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Can the Sleeker -- But Still Pricey -- Kindle2 Change Publishing?
Publishing hotshots show up to check out Amazon's device -- and glimpse their possible future.
Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeffrey P. Bezos holds the new Amazon Kindle 2.0 at an unveiling event at the Morgan Library & Museum February 9, 2009 in New York City. The updated electronic reading device is slimmer with new syncing technology and longer battery life and will begin shipping February 24th. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
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What a difference fourteen months makes. When Amazon introduced its first wireless reading device, back in fall 2007, there was a press conference, but little fanfare. On Monday, the introduction of the new Kindle2 was a major publicity event: formal press lists (strictly enforced), packed room at the Morgan Library – I even heard it mentioned on the local New York NBC news affiliate in the morning.
And it was a star-studded event: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos conducted the press conference – and introduced his Kindle-loving friend, author Stephen King, who read from a story, “Ur,” that he specially wrote about a Kindle with mysterious powers. He also showed off the one-of-a kind versionBezos gave him – it’s hot pink – but that’s not going to be available to the public.
King was the only bona fide celebrity in attendance – but what was striking to me was the number of publishing “celebrities” in attendance. Such agents as Sterling Lord Literistic’s Ira Silverberg, publishers David Shanks (Penguin) and Carolyn Reidy (Simon and Schuster) and foreign scout queen Maria Campbell were there – as was new Random House CEO Markus Dohle (with handlers.)
Is the Kindle really that important? Most estimates put all downloadable books at at most 1% of the market, and the Kindle is only one device. The company is and remains very close-mouthed about how many they’ve sold, though Bezos is happy to tell you that in 14 months, they’ve gone from having 90,000 titles available in the Kindle-ready format to having 230,000. Yet somehow, even though some publishers have said privately that they prefer the Sony reader over Kindle, version 1 – their attendance at the kind of event that used to be the province of geeks and publishing reporters (sometimes in the same persons), suggests that a shift is upon us.
It’s no secret that publishers have more complicated, love-hate relationships with Amazon, which still commands less than half of the bookselling market, than, say, Barnes and Noble. But its “mind share” is huge – Amazon feels to bookselling what Xerox was to copiers in the 70s – and its power increasing. And there are plenty of traditional publishers who worry just how that power will be used: to demand special terms that cut into publishers’ profits is one real concern. So are such Amazon programs as BookSurge, which virtually gives the Seattle-based behemoth a shot at becoming a publisher. You couldn’t quite shake the feeling that all these New York publishing hot-shots were there at least partly to gauge the speed and extent to which Amazon might take over their world.
The new device itself seemed cool enough. Version 2 is sleeker, 25% thinner, Bezos said, than the size of the #1 bestselling phone (probably an iPhone, but of course, Bezos doesn’t name a product from his rival, Apple.) Its buttons are less obtrusive and more easily manageable – removing the Fisher Price See-and-Spell feeling of the original.
Comments
Anonymous Says
I am at lost on how to publish a picture with my text.
Sapientia Says
Overpriced and underpowered, I listen to audiobooks on my iPhone and iPod. You can get audio books FREE at the library and download them in a snap. Libraries are now allowing members to download audio books for free from the internet.
Kindle is a joke.
Jennifer F Says
I don't have the iPhone, but I do have the iPod Touch. I've been getting ebooks for it for the past couple of months through Stanza. I love it and wouldn't trade if for the world. The Kindle looks huge and I would not want to carry around something that big. The price of titles are not as cheap but Stanza does have a rewards program. I realize they made the Kindle thinner, but the overall size is just unacceptable to me.
antonio Says
I'm going to have to go with WHShep on this one.
I don't have an iPhone yet, but I do plan on getting one after test driving both the iPhone and G1...I have an MP3 Player, a Zune 30GB thats about to be discountinued by Microsoft. I have a cell phone, so currently Im carrying around 2 devices.
I'd much rather have one device do everything than have three seperate ones. I can spend the money I'd spend on the Kindle 2 on a Gaming Console, they cost about the same....The Kindle 2 is wayyy wayyy wayyy overpriced. As a matter of fact, I've been purchasing ebooks and using text to speech for years, Kindle 2 is not the least bit ground breaking, I've yest to actually see anyone using a Kindle....
Just like my ZUne 30GB, don't be suprised to see the Kindle discountinued in the near future...
Howard E Davis Says
How many people have $350+ kicking around (for an admittedly useful new technology)? I'd love to purchase something like this for my 86 year old dad who is having an increasingly hard time reading printed books and newspapers. My dad is not very good at pressing lots of buttons. Would he be able to handle the Kindle?
Stefan Says
At least in the US you have the option of buying an (admittedly expensive) e-reader with well-priced content. In the UK, we have the Sony e-reader, under exclusive license with Waterstone's (our Barnes & Noble). The price of e-books for the reader? 10% less than a physical copy in store. No offers (e.g. 3 for 2), but you might be lucky and get 20% if it's a new book. How does that compare with the $10 for bestselling new books from Amazon.com? And the cheaper back-catalogue items?
I read a ridiculous number of books a year, and I'm a PhD student, living in college. An affordable e-reader and content would be a wonderful addition to my life. Unfortunately, in the UK, they think people will be willing to pay £250 for a reader and save NOTHING on the content. Physical books are still cheaper on Amazon, including postage, which can sometimes be as little as 1/2 price when they come out. Opposable thumbs come as standard, so at the moment there's no incentive to spend hundreds of pounds just so we can spend more on books.
Norm Says
Ann writes:
With the Kindle, once you've paid for it you have no monthly cost. New books are usually $9.99, but older ones, like Henry James stories, can be as little as 99 cents. I would give up my cell phone and my cable TV subscription before I would give up my Kindle!
But its better than that, you can get all the Henry James stories, Dickens stories, Jane Austen Stories etc for free at http://manybooks.net or "http://feedbooks.com
Compare that to buying paper copies of the same items anywhere. If you read the classics the Kindle will quickly pay for itself in the savings there alone.
The only way you'll get my Kindle is to pry it from my cold dead fingers.
M. Burrows Says
First, the ability to enlarge text and now it reads aloud.
What a boon to the vision impaired.
Michele Says
I would so love to have a Kindle 2! My house is overflowing with books (which I just can't bare to part with) and the Kindle would be a welcome addition. How many trees could we save? If I'm not mistaken, even public libraries are beginning to see the advantage of this sort of 'check out' system?
WHShep Says
@Ann Strosnider:
The "iPod" has no monthly cost, let alone "extremely high" ones—unless of course you buy it on credit.
The iPhone has a $30 monthly cost for its data plan, beyond the usual cell phone plan. That's for unlimited internet access. Thirty bucks on the Kindle would net you three new books. You have to decide for yourself which is the better value.
Me, I'd rather be able to buy those books for the iPhone than tote yet another device around.
Ann Strosnider Says
I would not rule out the Kindle as an important new force in book publishing and reading, even if it has been slow to take off. My husband and I recently ordered our second Kindle and are eagerly awaiting the new, improved Kindle 2.
This device is obviously not aimed at the average American who reads only a couple of books a year. It is aimed at people like me who love to read but whose homes are overflowing with books, newspapers and magazines.
The main thing I love about the Kindle is that it allows me to read all the latest books without adding to the clutter in my house. And without adding to the stress on the environment of more trees being cut down to make paper and more gas being used to ship books around the country.
It's also wonderful for taking on trips. Instead of weighing down my luggage with paperbacks and magazines, I just load up the Kindle and have it all in one slim package.
I don't think it's expensive if you compare it to other devices like the iPod, with its extremely high monthly costs. With the Kindle, once you've paid for it you have no monthly cost. New books are usually $9.99, but older ones, like Henry James stories, can be as little as 99 cents. I would give up my cell phone and my cable TV subscription before I would give up my Kindle!
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