Updated – Kindle DX – The vicarious review
Amazon.com had a big press conference a couple of days to herald the release of the big screen Kindle DX, the 9.7″ version of the Kindle 2. I have not had a chance to hold, use or even look at anything but a picture and some specs on the Amazon site.
Immediately hordes of non-believers wielding torches and pitchforks set upon Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Crew, foretelling failure for the bigger Kindle. They did this in between news snacking from their wirelessly equipped laptops.
Representing the middle ground is Dan Dubno, as written in the Huffington Post this morning.
TechCrunch weighed in on this today (5/10) making the case that piracy will come to the rescue of the Kindle, but that ultimately the device’s usability challenges will bring it down.
There are many who are far more skeptical of the Kindle DX and its potential. But I think that they miss the point. Amazon (read: Bezos) knows what it’s doing. This is not a Segway. Bezos was one of the biggest promoters of a ‘revolutionary transportation breakthrough’ that is now mostly used by Mall Cops and airport to chase donuts and teenagers.
The difference between the Kindle DX and the Segway is that the newspaper in its current paper form is in far more danger than our ability to perambulate. The antiquated delivery mechanism of the newspaper, under seige from the always-on internet and the ongoing print advertising depression, is at real (and logical) risk of going the way of the dodo. The Segway was a solution to a non-existent problem. Bezos has invested in both. He will ultimately be as successful with the Kindle as Jobs has been with iTunes – and not just for books, but also for papers and periodicals. The Kindle creates a market for the very high margin e-book downloads. Again, see: Apple iPod sales effect on iTunes. You can never sell another iPod but people will still buy music.
Bezos was single-minded and instrumental in getting people to buy things online, and his vision has come true. I have no reason to doubt that he’ll be right about this. It’s just going to take some time.
Steve Smith, in today’s MinOnline, opines that the latest Kindle DX, a version made for newspapers and textbooks as compared to books for the Kindle 2, is not enough of an improvement in technology terms to merit the marketing hype that Bezos put on to promote it. Steve referred to it as an ‘iterative product’.
I disagree and will split hairs: it’s an evolutionary product, and potentially opens up the market for many more innovations, especially in terms of monetization, but first the Kindle DX needs to do the following:
Measure its audience. When Kindle DX readers see and ad impression, it needs to register somewhere. The audience info is valuable and will help keep advertisers in the news format. You can’t monetize an anonymous audience.
Drive its audience to meta-content. Whether the ability to click through on ads, or hyper-link as in a blog, the navigation needs to open up and be effectively two-way.
Faciliate blogging and commenting. If I can forward an article to a friend, or notate it for a blog, or comment on it, then this is a device that I can live with – it would be my commuting tool.
Access a web browser and email. This is a cloud-based netbook if it can do this. I don’t do spreadsheets on the train.
I am excited about the Kindle DX. If the Kindle DX 2 (or an unlocked Kindle DX) can do the things I just listed, then I will buy one and ditch the weekday paper. But Keep that big honking Sunday NYT coming!
Toby Schremmer, 
David and 2 others are discussing. 
Dan Entin 7:29 pm on May 8, 2009 Permalink |
I rarely read books so the Kindle has limited appeal for me. I read the NY Times religiously but I love their mobile site and that’s all I need. I have an iPod Touch and downloaded the Kindle app and bought one book. I never finished the book but not sure if that was the author’s fault or the app’s. Bottom line is launching the DX really doesn’t change the value proposition of the Kindle for me at all.
Joshua Tretakoff 10:38 pm on May 8, 2009 Permalink |
The DX is an opportunity that has been flubbed. The appeal of the original Kindle is clear, and has had a powerful financial effect on Amazon. Living with a Kindle addict, I can see the effects: he book consumption has shot through the roof, and it is now 100% Amazon spent, rather than spread across retailers.
The DX was a chance to redefine the business model on some many levels. Imagine, instead of this large-format Kindle being available for $500, it was $99, BUT it required a two-year subscription to a newspaper. Would McClatchey spend $250 to guarantee a subscriber for 2 years, plus get the ad revenue Dave points out here? Amazon would not have been able to keep them in stock, and the newspapers would get the best demos.
I know, they could still do it. but the moment has passed. The time to announce it was at the unveiling, not a vague mumble of tests in the future; that won’t jolt anyone. No, they fumbled this one, and the device will suffer as a result of poor pricing, a lack of a revolutionary business model, and an incomplete targeting strategy.
David 11:34 pm on May 8, 2009 Permalink |
Sure, I want one (still a little pricey for me.) Basically, there’s no reason for it not to do everything that an iphone does. But having said that, I’m never going to read a novel on an iphone, or sitting at my computer for that matter. So I think that a device that allows relaxed reading will create a market for more indepth (but maybe less interactive) content.
Dave Hendricks 11:34 pm on May 8, 2009 Permalink |
I gotta agree with you. This was an opportunity to introduce a real game-changer and I think that Amazon hit a single, when a triple or home run was within reach…but without the four elements I outline, I don’t think the product is any thing more than a double hit into the gap.
Toby Schremmer 2:23 pm on June 2, 2009 Permalink |
I haven’t held a Kindle yet either but as a big reader I’m just waiting for this to work. I viewed first Kindle as the experiment and was hoping this DX would be the proverbial home run. At that price point, it has little chance. I’m waiting for Apple’s supposed upcoming “tweener” (between iPhone and MacBook) device. As a long time iTunes user, I’d love to keep my books in the same ecosystem as my music, podcasts etc already are. Without even a product out yet, this is Apple’s market to win or lose.