Kindle Getting New Competition - From Kindle
For months, stories have been circulating regarding the rapid expansion of the book-reader market.
Sony has updated its Reader Digital Book, Amazon has recently begun shipping the Kindle 2, Libresco's iLiad Reader is already shipping a large-format reader in the UK, News Corp. and Hearst Corporation are reportedly developing their own developing large-format devices, and so the marketplace is getting crowded.
Re-enter Amazon. Reports originating from the New York Times state that Amazon will be announcing a new device later this week with a large, 8 by 10 format.
Sony has updated its Reader Digital Book, Amazon has recently begun shipping the Kindle 2, Libresco's iLiad Reader is already shipping a large-format reader in the UK, News Corp. and Hearst Corporation are reportedly developing their own developing large-format devices, and so the marketplace is getting crowded.Re-enter Amazon. Reports originating from the New York Times state that Amazon will be announcing a new device later this week with a large, 8 by 10 format.
Having previously posted on the demise of the print newspaper, in March, I discussed the recommendation that newspapers give away book readers as part of subscription contracts. (In fact, I went further, urging pharmacies to brand the readers, put in applets to remind/confirm daily medication schedules, and give them to their heavy users as a way to improve medical delivery.)
There are two surprises in the most recent announcement. First is the speed with which Amazon is scheduling the creation and obsolescence of its reader formats. I have often been impressed with Amazon's use of social networking for reader feedback and both impressed and concerned regarding its vertical integration of self-publishing, but the realization that it must move from format to format in a few month will press all other developers in the field. If Amazon has a real shipping date for the new device, it will steal the serve from News Corp and Hearst, leaving the media publishers behind yet again.
The other surprise comes from the competing technology to digital ink, namely the netbook market. Apple has decried the netbook market, labeling it "junk." At the same time, however, reports have Apple in talks with Verizon Wireless regarding a large-format iPhone. Not precisely a netbook, not precisely a book reader, but potentially a new format ideally suited to the market.
The battle between Apple and Amazon will focus on the most valuable publishing space - student desktops. Newspapers may be fading, novels are entertainment, but highschool and college students consume millions of dollars in very expensive and very cumbersome print products.
While serving as a law school dean, I tried to advocate switching our materials to digital formats using netbooks. While I like netbooks very much, Apple is right - they simply did not deliver the necessary quality at a price to make the system work. The large-format digital book or iPhone will solve the problem. And Apple has some advantages. Students care less about the eye fatigue, they want color, and they want a fast browser. Moreover, since both devices are based on wireless phone networks, they free the academic institutions from the bandwidth problems of laptops. Students and schools have both been waiting for these technologies.
I expect Pearsons and other educational publishers to be scrambling to make themselves relevant. Ubiquitious classroom tablets will further energize social authorship of school texts. An academic Wikipedia on a classroom tablet will transform the market. It is too early to know whether Apple or Amazon will dominate, but everybody else has a lot of cramming ahead if they hope to catch up.
