Good morning class – turn your kindles to page 6 please…
In this satiric video by CRACKED the new Amazon kindle is being mocked as a gadget no one really needs.
That is extremely short sited 
In the product’s demonstration video – Amazon refers to it as a “reading device” and I tell you it is nothing less..
Put the interface aside for a sec (I’ll get to it) and focus on the distribution infrastructure they’ve created and you’ll understand what I’m blogging about.
From Wikipedia…
“Amazon Kindle is an electronic book (e-book) service launched in the United States by Amazon.com in November 2007. It uses an electronic paper display, reads the proprietary Kindle (AZW) format, and downloads content over Amazon Whispernet, which uses the Sprint EVDO network. This means that unlike previously existing e-book readers, the Kindle can be used without the need for a computer. Whispernet is accessible through Kindle without any fee”
A couple of points I think are important to pay attention to..
1. By choosing cellular protocol to be the basis for the wireless connectivity, they made sure the Kindle doesn’t need a computer in order to operate. I am a big believer in ubiquitous computing so I’m not that impressed by the fact the Kindle doesn’t require a computer in order to download books. what is worth paying attention to is the fact that by doing that Amazon clearly states that the Kindle is designed to excel in one thing – displaying e-books that were directly (and cellularly) downloaded from the Amazon Kindle network. it is not meant to upload anything or to render anything that is not an Amazon rendered content (today it’s novels and news but tomorrow it can be Algebra for 6th graders).
2. They are giving Google the finger by choosing Wikipedia.org as the on-line rendered encyclopedia (Google has just announced Knols as their solution for on-line user generated knowledge base).
3. Interface – Amazon introduced electronic-paper display which according to them “provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper” this is a technology worth mentioning as I believe it is going to catch a lot of attention in the next couple of years as electronic content is going to be more and more depended on in the education system as well as for day to day consumption of reading material (not to mention the use of non recycled paper is getting less and less popular). in addition, the Kindle’s interface can advance alongside the electronic-paper technology in the next few years providing you with a Kindle 2.0 that will look and feel much like regular paper with the advantage that it will be connected to the Amazon backbone of available content.
In other words, Amazon attempted to create the ultimate reading device, one that will be responsible for providing you with all the reading content you ever need and most importantly, it’ll be done via the Amazon store and the Kindle network.
Just imagine, for example, what will happen if the Kindle will be adopted as a standard by an official government institute (Like the American education system) – it might be the end of book lockers as we know them today
I am adding Amazon to my basket…
