Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Literature’s Next Big Thing...Or Not?

If you live pretty much of your day online, you probably visit Amazon.com with some degree of regularity. If you read books, have an interest in the latest literature buzz, watch DVD’s on the HDTV, or order things of almost any category online, you visit Amazon.com. It’s become a part of the landscape of life. And, if you visit there you’ve seen Kindle.

Out of touch? Missed it? Can’t decipher from the cryptic name what it is? It’s a book reading device. One free quizzical look and head-scratch allowed at this point. It is an electronic appliance to download and read books. No requirement any more to buy, haul, open and store actual books. With a Kindle you can have a virtual library of reading material with you in a small gadget just slightly larger than a mass-market paperback volume and slightly lighter in weight. Here’s what the godfather of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has to say in a Wall Street Journal interview about the gadget:

The Zen of a Kindle

I had studiously ignored Kindle until the WSJ focus piqued my attention. Then I went to Amazon and spent about an hour reading the marketing pitch which includes not only traditional text and pictures but several streaming videos demoing the gadget. It’s clearly got some potential, but will it be the seminal change in the way we interact with literature that Bezos forecasts or will it be the Betamax or 8-Track of the current decade?

Microsoft tried a PC app several years ago called MS Reader that allowed you to download books from places like the Guttenberg Project and then read them on your computer in a TrueType text font with a book-style layout and pages to turn. I dutifully downloaded it, thinking (as the WSJ interview suggests you might) that now would be the time in my life to actually read the works of Dickens. I failed. I simply don’t like reading extended print works on my computer. I absolutely abhor the final edits of my books when I am required to read and proof massive multi-page files for hours on end. You’ve probably never heard of MS Reader and even if you have, I’ll bet you a beer you don’t use it regularly.

So, how is Kindle different and what is going to make it succeed or fail? I frankly don’t know. But I’ve got some opinions from what I’ve seen so far.

I like the concept. The size is right and if the fonts, screen illumination and durability are reasonable, it would be a very convenient way to take a book or two along when traveling or for that matter with textbooks as a replacement for the ubiquitous back-packs that are cluttering our school hallways and classroom aisles. If it really is easy on the eyes and as convenient as a traditional book, then I’m for it.

The concept involves a wireless network that Amazon supports which requires no additional subscription beyond ownership of a Kindle. Turn the device on and shop Amazon (or Guttenberg and other sites) for compatible books. There are already well over 100,000 titles available including the current best seller lists, so content is no problem. Click to purchase for about $10 and get the download in about a minute. Storage allows an estimated 100 volumes on the device. There are also newspaper subscriptions and magazines that get “pushed” to the device so you’ve got your morning paper in hand when you wake up and have the first cup of coffee. Even blogs and RSS feeds. That’s cool. Battery life is supposed to be about a week before recharge is necessary.

So, what’s holding me back from purchase? Well, the price for one. It released at about $400 and has been only slightly reduced to a current $349. That’s a hefty entry fee and will take a lot of $10 books that would be $25 in paper form to amortize away. Lurking behind that price deterrent is the drilled in warning to always wait for version 2.0 on any new techno-geek toy.

Then there are the false starts that Amazon has had in marketing the device. First, where did they get that hokey name? Does it signify a desire to kindle my reading jones? Will it kindle my supply of existing books in the incinerator? Is it named after John Q. Kindle the inventor? What the hell is a kindle?

Maybe more important is the almost immediate sell-out of the device and extended back-orders when it was first announced. Does this signal a half-hearted belief in the product that they didn’t make enough to satisfy the demand? That they weren’t ready to respond quickly to unforeseen success? Maybe that they don’t really yet feel confident for the long term in supporting the concept? Should I invest yet when there is a lurking suspicion that the plug might be pulled and I’ll find myself with a HD-DVD player on a bookshelf full of Blu-Ray discs? Note in the WSJ interview that Bezos dodges the logical question of how many have been sold so far. That’s certainly one that should have had a better response in his interview prep talking points.

And, the damn thing only comes in white. Is it doing an impression of an IPod on steroids? Can’t I opt for a subdued gray or maybe traditional PC beige? Not yet.

I’ll be waiting to see how this shakes out. I could be a push-over for the device by Christmas if there’s an updated version and the price comes to maybe a $200 point. Are you listening Santa?

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