Andrys

Kindle - Good Device, Impractical Pricing

Correction of my post:
"No one knows if the calculation is covering actual Costs" :-)
(not 'hosts')

Kindle - Good Device, Impractical Pricing

You don't mention the main reason for the higher pricing, and that is the 24/7 wireless access to the Web without needing to find a WiFi hot spot that might not even be free. It's Sprint's cellular EV-DO 3G network that provides this almost everywhere/anytime access.

The wireless access to the Net is paid for by Amazon and is a feature mentioned when speaking to the schools that are their partners in the upcoming study with the DX.

The MiFi 2200 is a new, amazing portable wireless 'private hotspot' and the pricing on that fast-selling device tells you how expensive 24/7 wireless - For more than a week per month's worth of wireless access it's $60/month. The $40/month plan is considered 'useless' by industry reviewers.

Yet the Kindle's access is $0 per month. It's been calculated into the unit's price as well as into the delivery of books and periodicals. No one knows if the calculation is covering actual hosts, but this is a feature that can't be ignored when talking about pricing.

Apple's new iPhone pricing is $200 with 2 yrs of Basic Svc with full Internet wireless at $70 per month.
That is *without* text messages (though the old plan included 200 messags).

Add that all up and you can see yearly costs for each of the latter two. The Kindle is $360 one time. The Sonys are close to that price without wireless.

I have a guide to using the Kindle's web browser for those interested at kindleworld.blogspot.com

- Andrys

How Kindle Will Kill the Book Star

Currently, if the bestseller list price is $25, and Amazon chooses to sell the Kindle book for $10, Amazon still must pay the publisher 35% of the list price the Publisher chooses for the digital version.

So, with a $10 bestseller, the publisher gets almost $9 (split with the author as in their contracts) and Amazon pockets a little over $1.

Off the bestseller lists, I see that Kindle books are less discounted, with newer ones selling for about $15. Books that were popular a few years ago will pull less than $10 though.