When it comes to buying new gadgets, I always take a look at the companies behind them to find out whether these gadgets last a while. After all, you don’t want to adopt a gadget only to find out the company behind it is going bankrupt. In case of Amazon Kindle, you don’t have to think twice. Amazon is a solid company, and it would take some drastic conditions for Amazon to actually get in trouble. But Amazon Kindle has ignited a fire that even Amazon may not be able to put off. Amazon Kindle has had a lot of success in a market that was considered dead just a few years ago. Sony had tried to make money in the e-book industry for years, but it did not have the right business plan. Amazon did, and that has opened the eyes of many of its competitors. Sony, Google, Plastic Logic, Samsung, and many other companies are entering the market to grab a piece of the pie.
Amazon Kindle may be a great gadget but it’s facing a lot of competition and devices that are far more capable than an e-book reader. Take netbooks for example. These mini notebooks are not exactly e-book readers, but they can handle documents and they let you get your work done on the go as well. The same applies to Apple iPad. Apple iPad comes with the power of iTunes behind it, so there are going to be a lot of innovative applications available for it. The Kindle is facing so much competition that some are already questioning its future.
I firmly believe that Kindle is here to stay for a while, but I am not sure how long it can dominate the market. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple iPad surpassed what Kindle has done so far in a fairly short period of time. Besides, Kindle is still a one dimensional gadget, and one dimensional gadgets can’t dominate markets for long. Amazon needs to go all out with the next generation Kindle to secure the future of this great gadget. Nobody wants to buy a $400 gadget when you can get a netbook or other alternative devices for much less. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon added a lot of these features to Kindle in the near future. Amazon Kindle needs to become a multi-dimensional gadget in order to survive and grow. Otherwise, it will stay a niche gadget with a fairly low ceiling on its potential. The device is great for reading e-books, but the generation Z kids read less and want to accomplish a lot more than just reading books on their gadgets. If Amazon is to attract the generation Z, it needs to take action and do it fast.
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0 comments
#1D.HarrisAugust 14, 2009, 1:02 pm
Sorry, but I couldn’t disagree more. For starters, the ability to read eBooks on PDAs, phones, and other handheld devices is nothing new. Yet people just weren’t interested. Why? Because it’s not an ideal platform for extended reading. That doesn’t mean the added interest isn’t the result of some new-found awareness, but Amazon is the company that got it right.
The kindle “ignited” the market for a reason. Because it does what it’s intended to do, and it does it very well. The device may be on the expensive side, but the cost of ownership is not; reasonably priced books, great selection, free wireless downloads, larger screen size (DX), and the reputation of a solid company, are just some of the factors contributing to the kindle’s popularity.
As for Sony, they can whine until the cows come home, but unfortunately they’ve lost their edge. And it’s not the first time they let a competitor kick their butt. Apple massacred their once-booming Walkman line, the MiniDisc was a flop, and their e-readers are/were dull and less than appealing. Their previous line of readers offered only one way to download books (via a Windows PC) and was NOT Mac compatible. Is anyone over at Sony awake these days? Who doesn’t own [or want to own] at least one Apple product – hello?!? In addition, like everything else Sony, their e-book prices were ridiculously over-priced. And now they’re pushing for a common book format, how honorable, coming from a company who introduced Betamax, MiniDisc, MemoryStick, and many other proprietary formats, as well that little “root kit†fiasco they pulled a few years back. Unfortunately, the last decade has seen Sony go from a leading-edge technology company, to one desperately trying to copy or keep up with the trend.
I have no issue with completion or other companies jumping on the e-reader train. But let’s not downplay the one device that actually started it all. The rest just sounds like sour grapes to me. If I were Amazon’s CEO, my response would be “bring it on!â€
#2OliverAugust 14, 2009, 2:03 pm
D.Harris – I couldn’t agree more. I don’t consider any LCD screen based device a real competitor for the serious reader. I bought a Kindle (or three) because of the screen technology and their great store integration. I have an Apple Touch and while the Kindle app is great for reading when you have 5-10 minutes to spare, I couldn’t stand using it for extended reading.
I think as long as Amazon is able to work with publishers and have the best selection of titles available at the best prices, they’ll be the industry leader. There has been a lot of talk, but so far Amazon has done the vast majority of the walking. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement, but I’ve liked what I’ve gotten so far.
#3P. RadAugust 14, 2009, 3:59 pm
I want to agree with you but I am not sure Amazon is actually banking on the hardware part of things. A lot of experts have talked about how Amazon cares more about putting Kindle on other mobile devices. I think we need to consider the generational shift as well. I still believe that the Generation Z kids are not reading books as frequently as some of us do. As I mentioned, Kindle is here to stay. But how much marketshare it will own will almost depend on what Amazon does with Kindle 3.0
#4D.HarrisAugust 15, 2009, 12:19 am
All great points, and if nothing else, the added competition will push all companies involved toward a better product.
Let’s just hope these key decision makers learn from their past mistakes, and think before they speak. Because it wasn’t that long ago when a certain “software” giant predicted that no one would really want to download music in digital format, and another “hardware” mogul arrogantly announced the premature death of Apple Computer… and you see how that turned out.
That said, only time will tell who will win the race. But no doubt, it will be interesting to watch.
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