Thoughts on Kindle
Sunday February 24, 2008 - 6 months ago
Posted by James Ellis
Back in November of 2007, Amazon released Kindle, a new portable reading gadget. It’s about the size of a book, with a high-res black & white “e-ink” display.
We used to call these things e-books, but Amazon is trying to get away from that term, and for good reason. First, “e-book” sounds sorta boring – like it’s just a book on a screen. Rather, Kindle is a new sort of information consumption device.
Unlike the iPod approach where the device needs to be synced to a computer, the Kindle doesn’t need a computer at all. Instead, it wirelessly communicates with Amazon via the same 3G cell networks used by modern cell phones. This connectivity allows users to instantly purchase and read books, newspapers, magazines and many blog feeds. There are no service plans or monthly fees. Amazon delivers this connectivity free of charge.
Unlike the first e-book devices, Kindle makes it easy to both acquire and consume information. Kindle combines basic e-book functionality with dead-simple wireless access to the Amazon library of content.
I have been following Kindle since its release in November. It has been interesting to observe the reaction. Some are excited by the new gadget and the way it works. Others are openly hostile toward a technology designed to replace the production and consumption of dead-tree-books.
What no one seems to get through their thick skulls, even after untold millions of dollars have been wasted on the concept: PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO READ BOOKS ON A SCREEN.
and:
The reason the iPod took off is that music was never meant to be a “thing” in the first place. It was born as pure sound, and pure sound is what it has returned to.
In short, electronic “books” are nothing of the sort, and if Kindle aims to be an electronic substitute (replacement?) for the “book,” then it has missed the mark by a mile. The basic problem with the current e-book + reader combination is twofold: the single-page format, and the lack of ready markup and annotation features.
Both make good points about Kindle being unable to replicate or replace the book experience, but I don’t think that’s the point. Rather, I think the Kindle is significant in that it offers a new way of acquiring and delivering information. In the same way that the iPod squeezes an entire record collection into your pocket, the Kindle turns a single book-sized object into potentially all books by wirelessly tapping into Amazon’s staggering library of content.
Sure, the initial Kindle is sorta gross looking. It has only one typeface. It’s black & white. The interface is clunky. It’s relatively expensive ($399). But the thing is beaming libraries of content through the air into your hands. To me, that is what seems the point, and something I find interesting.
After chewing it over all day, I’ve concluded that Amazon’s Kindle is going to flop.
Gruber makes great points about Kindle. It has a lot of things working against it: content DRM, device lock-in, etc.
I’m not sure if Kindle will be a success or not, but I don’t think it matters much. Eventually a device + service will come along that gets people psyched. It will be high-res, full-color, look rad, sport some hot-doggin multi-touch interface, and it will all be coupled with a content delivery service that makes it so easy to acquire content that visiting a physical bookstore will seem cumbersome.
This doesn’t seem so far off to me. Consider how quickly the iTunes store made traditional brick & mortar record stores obsolete, or how an individual’s iTunes library has replaced the physical CD collection.
Steve Jobs’ comments on Kindle from this NYTimes article:
“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”
Perhaps it’s not the sort of business Apple wants to get knee deep in, but people still read. While we’re reading less traditional books, we are reading more and more websites, blogs, etc. Again, the Kindle isn’t simply an e-book — it can push the NYTimes and blogs just as easily as Harry Potter. By offering the various types of content that people are interested in reading in a single device, Kindle can appeal to a significant audience.
It seems many people are interested in the new reading device — just take a look at the demand for the product. Since its release, Amazon has struggled to manufacture Kindles fast enough. They are currently sold out.
Books won’t be replaced anytime soon
Unlike relatively short-lived audio technologies like vinyl, cassette tapes and CDs, books have been around a while — we’re talking about a few hundred years of established specialness to destroy. It will be a very long time before any technology replaces books. Though, with that said, I think it’s only a matter of time before devices+services like Kindle+Amazon begin capturing the attention of readers and reducing the consumption of dead-tree-books.