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iPad Killed Kindlenomics
- Thread starter Spudracer
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Jobs was right. Nobody reads anymore.
The Kindle is (theoretically) superior at reading books. The iPad is better at everything else. Not enough people strictly read books for the Kindle to survive at it's price point.
Drop it $100 and it might work.
One of the reasons I agree with the blogger in the ZDNet article is that killing off the H/W in no way keeps Amazon out of the content game on the iPad. And that's really their forte. Amazon is a distribution and etail juggernaut, not a manufacturer of technology hardware. Hell, Bezos may actually be grateful to be out of the H/W game. He should be. As long as Apple allows the Kindle app on the iPhone / iPad everybody wins. Yes, consumers will pay a little more under Apple's pricing model. The publishers have taken back a measure of control from the electronic distribution channel. But consumers will have Amazon, iBooks, ePub, and more to choose from. That means you'll be able to get just about any book anywhere on one platform. OK by me.
Except Amazon never discussed specific Kindle or eBook sales numbers so we really don't know what kind of micro-economy the Kindle was. I suspect if some ginormous number of Kindles were sold Amazon would be crowing about it similar to how Apple did when the iPod got hot and also the iPhone. But that's not the case so I wonder how much of a financial success the Kindle is. Certainly it's a cultural phenomenon even if its just a cult product. But that along doesn't make it a money maker.
The author makes a lot of assumptions and leaps of faith which in my mind are too too much.
The very first/biggest leap is that Amazon will not be doing anything to refresh/upgrade the current Kindle2.
Aside from all the things that have already been discussed - The Kindle2 (not speaking to the Kindle DX) isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Those that are ringing the death knell for eInk are premature. Will eInk ultimately survive as part of eReaders, no one can say. But whoever thinks with all the devices and upgraded technologies with color eInk coming our way that eInk will go "quietly" in less than 2 years - those people need to take Business 101 and Economic 101. They're kidding themselves.
It might not be the dominant or even preferred technology. But it's not going to be killed in less than 2 years.... LOL
The very first/biggest leap is that Amazon will not be doing anything to refresh/upgrade the current Kindle2.
Aside from all the things that have already been discussed - The Kindle2 (not speaking to the Kindle DX) isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Those that are ringing the death knell for eInk are premature. Will eInk ultimately survive as part of eReaders, no one can say. But whoever thinks with all the devices and upgraded technologies with color eInk coming our way that eInk will go "quietly" in less than 2 years - those people need to take Business 101 and Economic 101. They're kidding themselves.
It might not be the dominant or even preferred technology. But it's not going to be killed in less than 2 years.... LOL
Except that a company can't achieve economy of scale to produce an affordable color e-ink reader if there isn't a big enough early adopter base. The big issue with e-ink is the slow refresh rate, and how many people are going to jump to pay several hundreds of dollars for a color book reader in a year. I doubt few.
Amazon is clearly trying to reinvent the Kindle to be a jack-of-all trades iPad clone but to realistically do that it will have to switch over to LCD. You can't play games or surf the Web from a practical perspective with e-ink b/c of the slow refresh rates.
Nice article. I don't think it was ever about the hardware. If it was, then Kindle software would never have been released. I think Amazon will be just fine with being able to sell books on iPad and other tablets and won't mind one bit if production of Kindle DX ends and Kindle 2 dwindles to a small niche. But they will still sell it. As long as there is money to be made selling books, hardware sales even at a modest loss aren't really a problem, especially when that hardware only knows how to talk to Amazon's servers.
Nice - but eReaders don't need a high refresh rate. And I don't think for a second Amazon is trying to be a jack of all trades. They are trying to master their one domain.
Some people just want an eReader. I know that's hard for you to accept, Chupa Chupa since this isn't the first time you "refuse" to allow yourself to entertain the thought.
iPads and other eReaders can enjoy the same marketplace just like iPods and dozens of "competitors" share the music space. It's ok. It doesn't mean you aren't making a great purchasing decision for your needs. You don't need to concern yourself with other products if they aren't for you. Others can enjoy them and/or the iPad too.
LOL at samcraig. Agreed, though.
I for one don't want the e-ink technology to go away. I think there are plenty of niche groups for which it would remain useful, and increasingly so as the technology develops.
I for one don't want the e-ink technology to go away. I think there are plenty of niche groups for which it would remain useful, and increasingly so as the technology develops.
The article makes some good points, but I think goes way overboard in predicting the demise of Kindle.
The main thing I don't like about the article is his insistence that Apple will make an iPad Mini! He's just making that up out of nowhere, and I don't see Apple ever doing that. The iPad itself bridges the gap between the mac and the iPhone. But why would Apple make a product that bridges the gap between the iPad and the iPhone, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It would be too big to fit in your pocket, and too small to do all the cool things the iPad lets you do on the 10 inch screen. Therefore, I say there will not be an iPad mini, especially not by next year.
The main thing I don't like about the article is his insistence that Apple will make an iPad Mini! He's just making that up out of nowhere, and I don't see Apple ever doing that. The iPad itself bridges the gap between the mac and the iPhone. But why would Apple make a product that bridges the gap between the iPad and the iPhone, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It would be too big to fit in your pocket, and too small to do all the cool things the iPad lets you do on the 10 inch screen. Therefore, I say there will not be an iPad mini, especially not by next year.
I agree, the writer lost a lot of credibility with the iPad mini thing.
I wonder if he meant the Newton iPad mini thing?!?
Still, I don't think it will be too long before the Kindle DX shows up on oldcomputers.net...
