Amazon Kindle Store Get iPhone Makeover
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Amazon has been in the e-book market for a few years already. Things have gotten heated up for Amazon with the success of Amazon Kindle. But the company is not satisfied with selling only hardware in this market. That’s why it launched Kindle for iPhone to let folks download books and read them on their phone if they prefer. That allows Amazon to have the best of two worlds. Not only Amazon can sell a lot of e-books on iPhone, it can reach out to a lot of folks and use the app to encourage folks to take a chance on its hardware.
If Amazon’s strategy was not clear before this week, it should be pretty clear by now. Amazon has been making modifications to its Kindle store to make it more iPhone-friendly. After all, what’s the point of creating a free iPhone application if you are not going to use it to push your products and make it easy for your users to get value out of it. Amazon Kindle for iPhone makes it easy to find new content and get your favorite books fast. And Amazon makes a lot of money in the process.
We have been hearing about Apple coming up with a MediaPad to challenge the Kindle. We have not heard the final verdict on that, but I bet Apple is closely watching Amazon. Apple is not in the business of selling books, but the e-book market could prove profitable for whoever comes out on top. Right now Kindle is on top but it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple came up with a Kindle killer. Ultimately, it all comes down to how successful the Kindle platform becomes.
Hope Apple make e-books with touch screen (so that we can leave small notes on the page–like Sony e-book) that interacts beautifully like other products of the company, and also with the dictionary installed. And… with the 3G network, so that we can download files whenever we want and wherever we want. Then it will definitely beat the Sony e-books and the Amazon’s Kindle. Reading articles from I-phone, (like I’ve never tried that) is not easy at all. That small and flash screen kills my eyes. And, if Apple wants to be on a business in this, they have to make the price right. Not the machine itself, but every book they are going to sell in the future.
THe price of each e-book (in other words, some ‘files’) is way too high yet. Most of time, there is no big price difference between the ‘real’ book in printed paper forms (especially when they are on sales) and dowanloadable ‘file’ form. I think it’s absurd because I cannot really say that people can own that file form of book in a true meaning even after paying right money for it. Can they rent it to friends? Or, after they are done with those files, can they re-sell it? Can they transfer that file wherever they want it? Answers are no, no, no. For the third question, maybe they can, but people might have to encounter the situation of paying extra dollars just for it. (If you don’t understand what it means, please do some research on Kindle website. You will be annoyed.) And, come on, why you think Kindle 2 does not have the slot for memory card, huh~? For they are lack of the technology or something?? This stupid decision of them absolutely determines the right of customers and make all of us look stupid. Just I feel that I am not dumb and desperate enough yet to pay something for I can’t really use as I want.
Apple, if you can fix all these problems, with no wonder you’re going to be on top of everybody in this field, and I would looooove it. I am chronic reader, and the idea of e-book is so tempting but, all these problems are hindering my decision to purchase one. Please let me get one nice excellent e-book. I think if Apple makes it, that thing will be damn cute! (Although I think Sony’s hardware designs are quite spectacular always, their software designs are, well, not reaching the expectation, I must say. )