My Kindle 3.0 Wishlist

Kindle 2.0 has been out for a week now, but that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about what I want to see in the next generation Kindle. Kindle 2.0 is a great e-book reader and is certainly improved upon the first Kindle. But it’s not a perfect gadget. In fact, there are a lot of areas that I want Amazon to work on (without jacking up the price). If Amazon wants Kindle to become the next iPhone, it needs to go beyond the hardware and innovate outside the box. With that in mind, here are a few things I want to see on Kindle 3.0:

• Color Screen: this will definitely put Kindle over the top. Reading books in color is more fun. And while you can see images decently on Kindle 2.0, you can’t get the best experience out of a comic book on Kindle. I have heard that Amazon has already tested this and is trying to find a way to avoid jacking up the prices on all. Yay!
• True Web: it’s great that all of us have access to 3G wireless without having to pay a penny. But what you get on Kindle is not the “true web.” I would even pay a small amount to get that on my Kindle, but implementing it won’t be straight forward.
• Document Support: Amazon does make it easy to convert PDF and other formats to Amazon’s proprietary format. I would like Amazon to improve this area  significantly with Kindle 3.0. The first Kindle was for early adopters. The 2nd Kindle is going to raise some more awareness. Amazon has a tremendous opportunity to go mainstream with Kindle 3.0. It’s too big of an opportunity for Amazon to let get away.
• Social: the future of reading is social reading. The social web has changed the way we have approached things for decades. You now have social shopping, social networking, social dieting, and … Amazon needs to add features which make it easy for folks to read socially.
• Application: I want to see an iTunes-like App Store for Kindle. For that to happen, Amazon needs to introduce a software development kit for Kindle. I have been asking for it for 2 years now. What’s another year of waiting…
• Touchscreen: with Kindle rivals adding touchscreen and using it to differentiate themselves from Kindle, Amazon should certainly consider adding this feature. It’s a no brainer.
• Voice: Read-To-Me is great, but it can still be improved to make things more natural. Will we see it? I see some legal troubles on the horizon if that happened, but Kindle needs to be improved in this area.
• Price: It’s time for Amazon to start thinking about dropping the price on Kindle. I am sure they are working on it, but here is hoping to pay only $250 (at most) for Kindle 3.0.
• Kindle Prime: you know how you get standard free shipping on most of your orders with Amazon Prime? I would like to see a similar feature implemented for Kindle. I am talking about book subscriptions. Due to the digital nature of Kindle books (and the fact that we can’t sell them), why not create a comprehensive subscription program that helps folks read more on their Kindle. Amazon could create subscriptions per category or an all-you-can-read monthly subscription. Amazon sells more, we read more, everyone’s happy.
• Fashion: I like the white Kindle. I think it’s very attractive. But Amazon should take a page out of Apple’s book and come up with more colors for Kindle. Why not?
• Accessories: I like to see more accessories for Kindle. I am sure with the success of Kindle 2.0, companies will start to make accessories for Kindle. The more accessories you have available, the better you can “pimp” your Kindle.
• Solar: I still like to see a backup solar battery on my Kindle. Maybe a solar charger. These things are out there. Amazon needs to go greener!
• Memory: Amazon did take away the SD slot with Kindle 2.0. Who wouldn’t want to see more connectivity features on Kindle?

Did I miss anything? What do you think? What do you want to see on Kindle 3.0? Please share your thoughts here.