Like many other companies, Amazon will probably have some gathering of its management team towards the end of the year in order to review the company's 2009 performance. They will have plenty of reason to feel content. It's been a great year for Amazon - and a good deal of the credit for that must be attributed to the Kindle e-book reader.
The Kindle 2 was released in February 2009. It was widely considered to be a step in the right direction. Amazon had obviously made very good use of the customer feedback it received on the original Kindle, released in November 2007, to drive improvements. The huge choice of Kindle titles and wireless connectivity were retained and longer battery life, increased storage capacity and faster page turns were among the improvements which were incorporated.
The Kindle's launch was marked by the release of "Ur" - a novella in Kindle format - by best selling author Stephen King. Surrounded by publicity, the Kindle 2 almost immediately become the hot and trendy gadget of 2009.
Amazon followed up, just a few months later in June, with the release of the Kindle DX. The large DX screen made it ideal for readers of magazines, newspapers and academic textbooks. Surprisingly, it was the traditional world of academic publishing which generated a lot of publicity for the new DX.
The academic world quickly saw the potential benefits offered by the Kindle. Interactive education - tests and pop quizzes for example - would be possible and it would be very much easier to ensure that textbooks were kept up to date and current. As a result of using electronic books which didn't require paper, academic bodies would not only save money, but be more environmentally friendly as well - two key considerations for such institutions who have both financial budgets and environmental goals to meet nowadays.
As well as establishing partnerships with a number of colleges and universities, Amazon benefited from a lot of publicity generated by political bodies such as the New Democratic Leadership Council and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - both of whom waxed lyrical on the educational potential of e-book readers in general and the Amazon Kindle in particular.
However, as bright as things were looking for Amazon, there were signs that trouble was looming. Other manufacturers, having seen Amazon develop the e-book reader market, were now becoming aware of the massive potential of this fledgling sector. An impressive list of competitors, including the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Sony and Barnes and Noble, wanted their share - and they all had their own readers in development.
It's a backhanded compliment to Amazon that practically every reader which shows any promise is immediately dubbed the "Kindle Killer". The fact of the matter is however, that despite all the money and time spent on development by the competition, Amazon currently remains the biggest kid in the playground - and by some way. The two biggest threats - Sony's Daily Edition reader and the Nook from Barnes and Noble - have both had their release dates moved back. It begins to look highly probable that Amazon itself could be the most likely producer of the Kindle Killer - the Kindle 4. Could we reasonably expect to see this sometime in 2010?
The Kindle 2 was released in February 2009. It was widely considered to be a step in the right direction. Amazon had obviously made very good use of the customer feedback it received on the original Kindle, released in November 2007, to drive improvements. The huge choice of Kindle titles and wireless connectivity were retained and longer battery life, increased storage capacity and faster page turns were among the improvements which were incorporated.
The Kindle's launch was marked by the release of "Ur" - a novella in Kindle format - by best selling author Stephen King. Surrounded by publicity, the Kindle 2 almost immediately become the hot and trendy gadget of 2009.
Amazon followed up, just a few months later in June, with the release of the Kindle DX. The large DX screen made it ideal for readers of magazines, newspapers and academic textbooks. Surprisingly, it was the traditional world of academic publishing which generated a lot of publicity for the new DX.
The academic world quickly saw the potential benefits offered by the Kindle. Interactive education - tests and pop quizzes for example - would be possible and it would be very much easier to ensure that textbooks were kept up to date and current. As a result of using electronic books which didn't require paper, academic bodies would not only save money, but be more environmentally friendly as well - two key considerations for such institutions who have both financial budgets and environmental goals to meet nowadays.
As well as establishing partnerships with a number of colleges and universities, Amazon benefited from a lot of publicity generated by political bodies such as the New Democratic Leadership Council and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - both of whom waxed lyrical on the educational potential of e-book readers in general and the Amazon Kindle in particular.
However, as bright as things were looking for Amazon, there were signs that trouble was looming. Other manufacturers, having seen Amazon develop the e-book reader market, were now becoming aware of the massive potential of this fledgling sector. An impressive list of competitors, including the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Sony and Barnes and Noble, wanted their share - and they all had their own readers in development.
It's a backhanded compliment to Amazon that practically every reader which shows any promise is immediately dubbed the "Kindle Killer". The fact of the matter is however, that despite all the money and time spent on development by the competition, Amazon currently remains the biggest kid in the playground - and by some way. The two biggest threats - Sony's Daily Edition reader and the Nook from Barnes and Noble - have both had their release dates moved back. It begins to look highly probable that Amazon itself could be the most likely producer of the Kindle Killer - the Kindle 4. Could we reasonably expect to see this sometime in 2010?
About the Author:
Check out the Amazon Kindle reader and discover how to make it pay for itself by downloading free Kindle books.
No comments:
Post a Comment