UK Reaction to Sony Reader Release

Peter Brantley
September 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Listen

Sara Lloyd discusses the impact of the Sony Reader's recent release in the United Kingdom:

Anecdotally, Waterstones store staff report a great deal of interest from customers, and the rumour mills (or well-planned leak??) put a 6 figure number on the Sony Readers sold by the morning of Thursday 4th September.

As I'm sure all of those working in the digital publishing departments of trade publishing houses will agree, it's nice finally to have a major high street bookselling brand pitch itself into the ebook ring so wholeheartedly - and the Sony device is the most compelling (and competitively priced) there is of the dedicated devices so far available here in the UK. I must say it did make my heart leap just a little bit to see huge POS displays promoting the Sony Reader and the associated ebook catalogue from Waterstones in the Tottenham Court Road and Picadilly branches, and it was fun to go in and do some underground detective work to discover that the Waterstones staff seemed quite clued up about it all.

Dear Author says a new version of the Sony Reader could be announced in October:

One release held close to the vest is news about the Sony Reader. Apparently there is a Sony Reader event to take place on October 2, which something new will be announced. It could be a larger Sony Reader. It could be a new design. Or it could be a Sony Reader with wireless capabilities. Who knows but it looks like waiting until October to buy a new reader makes some sense.

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