Why Amazon Will Save the World

Wow, no caffeine-induced euphoria in that hyped message, is there?

As a matter of fact, I’ve been living with an Amazon Kindle now for the past few months and the romance just continues to bloom. There are so many things here to like, and so many messages for those of us who are entrusted to deliver technology to professionals to help them get their jobs done better in less time and with less pain.

First: The medium, known as an “electrophoretic” screen, is provided by a company called E Ink. It was spun out of MIT, and drew its inspiration from groundbreaking technology created by HP Labs and driven by the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University. Unlike an LCD, it uses a tiny amount of power, only to “clean” and “paint” the image, which then remains visible without any additional power. It needs no backlighting, so the power use extends into days and weeks instead of minutes and hours. It’s much easier on the eyes, too. It’s only available in black and white, but for readers that’s all you need.

Second: This is, at least for right now, the “iPod of books.” Just as Apple was able to broker a standard among competing download technologies, providing an intuitive, user-driven search site, and simple pricing, so has Amazon applied similar principles. The Kindle site respects the interests of the reader, and prices are typically a flat USD $9.99 per title. It will store up to 250 books, enough for even the longest trip to Asia. Like iTunes, the Kindle does not compete against content providers (in this case, book publishers). An added benefit is the availability of dozens of newspapers and magazines, which could provide a shot in the arm to an ailing industry.

Third: The pricing model bundles the cost of the cell connection. The Kindle accesses its website via the CDMA network, but you don’t have to sign up for a monthly calling plan with a cell carrier. The fee is built into the $9.99 price of the book, encouraging more time on the website. Too bad it’s not GSM, so I could use it outside the US.

Fourth: Unlike iTunes’ App Store, Amazon has (so far), taken a rather laissez-faire attitude towards the hacker community, encouraging a potentially valuable secondary market for add-ins and enhancements. It’s too early to see what happens, but the hack sites are busy.

Finally, this is a great use of the philosophy championed in the Open Source community – that giving a user a lean product with a few features that really works well is, for many, good enough. There’s no “technology overhead” on this device.

Getting Oprah’s endorsement didn’t hurt sales, either (glad I already had mine; I could have sold it at a premium on eBay before Christmas).

It remains to be seen who the winning provider will be – there are competing and great technologies from iTunes for its iPhone, Sony and its Reader, a Dutch company with its iRex, and a new company, Plastic Logic, which will soon launch a larger format device. And, of course, Amazon just launched a new Kindle, and Google will make 1.5m free e-books available in a format viewable on smart phones. So, the real winner here is you, the user. That’s the beauty of competition.

For me, the takeaways are: keep it simple, eliminate technology overhead, respect the user and the way they work, provide a highly-purposed UI, and encourage a community of content providers. Will some of this go into future SolidWorks technology? Is some of it already there?

Comments

[Devon T. Sowell]

Hello Jeff-

This is the first review of the Kindle I've read. Very informative. In my opinion, the hardware is over priced, at this time.

A few counterpoints; I do like the smell and feel of books, especially old books, like The Time Machine, H.G. Wells, that I read when I was 12, or The Mystery Of Cabin Island, The Hardy Boys. As soon as I smell and feel these books, the memories come flooding back.

Thanks,
Devon Sowell

[Jon Banquer]

"The Kindle accesses its website via the CDMA network"

CDMA... now that's impressive!

Jon Banquer
San Diego, CA
http://jonbanquer.wordpress.com/