We’re Almost at a point where the Kindle name is, like Kleenex to tissues, interchangeable With e-reader . That’s fair; it was Among the first in the US, and With The quiet retreats of Sony and Barnes & amp; Noble’s Nook line, it’s Among the last. But the introduction this week of an e-reader That Both matches the top-end Kindle’s marquee feature and severely undercuts its price Amazon is a reminder That has not monopolized the market yet. In fact, it’s got competition that’s more serious than you’d think.
The Kobo Glo HD will not be available in the US Until May 1 but When it arrives it’ll bring a display With It every bit as pixel-packed as Amazon’s stunning Kindle Voyage-at a $ 70 discount. The Glo HD Also does not Appear to be cutting corners elsewhere many hardware to make up the cost; it’s just as light as the Voyage, and only very slightly thicker. The two use the same Charter E-Ink technology. Both are front-lit, though the Voyage Finds a small advantage by Automatically adjusting the brightness to best suit your surrounding conditions.
“With esta special device, People Who We went to self-declare as Being attached to paper, “says Michael Tamblyn, Kobo’s president and chief content officer. “We ourselves Asked what would características They Want in a device to make the jump to e-reading.” Not surprisingly, They wanted a device That feels like a book. Based on STI specs, the Glo HD comes about as close as you can get.
Despite The similarities to the Voyage, the Glo HD costs $ 130, Compared to the $ 200 you’ll pay for Amazon’s database -level offering. In fact, you’ll pay less for the Glo HD than you would for the noticeably less crisp Kindle Paperwhite without the special offers, an apt comparison since Kobo does not plaster any of ITS devices’ lock screens with ads.
You can not judge any gadget on hardware alone, and the Kindle has plenty of advantages That do not show up on a spec sheet. But for the right kind of consumer-the kind That still reads books enough to warrant a dedicated e-reading device Instead of the occasional session-smartphone scrolling Kobo’ve Importance beyond any single product. . It’s the last bastion of competition in a field That sorely needs it
Turning the Page
The argument for Kobo is simply this: Without it, Amazon would be your only choice. Slinked off the Sony e-reader field a year ago. Barnes & amp; STI has not updated Noble Nook Glowlight since 2013, and zero Seems to Have Its Own interest in producing hardware. Kobo and Kindle are at esta point the only mass-market e-readers, full stop. In other words, Kobo is the only company capable of pushing forward Kindle, and vice versa.
If you think That sort of competition does not matter-that it’s just an e-reader, how much innovation do you really need-you just need to look at the Kobo Aura H20. Released last fall, it’s the only e-reader That gets delivered to your door waterproof. That’s a feature Kindle can not boast, UNLESS you go the aftermarket route pricey.
Tamblyn is quick to cite other e-reader Kobo Improvements have Pioneered. In 2010, the Kobo e-reader’s $ 149 price tag ITS Significantly undercut competition. Three years later, the 6.8-inch HD Aura was an affordable large-format e-reader (the 9.7-inch Kindle DX Preceded it, but at a much higher price and for a more specialized audience) That September a new resolution standard for the STI time of release. These are the types of gravity have any available Efforts That Their sales figures beyond. A cheap Kobo Makes cheaper Kindles. That Kindles Kobo features are likely to wind up in future Kindles. That’s just how competition works. And without Kobo, there is not any.
The need for a Kindle alternative goes deeper than just hardware. Broader Kobo works with a range of file formats than Kindle does (though Both use on titles you purchase DRM Directly), and frankly has a less contentious relationship with Major publishing houses. A public spat Between Amazon and Hachette last spring led to delayed shipments, higher prices, and titles Being pulled from the Kindle Store’s digital shelves. As many as 5,000 titles Were Affected
Kobo’s hardly the only digital book retailer around.; Barnes & amp; Noble still plenty of merchandise moves-through ITS Nook app, and upstart subscription service retail Oyster Recently embraced as well. But by Having an integrated hardware and software experience, Kobo ITS Gives customers more direct, frictionless access to content than anyone but Amazon. And so far, UNLIKE Amazon, it has not used as leverage in STI customers publisher spats
That’s not to say Kobo’s perfect.; selection there’s a trade-off here. Though Tamblyn describe His company and Amazon as “Effectively peers” in quantity and quality of offerings (aside from content That comes from Amazon’s own publishing arm), the Kobo bookstore can feel jumbled and anemic in practice, versus the slickly produced and fully stocked Kindle Store. That Tamblyn insists the difference boils down to Approaches to discovery. Kobo is “less automated” than Amazon’s algorithmic rigor, curated With more of a human touch. That’s likely true, but in my experience does not always result in a better user experience.
Staying Power
How good is a digital product does not mean much, though, if it’s not going to be supported in a year or two. And it’s tempting to think of Kobo doomed as the underdog; the name’s still not very familiar to the US audience. But Tamblyn stresses That the Kobo’s focus has so far Been on international markets, and That it has “global significant share,” DESPITE Often Being an afterthought stateside.
More Important than Kobo’s current numbers, though, are Those of Its parent company, Rakuten, one of the world’s largest ecommerce companies that’s Currently in expansion mode. You’re likely familiar MOST With Buy.com, Which Rakuten acquired in 2010, but the Easiest way to think of it is as the Amazon of Japan. Last year alone it tallied Nearly $ 5 billion in revenue. It has a market cap of $ 25 billion. It’s not Amazon, but it’s Not exactly Pets.com either.
That’s Important not just for the confidence that you ‘re not buying off-brand junk-as someone who’s tested several Kobo products, I can ECOG you it’s not-but for the reassurance That there’s less risk than you thought to investing in the Kobo ecosystem. Rakuten is capable of thinking about, and surviving over, the long-term. Stashing your books on ITS devices is as safe a bet as any.
Fighting for Scraps?
There’s a looming hesitation around esta Entire discussion, Which is how long e-readers will even continue to exist as a product at all. Forrester Research last year category Projected sales to fall to 7 million per year by 2017, versus 25 million in 2012. The rise of big and small tablets smartphones appears to Have made a powerful argument Against a dedicated reading device.
While Tamblyn acknowledges That Kobo’s target demographic in the US is experiencing an older generation e-reading for the first time, I’ve Perhaps predictably’s bullish on the industry’s prospects. There’s still a place for devices like Kindle and Kobo.
“People Who Love reading, lowest read a book or two a week, are much more likely to be drawn to a dedicated device,” I Explains to WIRED . Many of Those people are too deeply Already Invested in Amazon’s ecosystem Their Way to find out. But for newcomers to the e-reading experience, people Who are tired of smartphone screen glare ruining their view, or of black-screen battery life woes, or of all the distractions That eats with reading on the same device you tweet with, you e- . readers are a welcome respite
In fact, one of the biggest contributors to e-reader sales decline is likely the same as That of tablets: You rarely need to replace them. A Paperwhite from two years ago is much the same as a Paperwhite today. Refresh rates get a little faster, E-Ink gets a little more crisp, but there’s not much acerca a new Kindle That would make you feel the need to replace your old one.
That’s the real reason Kobo matters . Without any rivalry at all, the pace of e-reader innovation would be even Slower than it already is. Upgrades would REMAIN Either too expensive or too minor to bother comfortable with. Waterproofing would still be a distant dream. Kobo e-readers make Helps worth buying again, wherever you end up buying one whos from.
