Amazon.com started as a book e-store really, and they have kept up with their tradition by releasing an eBook reader. Sure. Amazon has mastered the art of logistics, supply chain managenet, and marketing, but their root goes back to books.
Now Amazon Kindle is a big gamble for Amazon to take, but the one they needed to take to move away from just the physical book business. But many are questioning Amazon’s decision to go with the Kindle. The fact that we haven’t heard any rosey news from Amazon may suggest that Kindle is donig terrible. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kindle is not doing an iPhone in sales, but still the demand is there. And I think the opportunity is there too. Here are a couple of things that Amazon needs to do to make the Kindle dream a reality:
- Add more book, and do it fast. Amazon’s CEO promised that they will try as hard as possible to bring the most rare books to the Kindle platform. But how long it takes to do such thing is another question. Do it fast. Do it now!
- Lower prices! You can’t expect people to pay $7.99 for a book that is getting sold for $9.99 (paperback). You need to drop the prices to maybe $4.99 to make people want to buy the Kindle books.
- Focus on the right demographics. Amazon is trying to reach out to everyone right now with all the novels being available through the Kindle platform. But college students should be ones that Amazon needs to focus on. For one, they read a lot of books, and for two they don’t have a choice. Why not offer university books on the Kindle.
I am sure Amazon is trying its best to add more books to its Kindle selections everyday. Having said that, you can’t expect people to embrace a fairly expensive gadget without having the books they want to read available for it.
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0 comments
#1RickJuly 2, 2008, 6:59 am
The only problem with putting college texts on the Kindle is that publishers of college textbooks are the final say…that, and many students depend on the ability to resell their books each semester to afford next semesters books. Add another $360+ just for the device and most students will say they just can’t afford it.
What needs to happen is universities should purchase mass quantities of Kindles and give them to the students (raising tuition to cover the Kindle cost over 4 years) and then ensure that the texts they use are available for the Kindle.
Even then, graphics and diagrams don’t come out right on the current Kindle version and many research projects require the cross referencing of several texts (which is easier with physical books).
#2P. RadJuly 2, 2008, 11:26 am
Don’t get me wrong. There is a long way to go for Amazon Kindle to be adoptable by Universities. I do agree with you with the whole “resell” issue. However, considering that your used book is going to go somewhere between 40 to 60% below the price you paid for it, Amazon offering a $100 book for $50 on Kindle would help. I think it would be outrageous on Amazon’s part to charge let’s say $95 for a Kindle book and $110 for its paperback edition (which is something Amazon is doing right now).
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