Thursday
Nov222007
A dirge for the Kindle
Monday Amazon unwrapped their newest "innovation" in selling content to their huge user base. I'm a huge e-ink and ebook fan, but Jesus Christ this gadget is 10 gallons of fail in a 5 gallon bucket.
Despite its name, the Kindle doesn't harken the next evolution of books so much as it's own funeral pyre. How come it's going to fail? By not letting a few good designers make a product the highly literate user base at Amazon would want to use. Instead they stick in kludges calling them features. Kindle, what a big keyboard you have. "The better I can sell books to you," quotes our wolf in grandmas' clothing.
Buying books when you're not at the computer is cool. I make it a point to do it at least once a month. It's called the Public Library (and it's always important to support these institutions). Buying the dead-tree version is better in so many ways. There's no DRM restrictions, no worries about compatibility, and the experience is more memorable. Amazon is so popular because they let you buy all manner of stuff from the convenience of your home computer, why make ebooks different? Perhaps it was seem as a way to extricate peoples hard earned money for content they can never move. It's what every content distributor (nee leaches) lusts after; locked-in content they can charge exorbitantly for.
With magazines like Newsweek heralding it as an iPod for books I, like everyone around me, must expand the critical flaw in their analogy. The reason the iPod is popular is because people had a huge library of CDs they were able to convert to MP3s for free. 3 billion songs sold on the iTunes Music Store (as of June 07) sounds impressive until you do the math of the 100 million ipods sold. That's around 30 songs sold per iPod. Unless there's an easy way to put content you already own on these devices, they will never sell.
Another feature-come-service is Kindles email and document abilities. There's an Amazon service which will send "unprotected Microsoft Word, HTML, TXT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PRC and MOBI files" via the EVDO wireless for roughly 10¢ a pop. Thanks, but I think I'll gouge my eyes out with a rusty pair of scissors. This "feature" reminds me of the previous Sony e-book, the Librie [I quadruple checked the spelling, Sony is just that retarded -ed.] Just like the Kindle, it came with a subscription service for periodicals and books. The reason it bombed, utterly and with many fireworks is quite simple actually. People didn't paying for content they already had, nor could they import their analog books onto these ebook devices easily.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball said it best.
Then at least it would have a fighting chance by giving consumers the library they need to justify buying a 400 Dollar device. I don't see who is going to want the Kindle, other than for firewood that is.
Despite its name, the Kindle doesn't harken the next evolution of books so much as it's own funeral pyre. How come it's going to fail? By not letting a few good designers make a product the highly literate user base at Amazon would want to use. Instead they stick in kludges calling them features. Kindle, what a big keyboard you have. "The better I can sell books to you," quotes our wolf in grandmas' clothing.
Buying books when you're not at the computer is cool. I make it a point to do it at least once a month. It's called the Public Library (and it's always important to support these institutions). Buying the dead-tree version is better in so many ways. There's no DRM restrictions, no worries about compatibility, and the experience is more memorable. Amazon is so popular because they let you buy all manner of stuff from the convenience of your home computer, why make ebooks different? Perhaps it was seem as a way to extricate peoples hard earned money for content they can never move. It's what every content distributor (nee leaches) lusts after; locked-in content they can charge exorbitantly for.
With magazines like Newsweek heralding it as an iPod for books I, like everyone around me, must expand the critical flaw in their analogy. The reason the iPod is popular is because people had a huge library of CDs they were able to convert to MP3s for free. 3 billion songs sold on the iTunes Music Store (as of June 07) sounds impressive until you do the math of the 100 million ipods sold. That's around 30 songs sold per iPod. Unless there's an easy way to put content you already own on these devices, they will never sell.
Another feature-come-service is Kindles email and document abilities. There's an Amazon service which will send "unprotected Microsoft Word, HTML, TXT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PRC and MOBI files" via the EVDO wireless for roughly 10¢ a pop. Thanks, but I think I'll gouge my eyes out with a rusty pair of scissors. This "feature" reminds me of the previous Sony e-book, the Librie [I quadruple checked the spelling, Sony is just that retarded -ed.] Just like the Kindle, it came with a subscription service for periodicals and books. The reason it bombed, utterly and with many fireworks is quite simple actually. People didn't paying for content they already had, nor could they import their analog books onto these ebook devices easily.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball said it best.
if Amazon really wanted to get aggressive, they could offer to Kindle owners not just digital versions of each book they buy from Amazon going forward, but also digital versions of each book they’ve already bought from Amazon
Then at least it would have a fighting chance by giving consumers the library they need to justify buying a 400 Dollar device. I don't see who is going to want the Kindle, other than for firewood that is.
by 
Chris
Chris 
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