Thankfully I'm more of a magazine guy so no need for me to get caught up in this debate [unless you count Brown Bear and Goodnight Moon as books]. But seems to be a fairly robust conversation happening around Amazon's new ebook reader, Kindle. So I present to you Piers Fawkes' top reasons Kindle will not make an impact on the market ...
- It tries to charge $9.99 for digital content which as we know is going to be a difficult business to be in. You can charge for live content, fine - a book is live content, you hold it and turn its pages and experience it live, a ebook reader is not live content, just a window.
- Appalling design. No, let’s just say it’s horrible.
- Nausea. Have you ever tired to read a screen in a taxi or train?
- Not Open Sourced. Another device that can’t be hacked, modified or made my own. A critical issue.
- Doesn’t access Google Docs or 37 Signals. Does the target market really use Word that much these days?
- Once you have an iPhone or any phone with podcasts and audiobooks, do you really need an e-book for being on the go? What sort of evolution does this represent?
- $399
- Even less control for the user: Amazon’s selection of RSSes not yours. And: Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times. Is that it?
- It’s Black & White!
- It’s got a keyboard!!
- Another thing that uses electricity. What was wrong with books and sunlight?
And bonus:
- You’re going to look a right wally taking that out on the 7.45am Brighton to London.