Why Amazon's Kindle Is A hit. It's an iPod

Um, no kidding?

Isn't this completely obvious?

Thanks Bruce, and you're welcome. I found a pretty interesting review of the Sony e-Reader by Attack of the Show, in which they praise its design -- and bemoan its lack of wireless connectivity and the full Amazon library that might be interesting to watch for your readers.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/33956/attack-of-the-show-sony-e-reader-review

It's like reading a Peter Pan story...hahahaha

The only reason Kindle is successful is that Apple hasn't made an iPod touch with a large enough screen to compete with it. If they did so, it would not only eat kindle, it would devour laptop sales. Perhaps it is the later that is why Apple has not done so.

Kindle's success? What success? CitiGroup's estimate of 378,000 units sold this year is "extremely high" and "not reasonable" according to Amazon officials.

http://usedbooksblog.com/blog/dont-believe-the-kindle-sales-numbers-amazon-doesnt/

The fact that Amazon continues to refuse to release sales figures lends great credence to this report.

I agree the killer app of the Kindle is ubiquitous networking and easy direct access to new books, but those are things the iPhone shares in spades.

Consider again that downloads of the eBook iPhone app Stanza in just 5 months are over 400,000 already and Stanza now has direct online access to the 40,000 commercial titles in the Fictionwise library as well as the thousands of free titles in the other online catalogs accessible with a couple of clicks from within the Stanza app.

http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/iphone-the-inci.html

What this tells me is that Kindle has some major competition from a device that has the same advantages online store, high a level of onscreen sharpness (160dpi). However, the iPhone also boasts many other advantages including vastly higher sales (12 million this year alone) colour, backlit screen, portability, games and thousands of other apps, phone, killer web browser, GPS etc etc.

As such, I think that while the Kindle may be killing the Sony e-reader, there is a strong likelihood that the iPhone (and iPod Touch) are killing the Kindle (or at least ensuring it will remain a niche product into the future).

-Mart

This is not about the iPhone - the iPhone is not a competitor - it has zero utility as a reader or as a book simulator. The iPhone/iTunes model is Kindle's competitive edge vis-a-vis the Sony but this does not mean that the iPhone is a Kindle killer, no matter the number Stanza downloads. The fact is you cannot read a book comfortably on an iPhone. And at the end of the day the form factor of the Kindle may not be perfect - certainly some of the controls poorly placed - but it does an adequate job of simulating a book and it has a easy to use downloadable library. Of course there always is the option of getting a last generation slate/tablet and enjoying Project Gutenburg and manybooks as a cheaper and more flexible alternative...

I can't wait to see the new iPhone with a six inch screen that can be read in full sunlight like the Kindle can. Plus gaining the book purchasing structure which Amazon is known for (if you want to buy a book, do you think of Apple or Amazon?).

When pigs fly, IMO.

Now where did I read something like this before..."Buy Amazon - Kindle is the iPod of books"
http://www.businessweek.com/investing/insights/blog/archives/2007/11/buy_amazon_-_ki.html

Bruce, I wish you could add substance or substantiation. It would make for a stronger posting.
"The Kindle’s a massive hit, there’s no question of that."
"Kindle absolutely destroying Sony’s offering"
http://thekindle.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/amazon-kindle-sales-estimates-best-case-worst-case-and-assumptions/

http://www.blogkindle.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/citi-kindle-model.png

I waited over 10 yrs for ebook tech to improve. Saw Jeff Bezos' launch of Kindle almost 1 yr ago. Waited for 'bugs' to be discovered, watch Oprah in 10/08 where she + Jeff sang the praises and gave each audience member 1 AND, 'cuz I happened to watch that day, I got the Oprah discount.

I LOVE mine...all the options plus, the ability to download a single issue of WSJ, NY Times, etc for $0.75!!!!!

I love paper books! And I'd hate any paper-book-killer, such as Kindle. What's the fun in reading books on a piece of gadgetry? Port everything else to e-format if you like - newspapers, letters, mails, documents, reports - but not books please. =(

I'm an avid Kindle user, and definitely agree it's about the fast and simple wireless connectivity, not the device design, which seems pretty primitive to me, compared to Apple's interface design.
Where I'd like to see things go: a partnership between Apple and Amazon.com that lets me purchase books wirelessly on my iPhone, and then read them on a paper-thin roll-up screen communicating with the iPhone in my pocket via Bluetooth (the roll-up reader as the text equivalent of a Bluetooth phone headset.)
That would bring together the best of Kindle (book-size reading surface, convenient wireless e-commerce) and Apple (elegant, friendly interface design), without the need to carry around a large device.

Remember that Kindle is a first version product. Its also the first ground up consumer product Amazon has done. For a company like Amazon to bring such a first product to market is remarkable and a testimony to the team (internal and external) who did it.

As a first product though, of course it has some rough edges - I assume Amazon are listening (which they are very good at) to their customers and will learn about what is working and not working and will iterate the design over time. The rough edges of the experience will get polished.

The other thing to remember is that people buy solutions not products. Part of the original Apple II success was the computer and spreadsheet = financial modeling for the rest of us, a great solution. Part of the Mac success was the wysiwyg interface, postscript, laserwriter, and pagemaker = desktop publishing, another solution. The ipod is small storage device, usable interface, great integration with Mac, iTunes store provides legal software download = legal music download and usage. There are many more examples. The Kindle can be book reader + access to content anywhere + latest books instantly = the ebook.

Remember that 'the book', 'magazine', and 'newspaper', as we know them have actually taken hundreds of years to evolve to where they are today and are highly refined artifact of design. Kindle and its competitors have the right to a few iterations to get there integration of print media, screen, and embedded software right.

In the meantime, I've been an early Kindle buyer and I'm enjoying it. However, I get mad with it occasionally - I would love to tell Amazon the places to polish.