Why Kindle has already won the ebook war
One of the primary reasons that Bernie took so well to the Kindle was because it is not intimidating. He doesn’t feel comfortable with lots of gadgets, but the Kindle is easy and just does what he needs. He admitted he even finds buying books on the device to be simple and a very pleasant experience.
And yet…
… this bit stunned me:
Toward the end of my conversation with Bernie he told me the only thing he doesn’t like about the Kindle is that sometimes he finds free time on his hands when he doesn’t have the Kindle reader with him. I pointed at his iPhone sitting next to him and mentioned that he doesn’t need to always use the Kindle to read Kindle books. I walked him through the simple process of getting the Kindle app installed on the iPhone, and the look on his face when he opened the book he was currently reading was priceless.
Wait. He has an iPhone yet he didn’t know about the Kindle app?!
Someone is falling down on the job here.
Or maybe Apple’s ad has given people the mistaken belief that only iBooks can be used on the iPhone!
And what Tech Fiend Kendrick pointed out is no longer unique to the Kindle. Both Barnes & Noble and Kobo have cross-platform page syncing too.
But Amazon has already won.
It has the books.
It has the pimping affiliates.
It has the freebies.
Kobo is international, so it will survive.
Mike Cane’s xBlog 
Kobo’s international head-start is a temporary shelter, at best. The Kindle is already available (though not aggressively marketed) in over 100 countries. In time, Amazon will smooth the rough edges (e.g. complicated shipping process, need to buy books using USD, etc.) and then Kobo will probably need a new plan.
I agree with this, which is why I haven’t been part of the cheerleading squad.
I don’t think any government — except the brain-dead ones in America and England — would allow *one* company to monopolize eBooks.
That’s not the point. The point is that Kobo’s international-ness will only be a unique selling feature until Amazon gets its ass in gear.
Amazon will be constrained.