Why Amazon Kindle Needs to Go Solar
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I am one of those people who try to be optimistic with everything but always find a way to find a negative in every positive. A couple of years ago, I read about Sony Reader, and how it was so handy for folks who read a lot of books on the go. I almost bought a Sony Reader back then. It was going for $400, and it was a primitive device (in comparison to Amazon Kindle). There were many positives to it at the time. But I found a way to talk myself out of it.
I remember that day clearly. I was thinking of this crazy scenario where I would settle down and retire in a place that was not as developed as most U.S. cities. There are still places in this world that don’t have access to Internet or even necessities such as clean water and electricity. So I thought, I can live with the water issue, but how can I continue using my reader if there is no electricity?
Now this is a scenario that hopefully I will never have to live through. But Amazon Kindle going solar makes sense on many levels. I know you can get about a week worth of reading with your Kindle battery. But wouldn’t be great if you could charge your Kindle by letting it get some sun? It’s more convenient, and it brings Kindle experience closer to that of a paper book (a paper book doesn’t need to be recharged, and a solar Kindle wouldn’t be too inconvenient to recharge).
Technology firms are not necessarily on green movement’s Christmas guess list. Apple got a lot of attention for not making iPhone 1.0 green enough. Amazon can not only help the environment by going green, but it can also generate some needed buzz for Kindle in the near future. Oprah effect is going to wear off eventually, and Amazon needs to find a way to accelerate the Kindle movement.
The challenge for Amazon will be keeping the costs low. Solar devices tend to be a bit more expensive than their non-solar counterparts, so that could be a problem. The design issues are also going to be significant. But regardless of all these issues, going green can help Amazon reach out to extreme users and get them on board.
Your take: what challenges do you foresee for Amazon going green with Kindle? Can solar Kindle become a reality in the next couple of years?
