Amazon is a big player in books, eBooks and in online-shopping as well. So of course, Amazon is more than a new eReader. But it's a good part of what will be the future of media. You might want to have a smile now in your face, but no other company brought reading to the 21st century as good as this online-seller. It's amazing. Last year they already sold more electronic books than printed ones. And they sold plenty of the printed, too.
I'm no fan of DRM. I hate DRM. It's an unnecessary piece of crap, that is a threat to the society. Especially in literature. But the Kindle concept is tempting. Because it has something, that even a non-DRM ePub library doesn't have up until now. A very easy, hassle-free availability on all of your devices. I didn't even wan to say "syncing" in the same sentence. It's just not of interest. I made the self-test. I bought a Kindle-book and installed the apps on my Android-tablet and phone. In Google Chrome I installed Cloud-reader. So basically I can access from any computer that has a Chrome-browser installed. Needless to say, that I could easily add up the famous Kindle reader, too. And now what I need to do to access my books I bought on those devices...nothing. It's just there. No download/upload, no syncing-service in between, so server to setup, or some cryptic eBook-software manager and converter on my computer (hey, I love Calibre, but it's not for consumers).
So even if you assume all the books would be available legally as DRM-free ePubs vs. Kindle books with DRM, for most consumers the free ePubs would lose. It's too complicated if you want to read your stuff on more than a single, dedicated device.
And now Amazon comes with a new Android-based tablet. With their own Amazon AppStore and the Kindle app preinstalled. Likely with cloud music and movie service. It will be a product that just works. A device, especially for people that want to consume without the hassle. I think, it will be a huge success.But not for the Android-Fandroids. Sure they will root it very soon. But the tablet is like a Nook. It's made for Amazon. You won't even recognize that it runs Android. It's buried deep inside. Why not? That's why Android is an open system. It can be transformed in multiple things, that fits the needs of special use-cases.
But hey, it's not just a Nook-Killer. It directly attacks the iPad. It will be that what many say, is an advantage of the iPad: Totally curated, locked and strictly for Amazon. Check the Amazon AppStore if you need proof, that when this baby comes to the market, there are plenty of Apps available, and it will be secured. So the Amazon-tablet might be the most direct iPad competitor than any other Android-device on the market. Because it does the same for Amazon, what the iPad does for Apple. And one thing is sure, it will be promoted big time!
Amazon’s Future Is So Much Bigger Than a Tablet | Epicenter | Wired.com:
"A few years ago, people laughed at Amazon’s Kindle, especially its clunky hardware design and CEO Jeff Bezos’s breathless rhetoric about how it would change how customers bought and experienced media. Now that we’re getting closer to the unveiling of Amazon’s long-rumored, slickly designed multimedia tablet, nobody’s laughing any more."
'via Blog this'
