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The Kindle Proves Revolutions are Costly
Bob Livolsi asked:
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, began this year’s Holiday season with the release of the Amazon Kindle. This device is a groundbreaking step in increasing the popularity of eBooks. It boasts an electronic-paper display to mimic the look of real paper, wireless connectivity, more than 88,000 books, newspapers and magazines available for purchase, and the capability to email Word documents and pictures. But has Amazon really figured out how to revolutionize the way people read?
The Kindle’s electronic-paper display is not so revolutionary, considering this has been seen before in other products, such as the Sony Reader. The display is also limited to black and white, and is not backlit. This is a far cry from a full-color, high gloss magazine, or even a blog. Also, the free wireless connectivity, WhisperNet, operates on an EVDO network and is therefore only available in the US, and tends to have limited reach and reliability within the US. Amazon charges for every document or picture you receive through email on the Kindle, and does not offer PDF support. The Kindle has a single proprietary format, MOBI. From the leader in the online bookstore industry, you may also expect to have the largest selection of eBooks to choose from for the Kindle, but that is not the case. Amazon only offers 88,000 eBooks for sale, while some smaller companies can offer up to 154,000 eBooks, almost twice as many as the Kindle and nearly eight times as many as Sony.
The biggest question being raised about the Amazon Kindle is about its price. Technological mobility always carries a hefty price tag, but is $400 for a grayscale eReader a worthy price? Keep in mind that this $400 does not include the cost of books, magazines, blogs, and newspapers. Other stores have been recognized for having the best prices on the web for eBooks with no monthly fees, so you can enjoy the convenience of having thousands of titles at your fingertips without the hefty price tag from Amazon. These stores also offer eBooks that are compatible with all PCs, Macs, laptops, PDAs, Windows Mobile PocketPC, Smartphones, Blackberry and even iPods. In addition to the price is the amount of customer service Amazon has shown customers in the past. There has been two instances where Amazon has bailed on eBook customers in the past year. First in 2006 deleting the backed-up bookshelves of eBook customers, and then in 2007 shutting down its Mobipocket servers for ten days. In each occasion no warning or explanation was given to customers. This history demonstrates a clear lack of concern for end customers, concerned first and foremost with the benefit of volume. Amazon’s customers can be discarded because they can afford to buy new ones with major advertising and marketing dollars. Smaller companies like BooksonBoard and Fictionwise care about each customer because it’s their practice.
So has Amazon really found the answer? Not yet. While Amazon’s valiant attempt to revolutionize the industry are definitely appreciated, there are just too many wasted opportunities that the Kindle fails to take advantage of; perhaps Amazon’s efforts will inspire Steve Jobs or even Google to come up with a true revolutionary eReader.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, began this year’s Holiday season with the release of the Amazon Kindle. This device is a groundbreaking step in increasing the popularity of eBooks. It boasts an electronic-paper display to mimic the look of real paper, wireless connectivity, more than 88,000 books, newspapers and magazines available for purchase, and the capability to email Word documents and pictures. But has Amazon really figured out how to revolutionize the way people read?
The Kindle’s electronic-paper display is not so revolutionary, considering this has been seen before in other products, such as the Sony Reader. The display is also limited to black and white, and is not backlit. This is a far cry from a full-color, high gloss magazine, or even a blog. Also, the free wireless connectivity, WhisperNet, operates on an EVDO network and is therefore only available in the US, and tends to have limited reach and reliability within the US. Amazon charges for every document or picture you receive through email on the Kindle, and does not offer PDF support. The Kindle has a single proprietary format, MOBI. From the leader in the online bookstore industry, you may also expect to have the largest selection of eBooks to choose from for the Kindle, but that is not the case. Amazon only offers 88,000 eBooks for sale, while some smaller companies can offer up to 154,000 eBooks, almost twice as many as the Kindle and nearly eight times as many as Sony.
The biggest question being raised about the Amazon Kindle is about its price. Technological mobility always carries a hefty price tag, but is $400 for a grayscale eReader a worthy price? Keep in mind that this $400 does not include the cost of books, magazines, blogs, and newspapers. Other stores have been recognized for having the best prices on the web for eBooks with no monthly fees, so you can enjoy the convenience of having thousands of titles at your fingertips without the hefty price tag from Amazon. These stores also offer eBooks that are compatible with all PCs, Macs, laptops, PDAs, Windows Mobile PocketPC, Smartphones, Blackberry and even iPods. In addition to the price is the amount of customer service Amazon has shown customers in the past. There has been two instances where Amazon has bailed on eBook customers in the past year. First in 2006 deleting the backed-up bookshelves of eBook customers, and then in 2007 shutting down its Mobipocket servers for ten days. In each occasion no warning or explanation was given to customers. This history demonstrates a clear lack of concern for end customers, concerned first and foremost with the benefit of volume. Amazon’s customers can be discarded because they can afford to buy new ones with major advertising and marketing dollars. Smaller companies like BooksonBoard and Fictionwise care about each customer because it’s their practice.
So has Amazon really found the answer? Not yet. While Amazon’s valiant attempt to revolutionize the industry are definitely appreciated, there are just too many wasted opportunities that the Kindle fails to take advantage of; perhaps Amazon’s efforts will inspire Steve Jobs or even Google to come up with a true revolutionary eReader.
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