Amazon Kindle: A Flawed Start To A Revolution


by Bob Livolsi - Date: 2007-12-04 - Word Count: 527 Share This!

Last week Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com released the Amazon Kindle. This device is a groundbreaking step in increasing the popularity of eBooks. It boasts an electronic-paper display to mimic the look of real paper, wireless connectivity, more than 88,000 books, newspapers and magazines available for purchase, and the capability to email Word documents and pictures. But has Amazon really figured out how to revolutionize the way people read?

The Kindle's electronic-paper display is not so revolutionary, and has been seen before in other products, such as the Sony Reader. The display is also limited to black and white. Even the most bleak of revolutions had earth-tone shades. Also, the free wireless connectivity, WhisperNet, operates on an EVDO network and is therefore only available in the US, and tends to have limited reach and reliability within the US, especially in rural areas. Amazon charges for every document or picture you receive through email on the Kindle, and does not offer PDF support. The Kindle has a single proprietary format, MOBI. From the leader in the online bookstore industry, you may also expect to have the largest selection of eBooks to choose from for the Kindle, but that is not the case. Amazon only offers 88,000 eBooks for sale, while some smaller companies offer up to 154,000 eBooks, almost twice as many as the Kindle and nearly eight times as many as Sony.

The biggest question being raised about the Amazon Kindle is about its price. Four hundred dollars might be an aptly amount if this eReader were perfect, it's simple lack of color is a far cry from a full-color, high gloss magazine, or even a blog Also keep in mind that this $400 does not include the cost of books, magazines, blogs, and newspapers. Other stores have been recognized for having the best prices on the web for eBooks with no monthly fees, so you can enjoy the convenience of having thousands of titles at your fingertips without the hefty price tag from Amazon. These stores also offer eBooks that are compatible with all PCs, Macs, laptops, PDAs, Windows Mobile PocketPC, Smartphones, Blackberry and even iPods. In addition to the price is the amount of customer service Amazon has shown customers in the past. There has been two instances where Amazon has bailed on eBook customers in the past year. First in 2006 deleting the backed-up bookshelves of eBook customers, and then in 2007 shutting down its Mobipocket servers for ten days. In each occasion no warning or explanation was given to customers. This history demonstrates a clear lack of concern for end customers, concerned first and foremost with the benefit of volume. Amazon's customers can be discarded because they can afford to buy new ones with major advertising and marketing dollars. Smaller companies like BooksonBoard and Fictionwise care about each customer because it's their practice.

So has Amazon started a revolution? Not quite. While Amazon's valiant attempt to revolutionize the industry is definitely appreciated, there are just too many wasted opportunities that the Kindle fails to take advantage of; perhaps The Kindle will inspire Steve Jobs or even Google to come up with a true revolutionary eReader.

Related Tags: ebooks, ebook, amazon kindle, kindle

Bob Livolsi is the proud proprietor of BooksOnBoard.com, a company known for its vast selection of ebooks and audio books in nearly every genre. Be sure to stop by and browse around, with well over 150,000 titles you'll definitely find something you like.

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