What Amazon Missed With Kindle DX
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Kindle DX is certainly a great addition to the Kindle family. A lot of good things have happened with the DX. For starters, you get native support with PDF which is something a lot of us have been waiting for since day 1. The screen is much bigger, which makes it easier to read textbooks more conveniently. But as much as I like Amazon’s new device, the company seems to have missed a big chance to take Kindle to the next level.
Kindle DX is not a cheap gadget. It costs $489, which is not that affordable. At the same time, a lot of Kindle fans paid $360 to get Kindle 2.0 just a couple of months ago. Kindle DX’s release leaves a lot of these folks in a bind. I don’t know about you but spending $850+ on e-book readers is not something a lot of people can do. Amazon had a great opportunity to do to Kindle what Apple did to iPhone. But it seems we still have to wait a bit more.
Here are things I would have liked Amazon to tackle with this new Kindle:
- SDK: I have been a strong supporter for a SDK for Kindle. Amazon can’t have a dynamic platform without allowing its community to develop tools to enhance Kindle’s functionality. It could be that Amazon is working on a software platform behind the scenes, but sooner rather than later Amazon needs to let us Kindle owners take things in our own hands and develop software to enhance what Kindle has to offer.
- Promotions: Kindle DX seems to be Amazon’s way of reaching out to students. Why not give students an education discount? Others have been doing it successfully.
- Payment plan: I have seen Nintendo Wii, PS3, and digital cameras being sold with a flexible payment plan on Amazon. It’s still beyond me why Amazon is not offering the same flexible payment plans for Kindle.
- Rebate: as a customer it feels great to know that the company that I do business with is looking out for me. Considering that Kindle 2.0 was released in February, Amazon could have offered Kindle 2.0 owners an incentive to get on board with Kindle DX. We haven’t heard anything about that yet.
- Subscription Service: it’s about time Amazon developed a book subscription service for Kindle (e.g. read 30 books for $30 a month). Amazon may be confident about selling a lot of e-books, but that doesn’t mean it should ignore other ways to make content available to Kindle owners.
- Fashion: I know books are not supposed to be sexy. But companies such as Western Digital have proved that when you introduce fashion to the gadget business, you sell more units. Wouldn’t you love to see a blue or red Kindle DX? It’s not a big deal, but something Amazon could have entertained.
- Color Screen: I get a lot of flak for calling on Amazon to introduce a color screen Kindle. That wasn’t possible this time around, but it’s going to be a hit when Amazon does go for it.
There you have it. By no means am I trying to take anything away from Kindle DX. It’s a great gadget and is going to help Amazon go after other segments of the e-book market. At the same time, Amazon needs to keep the ball moving and think more long-term. Just take a look at Apple.
Your take: what features did you want to see on Kindle DX? What’s disappointed you about the device?
