“Some new e-book titles available for the Kindle now include embedded audio and video clips,” Oliver reports. “The new functionality for iOS devices means that Apple’s hardware can view content that Amazon’s own Kindle e-ink hardware cannot.”
MacDailyNews Take: Once the warehouses empty (if they ever empty), pull the plug on Kindle hardware, Jeff. The ruse is over. Don’t piss away any more money on it.
Oliver reports, “Since the iPad was announced, Amazon has reportedly internally rethought its strategy with the Kindle hardware. In February, The New York Times reported that the company purchased multitouch company Touchco and folded them into its engineering team. Soon after, the Kindle group posted over 50 job openings for positions related to hardware design, suggesting the company is looking to create a new version of its mobile reader. Last week, facing increased competition from the iPad, starting at $499, and the Barnes & Noble Nook, which reduced its starting price to $149, Amazon slashed the price of the Kindle. The e-ink reader now costs $189, down from a price of $259.”
Full article here.
Get the kindle down to $99 and it’s useful.
The Kindle is a great thing to load up and have at a summer place.
I’d buy one for $99 just avoid bringing sand into contact with my iPad.
@ current interest,
That sand is insidious. It always surprises me when women actually sit on a sandy beach.
Amazon, is realizing the future for Kindle, is software!
make the best software, for iDevice’s, where you can use the kindle store on any of them, what they do best, sell stuff!
Amazon is playing this very well. It has an installed Kindle user base, but it is ensuring it does not miss out on iPhone/iPad users as well. It is going to try to compete with the iPad by significantly enhancing its Kindle device.
Will it work? Who knows. The Kindle will have to be priced significantly less than an iPad, but could also get by remaining an e-reader and not get into the whole App Store competition field. Having a Kindle that could also do email and web would be enough for many people, particularly if it was priced around $200. It would be an alternative to an iPad, serving a different market, and not a true competitor.
@Al
And here I am thinking all this time that all clams come with residual sand in them.
The Kindle will never seriously compete with the iPad.
But if Amazon plays its cards right, it doesn’t need to. They just need to do two things:
1) Make sure their Kindle iOS app is impressively good. Promote it. Make sure people know it’s there.
2) Position the Kindle as an inexpensive iPad alternative for people who just want an e-reader and nothing else. The price is very important. Price it too high, and all the potential buyers will just get iPads instead.
If they succeed, they get a sizable chunk of the e-book business from all the iPad users, plus the additional business from their standalone Kindles.
In short, I don’t think we Apple fans need to look at Amazon as a platform competitor anymore.
——RM
E Ink devices like the Kindle still perform much better than the iPad for reading in the sun. In my experience, iPads overheat in the sun, and the iPad screen is almost unreadable in bright sunlight. Kindles and iPads are really complementary devices in that regard. Having Kindle books on both an iPad and Kindle provides the greatest flexibility for reading in differing environments.
@Tony, I totally agree with you. If I’m going to read outside, like when camping and sitting next to my trailer, or even for long periods of time, my Kindle is my preferred device. Otherwise, my iPad (which I’m typing on now) is my choice.
I can understand that having two devices is not an option for some, but why does that automatically mean the non-Apple device is so wrong. I have multiple Apple products, think their quality is top notch (especially my MacBook Pro), but the mentality expressed by fanatics from any camp can be plain ignorant.
No one has time to watch entire videos on mobile devices, that is why the ClipClock mobile app is so great! Check it out: http://www.clipclock.com/download/4176