USA Today Takes a Look at Kindle 2

(Kindle 2 Commentary) In his “Tech Talk” segment for USA Today, Ed Baig offers his opinion on the Amazon Kindle 2. In short, he is happy with the look and functionality of the device, but disappointed with the price, particularly when Amazon removed two features from the original Kindle - replaceable battery and SD card slot. Here’s his take…

       

Amazon’s Genius Kindle 2 iPhone Application Move

(Kindle 2 Commentary by Joe Tracy) In early March, Amazon.com released a free application for the iPhone that allows users to download Kindle books. At first this move may seem counterproductive to the sale of Kindle 2 units. But, in essence, it is a genius marketing move that will increase the sale of Kindle 2 units and increase the positive branding of the Kindle name.

On March 4, Amazon.com put out a press release about it’s new Kindle iPhone application, that said, in part:

The Kindle application for iPhone and iPod touch lets customers bring their Kindle books with them wherever they go and takes full advantage of Apple’s Multi-Touch user interface. With the new Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch application, customers can:

• Shop for hundreds of thousands of books on their Kindle or online at http://www.amazon.com/kindlestore, and wirelessly transfer the books to their iPhone or iPod touch
• Access their entire library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers
• Adjust the text size of books
• Add bookmarks and view notes and highlights

Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch is available for free from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

Now think about it for a second. By making this move, Amazon immediately increased its marketshare of book sales for e-reading devices. Profits will increase and Kindle publishers will sell more books and make more money.

But more importantly, Amazon instantly reached one of the most tech-savvy groups on Earth - Apple users. Apple users love technology and when they use the application they will want to learn more about the Kindle 2. And when they learn more about the Kindle 2, they will want a unit for themselves. After all, the iPhone and iPod Touch are tiny in comparison to the Kindle 2.

So in the end, Amazon.com will benefit from more hardware sales, a greater share of book sales in the e-reader marketplace, and increased brand recognition. It’s a genius move. At least that’s how I see it.

Joe Tracy, Editor
Amazon Kindle 2 Reviews blog

       

Kindle 2 Text to Speech Example

(Amazon Kindle 2 Reviews blog) This video serves to demonstrate Amazon.com’s Kindle 2 text-to-speech feature while making a commentary against publishers of audio books who were complaining about the Kindle 2 text to speech feature. Unfortunately, Amazon.com eventually caved to publishers wanting the feature removed. The video example below actually ends at 1 minute even though it goes on for two minutes and six seconds. So you may want to stop it after the text demonstration has finished…

       

New York Times Commentary of the Kindle 2

(Amazon Kindle 2 Reviews blog) This video is a New York Times commentary/rant about people who say that hard cover books will be replaced by e-reader devices like Amazon.com’s Kinlde 2. In the commentary, New York Times David Pogue uses an animated boxing match between a kindle and a book to help prove his point…