Kindle – Is It Definitely The New IPod?
By FTS | June 5th, 2011The Amazon Reader seems to be the current hot new gadget on the market right now. It seems as if the ebook reader is an idea whose time has come – and the Amazon Kindle is undoubtedly one of the best examples of such a device on the market right now.
The Reader has been compared to the Apple iPod (which now has a kindle application that allows you to read kindle books on it) by a number of industry observers. Indeed if we go right back to the launch of the original Kindle in November of 2007, Steven Levy’s Newsweek cover article suggested that the Kindle was the ‘… iPod of reading’. Two and a half years later it seems that drawing parallels between the two devices might go some way towards understanding the current phenomenal success of the Kindle and perhaps even some supply some insight into what may happen in the near future as far as reading is concerned.
Amazon supremo Jeff Bezos is quoted as saying, again way back in 2007, that ‘This isn’t a device, it’s a service’. and that is absolutely fundamental to understanding why the Kindle works so well in Amazon’s business model. Some criticisms have been levied at the Kindle’s high price – currently retailing at $359 for the Kindle 2, slightly reduced from the original Kindle price of $399. The original iPod was priced at $399 when it was released. Prices have fallen as the product was first accepted, and then passed through mainstream to practically ubiquitous. At the same time functionality has increased.
Apple is, and has been for some time now, synonymous with music downloads and has increased the available range of products to include videos, games and a host of applications for the iPod. In a similar way, Amazon is strongly associated with books, making the kindle an ideal choice of product for them. The recent announcement of the larger Kindle DX is noteworthy, not only because of the various technical enhancements that it offers, but because it also improves Amazon’s capability to deliver newspapers, magazines and even academic textbooks to its consumers.
As far as e-book reader technology goes Amazon are pretty late to the party when you consider that there have been contenders such as the Franklin ebook (no longer being developed but still available from some sources) around since 1999. Sony have had ebook readers for some time as well. There are a number of others, some of which have already died a death and others are soldiering on without attracting anything like the volume of interest generated by the Kindle.
Another key advantage which is enjoyed by Amazon at this time is the 3G wireless technology which is used to enable Kindle users to download their ebooks in less than a minute without the use of a computer or an internet connection – and without being tied in to a monthly contract or having to pay a download fee. This is a great example of the way Amazon have used the technology to provide a perceived benefit for their customers.
No monthly connection fee and no download charges means that users do not feel tied in or committed to the Amazon service, which is an important factor considering the relatively high ticket price and the current economic climate. Of course, whilst customers will be able to purchase ebooks elsewhere for use with their Kindle, it is still going to be a lot easier for them to buy from Amazon’s large and ever expanding selection of Kindle friendly books. Amazon are going to see a lot of repeat business – just as Apple do with their iTunes store.
Worth considering is the fact that there are a number of new readers in development. Plastic Logic, has a Kindle DX sized reader in development which has been scheduled for release in 2010. Rumours abound about the release of an Apple tablet based computer, which is to be aimed at the gap between an iPod Touch and a full blown MacBook. It would not be too fanciful to imagine that Apple might expand their iStore to include ebooks just as they expanded it to include videos after the release of the iPhone and iPod Touch.
It’s not just tougher competition based on improved reader technology that Amazon may soon have to face. In March of 2009 Google and Sony announced that Google’s huge library of public domain e-books would be made available for free on a Sony reader. That’s a total of 600,000 titles and is a clear signal that the ebook reader market is going to be fiercely contested in the future.
Right now Amazon has a large number of ebooks in it’s library, it also has the wireless technology to provide fee free downloads and, most important of all – the Kindle is really cool. Whether or not it develops into an iPod type product or not will be a future issue.
Amazon have been more than smart so far, so it seems highly likely that they will be a major player in this emerging market for a long time to come.
One thing does seem certain and that is that we will all have the option to read books, magazines, newspapers and even textbooks using portable digital readers in the immediate future. As competition, volumes of scale and advancements in technology all combine to drive prices down this will become an increasingly popular choice for many, and possibly even a majority of readers. The way we read is soon about to change and possibly faster than you might ever imagine.
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