differentiating via features part 5
The Sony Libre was released in 2004, 3 years before Amazon's Kindle. The Libre was amazing but few cared. Even fewer bought it. The Kindle has since blown it to dust and left it for dead.
Because Kindle offered two features Sony didn't. First, cell transmitters were built into the Kindle so you could buy books without ever plugging it to a computer. Second, they actually made books available, crafting deals with major publishers to make ebooks available on their online mega-site.
I still recall seeing Jeff Bezos speak at Book Expo 2008 in Los Angeles. His Kindle demo blew me away. To be able to purchase and download books to a reader while at the airport, in a restaurant, or coasting down the highway got me craving it. He called it 'Whispersync' technology. I was on the hook, came home and bought one the next day.
And 'Whispersync', we must admit, is a pretty cool word. They coined it. It told their STORY well. But it only worked because their STUFF was out of this world.