DECEMBER 2007 BEACON
Amazon's Kindle: Genius or Junk??
eBook Readers Have Come and Gone...Should Kindle Stay or Should it Go?
The Blogosphere is burning with non-stop daily flaming posts about the Amazon Kindle. A recent Newsweek article contained a quote calling it the "iPod of reading." Others have called it names that I choose not to reprint here.
Have you seen the Kindle? Amazon.com has launched a new eBook reader called the Kindle and it has spurred a tremendous amount of buzz...some positive, much of it negative. Yet when you first see it, it does not immediately strike you as controversial. 
Amazon.com has clearly given the Kindle a lot of thought. In fact, according to Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's founder and CEO, "We've been working on the Kindle for more than three years. Our top design objective was for Kindle to disappear in your hands -- to get out of the way -- so you can enjoy your reading."
Using the EVDO high speed data network for something Amazon calls Whispernet, you can download any of more than 90,000 books. Amazon has done their homework here and in addition to books, their online bookstore also includes hundreds of newspapers, magazines and blogs. Most books download in less than 60 seconds. And with Whispernet, you can download books virtually anywhere...on the train, when waiting for the plane to take off, in a hotel room in...whereever the heck you are this week!
The Kindle uses E-Ink technology which is very stingy in its use of battery power - Amazon claims you can read thousands of pages before you need to recharge. E-Ink is also supposed to be quite easy to read under any lighting conditions.
Finally, the Kindle stores up to 200 books in internal memory, has a memory card slot to expand storage, does not require a computer to operate (totally wireless direct downloads), includes free wireless connectivity, has a built-in dictionary, has a keyboard, can access the Internet, claims a long battery life, and more...
Best selling books will cost $9.99 with classic books as low as $1.99. Newspaper subscriptions are $5.99-$14.99 per month. Magazine subscriptions are $1.25-$3.49 per month. All subscriptions are delivered automatically and wirelessly to your Kindle.
What's not to like? And yet...it's controversial. Some of the controversy is typical product carping...no product is perfect. In a way, this controversy is indicative of the sometimes unrealistic expectations of users not versed in the compromises that the development of any product requires.
So what are the complaints? You name it...it's ugly, can't be used internationally, screen should be high resolution color, nickel-and-dime's you for optional uses, doesn't have enough free services, includes digital rights management, and more.
As someone who has been involved in product development, I can clearly see the compromises that Amazon made to make this product easy to use, both for downloading and for reading. Some would have Amazon turn this into a full fledged personal computer. But I suspect that Amazon never conceived of the product this way. It is a special use product - only for readers who want to read books...not surf the web. Connectivity is completely free, books are only $9.99, service is fast and convenient, and no long-term contracts or commitments are required.
Amazon reinvented the bookstore...can they now reinvent the book? Only time will tell. So far the naysayers appear to outweigh the fans. But, the Kindle has sold out, and there are several owners who swear by it.
If you look at the Gawker and Gizmodo polls I've included here, you'll see that both sets of blog readers said they would purchase the Sony Reader instead. And yet...word is the Sony Reader has not sold well at all.
Will Amazon prove them all wrong?