Amazon have had a very good year in 2009 – and a lot of the credit for that must go to their Kindle e-book reader. The original Kindle was released in November of 2007. It sold out in less than six hours and no new stock was available until April of 2008.
The Kindle 2 was released in February of 2009 and it incorporated a number of improvements over the first model. Amazon followed up with the large display Kindle DX just a few months later in June. Amazon now had a Kindle “family” and, assisted by a huge amount of free publicity from bestselling authors such as Stephen King, partnerships with educational establishments and open discussion by political entities, the Kindle very rapidly became almost synonymous with e-book readers.
Of course, Amazon’s competitors were also checking out the nascent e-book reader market and wondering how to get their share. Currently, there is a very impressive list of manufacturers who all have their own e-book readers in development. Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Barnes and Noble and Asus are just a sample of the competition lining up against Amazon.
Any e-book reader that shows potential is immediately given the title of “Kindle Killer”. The various technical features of each reader are pored over and reported upon, especially when, as in the case of Sony’s Daily Edition reader for example, it has a new feature (touch screen control) which the current Kindle lacks.
As important as the technical spec of e-book readers is, it is only one part of the equation. The large choice of books available on the Amazon website, the ability to wirelessly download books – with no monthly fees and no internet connection and Amazon’s highly trusted brand name were all critically important to the success of the Kindle.
A number of the new readers will feature wireless connectivity. The Barnes and Noble Nook reader will allow users to choose from a selection of over 1,000,000 books on the company’s website. However, the one common theme that seems to be emerging among the e-book readers in development is the format of the e-books.
The large majority of the new readers seem to be adopting the ePub format. The Kindle however, uses a proprietary format which means that Kindle books can only be used on the Kindle reader.
At the moment, bearing in mind that the Kindle is pretty much the only game in town, that’s not a big problem. However, in the future, readers may want the ability to transfer e-books from one reader to another and to lend books to family and friends.
The Kindle has, in a very short space of time, become Amazon’s number one selling product. They won’t be giving up their number one position without a fight. It could be that 2010 will see the release of the Kindle 4, which will almost certainly feature a number of technical enhancements. Could it be that Amazon may also adopt the ePub format – or provide some translation service?
Check out the Amazon Kindle ebook reader and find out how you can save money by sourcing free Kindle books straight from Amazon’s website.
