'd like to read being available on Kindle, and 2) even when it is, if I feel like shopping around a bit, I can get a dead tree book considerably cheaper than the Kindle price.
Now, I don't think that this is a stable situation, and it may well change in Kindle's favor in the near future. But right now, it doesn't pay me to buy a Kindle, IMHO.
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(no subject)
I didn't emphasize it, to be sure. But I'm aware it's there. However, in many cases, it *still* doesn't raise the price above the Kindle price, and in any event Amazon itself sells some of the books in which I'm interested in dead tree versions for less than list price (if not for less than the Kindle price); Amazon, of course, will ship for free if you buy $25 or more from it in a single order. And I've been able to get used books amazingly cheaply elsewhere on the Web; I just stuck to Amazon as an example because I wasn't feeling so great and was lazy when I composed my reply to your last comment.
There isn't. I found a comment thread on the Kindle 2 (?) Amazon page to the effect that you can't even easily share a Kindle book, purchased by one Kindle owner, with another Kindle owned by a different person (the example was of a husband and wife, both having Kindles). Apparently you can get around this (I think by getting the Kindle book converted, as
You also make an interesting point that people who like to resell old books would not really be interested in a Kindle, though that again may be a dying market.