Kindle

I think the new Amazon Kindle is actually pretty neat.

When I heard about it today, I was naturally quite skeptical. (Who's isn't?) This no new idea, so the first question is “Yeah but, is it actually good?” And since Amazon has a track record of pretty poor taste, there's this real conceptual bias to get past.

But after some strong consideration, I think they might be onto something. There are a few key points. People don't like to stare at screens instead of books, so the new electronic paper technology is just mission critical. And it looks like they got the physical size and weight right, and their wireless and battery life answers are logical. The store sounds great.

The physical attributes and the look-and-feel of the software seem rough and poorly resolved. Seeing as how they've worked on the product for three years, this is just a non-surprising result of Amazon's poor taste and improper priorities. At least they kept things kind of simple, but they could have taken it even further. I wish they'd learn to be smarter on that level. But I'll look past this for the moment because there's still a story.

On the other hand, I find myself rolling my eyes at the inital customer reactions. People are full of the same old knee-jerk responses we all hear year after year, on product after product. Seriously, be realistic, it's a first product offering. The price point ($400) is beyond acceptable. This price is the sweet spot: don't you guys remember the iPod?… And backlights and color screens are totally irrelvant right now. It's far more important that it just actually read like paper.

This should be an interesting new product. Of course time will tell, but I don't think this is another Segway. This product has some real, honest potential. (And I don't say that often.) I can't wait to get my hands on one.

Read more about Kindle.

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