Next month Amazon will throw its hat in the e-book reader ring with the release of Kindle.
Here is the good part:
Kindle is clearly a cut above the existing e-book readers.
-Its wireless capabilities allow the user to download content without having to connect to a computer.
-It has a keyboard which allows the user to take notes and navigate the web.
-It will come loaded with a few freebies like reference books.
Now the bad part:
With all this great e-book reader 2.0 functionality Amazon shoots itself in the foot by not supporting the open e-book standard that is used by most publishers. Using a proprietary format is inherently restrictive and limiting.
What surprises me most about this strategy for Amazon is that it is the antithesis of their digitization approach. While Google has been restrictive in what one can view and in what their library partners can do Amazon has been open, allowing their partners open access to the digitized content (granted the libraries have to purchase the scanners and that Amazon can sell POD copies). Their model seems the most fair and balanced so how they got to this e-book reader strategy is a bit perplexing.
Also a $400 to $500 price tag will keep it in the novelty category.
It has been over 15 years since the first e-book readers hit the market with little to show. Yes, there has been lots of press and hype but the impact on reading habits has been minimal at best. Now we have the big boys entering the fray. With Sony’s Reader and Amazon’s Kindle the stakes have been raised.
The readers are watching.
Brad Stone’s piece in the New York Times, Envisioning the Next Chapter for Electronic Books
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