Keeping an Eye on Technology Futures, No Hidden Agendas, New Attitudes, No Platitudes!
The original Kindle (Nov. 2007) seemed too clunky, and at $359 it was expensive; so I decided to wait. In the meantime, I fiddled a bit with Sony's eBook in the store, but was not impressed.
My wait for Kindle-2 was justified, even though the price (unchanged) still seems high. But heck, if an iPod music player justifies that kind of money, why not an eBook?
Kindle-2 is about the size of a slim paperback and only 1/3 inch thick. At 10 ounces, it's lighter than a paperback or magazine. And you don't have to fumble with pages - navigation is easy, with convenient buttons to flip pages back and forth, anywhere you want.
The display is smaller than an average paperback page, but the text is crisp and readable and you can change text size to suit. Visually, it's as good as paper.
You can read for days without re-charging. The AC power-cord/charger is slick, with the DC supply built right into the plug, from which you can unplug the USB connector for a PC link. Nice surprise.
Kindle is more than just a book; it reads out loud to you with built-in speakers. Or you can include music (MP3) in the background.
The wireless connection is 3G high-speed Internet, available anywhere, like a cellphone. You can download books anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots.
Kindle gives you a choice of 250,000 books, magazines, newspapers, any of which are delivered directly to your e-book in under 60 seconds. Most books are $9.95 each, and the 2 gigabyte memory holds over 1,500 books. Nice on a plane-ride, or on the beach, or a long-trip.
The company behind the high-contrast, low-power "electronic paper" screen is E-Ink (based in Cambridge, MA). They've been waiting more than a decade for e-paper to take off. This will be it.
Amazon won't say how many Kindles they've sold to date; the guess is only about 10-15,000. Estimates for Kindle-2 are euphoric - about 500,000 this year and more than a million in 2010. This means more than $1B revenue for Amazon. If it hits anywhere near those numbers, e-paper and e-books will finally have arrived.
All this excitement is in the face of a dire recession. Indeed, Kindle-2 is a symbol of what's coming with revolutionary new products and value-shifts for new kinds of economic success.
