Amazon is about to do to the publishing world (for the publishing world?) what iTunes did to the music world (for the music world?)
Amazon has staked out their hardware territory (the Kindle), but the bulk of their revenue will come from eBook purchases. It’s similar to the model Apple employed with their iTunes – iPod monopoly, except that Amazon recognizes that in order to rapidly push massive volume, and grow a brand-new market virtually out of thin air, they need to allow other hardware players into the game.
We will see many Kindle apps in the near future which will allow users to read Kindle-formatted (and DRM protected) eBooks on their iPhones, iPods, Android-enabled smartphones, Sony PSP, etc, which is great, because people will be able to get in on the Kindle experience without having to buy a new, expensive piece of hardware. This ingenius move exposes the Kindle eBook experience to millions of potential new users who would otherwise be left untouched by the new book-reading paradigm. Note that the Kindle iPhone app is free. Hmmmmm.
This strategy is simply a means to an end. Here’s the end:
Amazon will sell millions more Kindle units, as new users, excited to be reading eBooks on alternate devices come to the sharp realization that reading eBooks on a 3″ x 4″ screen sorta sucks. A lot. It’s doable, but not for long. Try it.
These users, ensnared by the free app, will come to enjoy the ease of use, inexpensive price-points, and joy of instant eBook downloads, and will suddenly find themselves needing, yes, NEEDING a Kindle, in order to get the most out of this new experience. It’s brilliant when one can create a system, which informs customers that they need to own a device they had previously scoffed at, or had simply ignored.
——————-
Why I Love Kindle
My wife bought me a Kindle last year for my birthday. It was actually the only item on my birthday list. Since getting the Kindle, I have purchased more than 30 titles, ranging in price from $2.99 to $9.99. I read more now than I ever have before, and I love that I can choose a book while lounging on my sofa, or relaxing in bed, download it within seconds, and be reading right away, without making a trip to the nearest bookstore. (Which in my case is more than 20 miles away.)
“This technology is going to drive bookstores out of business!”
Yeah, you know what? That might be true, but the same can be said for most brick and mortar businesses right now, not just bookstores. Interestingly enough, my weekly trips to the bookstore have not stopped; there are a couple of things the Kindle does not yet do very well. Magazines and Newspapers. I’m hoping that the improved screen on Kindle 2 makes for better Newspaper viewing. If so, I’ve purchased my last printed newspaper.
The Publisher’s Days Are Numbered.
As Amazon irons out its model, and as the market for this new paradigm for content distribution explodes, the way will have been paved for a new generation of “indie” author, eager to self-publish directly into an “independent” wing of the Amazon eBook store, sans publisher, sans agent, and these authors will be able to split the proceeds of every eBook sale with the bookseller.
The Creme will Always Rise.
During the turn of the century, when Napster hit and when Apple’s iTunes Music Store was but a smart experiment, Rapper Chuck D came out on the side of digital distribution, stating “This is the most exciting time in music — ever.” A Smart sentiment coming from a smart man with an even smarter work ethic. He later went on to state that the day of the “lazy artist” was over. Chuck D, a champion for digital deliverables, loved that the Internet allows talented and driven artists to reach their audience without having to treat with meddling and greedy record labels. And now this transformation has hit the world of the written word.
The eBook is certainly not a new invention, and there have been many lame eBook readers on the market for years now, and they’ve never stuck. Amazon has struck gold with a product that will erase the dividing lines in publishing, just as Napster, followed by iTunes and the iPod, did in the music industry.
A Call to Arms.
The major record labels have all infamously driven themselves into the poorhouse with their failure to recognize the importance and the opportunity living just under the surface of the digital revolution until it was too late for them to control it. I’m interested to see what the publishers are going to do. I’m even more interested to see what authors, especially new authors are going to do, with this new opportunity.
Thanks for reading!
~ Chris Foley
