In a very surprising turn-about, UK High Street book sellers Waterstones, have just announced that they have closed a deal with Amazon to sell Kindle ereaders in their stores. And not only that, but they will set up WiFi corners in their stores to enable buyers to browse the shelves of physical books, make a choice, then go to the WiFi corner and download the ebook version of the book they have chosen.

This is a surprising development, as only short while ago, Waterstones’ managing director James Daunt was publicly describing Amazon in the following rather dramatic terms:

“A ruthless, money-making devil’.

He also said:

“The computer screen is a terrible environment in which to select books. All that ‘If you read this, you’ll like that’ – it’s a dismal way to recommend books. A physical bookshop in which you browse, see, hold, touch and feel books is the environment you want.”

One comment is good, the other not so good…….

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In the first quarter of 2012 the world wide sales of ereaders is expected to only be about 2 million units, as opposed to the 9 million that were sold in the last quarter of 2011.  This is being heralded as an indication that people are moving massively over to tablets to read their ebooks on, rather than dedicated ereaders, such as the Sony or Kindle.

Missing the point:

I feel that this interpretation of the reason that ereader sales have shown a slow down – in comparison to the sales of tablets of one sort or another is rather missing the point or several points actually.

Firstly, the first quarter of the year is always a time of slow sales, people have spent all their spare money on Christmas gifts, and are not inclined to buy  much in the first few months of any new year.

Secondly, the advent of more tablets on the market, particularly much cheaper ones than the iPad, such as the Kindle Fire and the much sued Galaxy to name but two models, is still a real novelty for many people, and it has to be said that they are extremely useful devices for almost all computer based activities for people who are on the move a lot.

So, for my part I am not at all surprised to hear that ereader sales are down in comparison to the sales of tablets, and do not find this a discouraging phenomena for lovers of dedicated ereaders.

Multifunctionality is what many people want:

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Not the most up to date or even best ereader in the world, but acceptable nonetheless, the Pandigital Novel 6” monochrome ereader is currently yours for a mere pittance at Amazon.

This pretty basic ereader has been reduced from its original price of $239.40 to $67.90 (how do they arrive at these strange prices) for a new one, or about $50 for a second-hand but good one.

If you want to try an ereader…..

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Just a small taster to give you an idea of what we shall soon have in our ereaders

In a couple of earlier posts I discussed this newest screen technology from Qualcomm, which goes under the name of Mirasol. An intriguing system akin to e-Ink that can give us loads of rich colours on our ereaders, without the problems associated with the LCD screens that all previous mobile devices (iPads, Tablets, Smart Phones laptops and all earlier colour ereaders) use.

Since when, a new short promo video of the South Korean ereader has been released which gives in a matter of a few sentences a very good overview of what this screen (and ereader) are capable of.  Quite impressive for a non backlit LCD screen I would say.  Basically what they have created is a small tablet that can be used comfortably in bright light and with a long battery endurance.

So I am certain that this screen technology will very rapidly start to appear in all manner of other mobile devices.

Anyhow, here is that short video, sit back and enjoy it.

Links to previous posts on this topic:

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qualcomm-promise-ereaders-with-full-colour-and-long-battery-life-by-mid-2012/

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OK, colour screen for ereaders, interesting, needed or pointless?   What do you think?

Guest writer Blake Sanders casts his eye over the problems of High street stores when competing with internet stores.

The decline of brick and mortar book stores, coupled with the rise of interest in eReaders and other electronic devices, could spell a disaster for traditional big retail stores like Wal-Mart this holiday season. Consumers are flocking to the convenience of items such as the Kindle and the iPad and the fact that they are available directly from their manufacturing companies leaves retail giants on the outside looking in.

Consumers who are interested in devices such as eReaders already possess a predilection towards using the internet; after all, the majority of eBooks are downloaded via a wireless internet connection.

For these consumers it only seems natural to also purchase their eReader online, especially with the inherent ability of non-traditional based stores to be able to offer cheaper prices. Basic economics wins out in this scenario, particularly in today’s economic climate, and online stores simply have less overhead than the retail giants.

Online Shopping Advantages Looking More Appealing

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Yesterday I wrote a post about the rumour that Qualcomm’ Mirasol screen technology would be launched some time in 2012.  And I expressed doubts about whether it would ever actually happen.

Well, I was as wrong as you can be!  Shortly after posting that article, I was inundated with press releases telling me that Korean book sellers Kyobo have launched an ereader using the Mirasol screen.

So, with a very red face, sack-cloth and ashes, I have to tell you that it has actually happened, and there is now a fully fledged ereader out there with all the advantages of the standard e-Ink type of screen (long battery life, easy to read in bright light, easy on the eyes for long periods of reading), but also full colour.

It seems the refresh rate is fast enough to also show videos on this device, so whilst it is a dedicated ereader, and not simply a small tablet, it can perform several other tasks.

They haven’t yet given out too much information about this ereader, but it will only be on sale in South Korea, that is obvious at least.   But equally obvious, if it takes off, then it wont be long before other ereader companies come on board and start to use the Mirasol screen instead of the e-Ink or LCD ones they currently use.    So watch out for the first non-LCD colour Nook or Kobo ereader…  Must happen.

So, until then, here are a few extracts from their press release which give an idea of what this gadget is.  Also, if you follow this link, you will be able to see a couple of videos showing the ereader in action, rather impressive I find.

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