Posts Tagged ‘Amazon’

Amazon.com now sells more e-books than hardcover books. That was the company’s headline yesterday, designed to shock a few folks, and that it did. But let’s look a little deeper at the press release and see exactly what it’s saying — and what it’s not saying.

I’m a heavy book reader and my Kindle goes with me wherever I go.   I purchased the first generation Kindle, the second generation, and the original DX.  We noticed that the second gen Kindle had gone through a stealth upgrade recently when my wife’s second gen failed and Amazon replaced it by extending the warranty. That stealth upgrade showcased a vastly improved display similar to the new updated DX so, by combining the two, I can pretty much guess what the new DX, which launches this week, will be like without ever buying one. For me, it will be better than an iPad.

Target becomes the first U.S. brick-and-mortar retailer to carry Amazon’s Kindle. The ereader will be available in Target stores nationwide on June 6 for $259. Sony recently announced that it will expand the availability of its Reader, which already sells at Target, at more locations as well – with the intent to improve its global availability.  Target’s announcement comes when Apple’s iPad sales are nearing the estimated sales of Amazon’s Kindle.

One of the things that stood out for Apple when the iPod turned into a household name last decade was their focus on simplicity and elegance.  To me, this scenario is closer to what the Kindle is than the iPad, which seems to be closer to what Microsoft brings to market in terms of a multi-featured device that does a lot of things – but is really nothing better than what other existing devices do already.

NewsByte - Amazon isn’t taking chances with the iPad and Apple’s iBook app idea. The company said that it will make the recently announced Kindle app available for the iPad “soon”. The software is already offered for iPhone, iPod touch, Blackberry, PC and Mac. Extra: SLIDESHOW