Reading Between the Lines on Kindle 2
Who would have thought that the next "killer app" would be The Sun Also Rises? (Or The Great Gatsby or Instapundit.com, for that matter?)
(Here's a video review of Kindle 2.)
Ignore the Kindle 2 or downplay it at your own peril. When Asus began shipping the first netbook in late 2007, little did we know then that what looked like a cheapened-down notebook would spiral into a series of lower-cost devices that would alter the way companies like Intel (with its Atom processor), Microsoft (with Windows XP) and most major PC makers would hash out strategy.
Amazon.com's CEO Jeff Bezos gave the world a strong indication that, even as the economy was tanking, even before the Kindle 2 was unveiled, people were flocking to its ebook technology in strongly growing numbers. During his conference call with financial analysts to discuss Amazon.com's most recent quarterly results, Bezos said:
Are there chances a full-blown Kindle ecosystem might develop, just as we've seen with Apple's iPhone and App Store? Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but let's not rule it out, either.
In commercial technology circles, Kindle 2 be viewed as a yawner: a single, proprietary, consumer-focused retail product. But that's how the netbook started. That's how the iPhone started. Frankly, that's how the web browser started.