However, an article published by Fast Company does a really great job of putting the Kindle into perspective. It places it exactly where I've long thought of it: a well-intended detour on the way to a really great new technology. Just as Betamax cassettes launched before VHS, the superior technology nevertheless prevailed; the introduction of the DVD then wiped both out.But I don't think relating the Kindle to the DVD is an apt comparison. The DVD simply provided a new format for viewing what was essentially the same material. Sure with the influx of the DVD we now have special features like director's cuts, deleted scenes, and (does anyone actually listen to these?) audio commentary, but the way we use the product is still essentially the same: insert VHS/DVD, hit play, stare at screen.
What this article points out is that the Kindle may be the best e-reader out there--it may be the best e-reader ever--but that's not what people are looking for anymore. The key is integration. The article points to rumors that Apple is intending to release a new tablet that will outperform the Kindle in almost every way:
And an Apple media tablet with a 10-inch color multitouch screen, Wi-Fi, and perhaps 3G access to boot, could make the Kindle's grayscale screen, cramped keyboard, and one-note functionality seem mighty drab. Apple could also use the existing iTunes infrastructure as a virtual storefront to distribute the e-books -- it already sells audiobooks.And timing is everything. Apple has never been one for invention; it's in the market of re-invention.
After Amazon went through the trouble and expense of seeding the landscape, implanting the concept of the e-book in people's minds, creating a market where there wasn't one before, and moving to control the distribution system, Apple could muscle its way in with a full-color multitouch-screen media tablet that not only reads books but also offers video, music, Web surfing, email, and the combined power of the iTunes and Apple App Store. The device might even load into a desktop dock that accommodates a full-size keyboard. Books would only be a small part of what it offers, making it appeal to a vastly larger audience than the Kindle's.In short, this article validates the reasons why I've been so reluctant to buy a Kindle. Well, that and the strain it would induce on my intern-sized income (nothing). However, with any luck, by the time Apple's new tablet is released, I'll be able to afford it. Or at least request it as a graduation present.
1 comments:
Good analysis, gives me a few things to think about. I think you under-sell the impact of the DVD a little, though. It's largely the same form of viewing to most extents, but it also enables different forms of perception. Skip a chapter for something that's slow, creating a new basis of division beyond that designed by the film or episode of television. Enabling subtitles is another. Effectively we can play with the boundaries of format a lot more directly, and experience visual texts in a new way.
That's a side point, though. Note to self, continue to resist urge to purchase the Kindle.
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