In late 2001, as the global economy reeled from the double whammy of the dot-com collapse and the 9/11 attacks, Apple introduced the iPod — a work of soaring innovation that revitalized the company and quickly became the standard portable device for the music industry.
Comparisons to that seminal moment in technology history are sure to be made today. With the world economy gripped in another, much deeper recession, Amazon, the e-commerce giant, will try to capture the same magic by introducing a new version of the Kindle, its heralded electronic book reader.
As we reported last month on Bits, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, will be here today at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City to introduce the device and unveil some new e-book initiatives. We will be blogging the event live starting at 10 a.m.
(Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters)11:16 a.m. | To Recap: Amazon’s newest version of its popular e-book reader (see their announcement here) looks a whole lot more attractive and seems to have a simpler, more intuitive interface (the new joystick controller helps). The Kindle 2 is thinner (thinner than an iPhone, to give you some idea), has a crisper black-and-white display, turns pages much more quickly and should hold its battery charge for about 25 percent longer than the previous version. New features include text-to-speech and the ability to transfer content to other devices (such as mobile phones and other Kindles). It’s the same price as the outgoing model ($359) and will be shipped Feb. 24. Amazon is taking preorders now. The online retailer has said customers who are already on the waiting list for the old Kindle will get new Kindle 2’s.
10:52 a.m. | Wrapping Up: Kindle 1 owners, if they order before midnight tomorrow night, will be prioritized to receive the new Kindle. And Mr. Bezos concludes with some high-level thinking: “Our vision is every book, ever printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds,” he said.
10:41 a.m. | Synergy!: And now from the stage, Stephen King is reading a selection of his short story, which is about the Kindle, and for the Kindle, from his free Kindle.
10:40 a.m. | Stephen King Presents: Stephen King is onstage. Mr. King is a longtime Kindle user and will write a story exclusively for the device that focuses on the implications of people reading on their digital devices. He is quite pleased that he has gotten a free Kindle 2 out of the deal.
10:31 a.m. | Video Testimonials: We’re now watching a video of owners of the original Kindle testifying to the wonders of the Kindle 2.
10:28 a.m. | Giving Voice to the Kindle: The Kindle 2 also has text-to-speech built in. “Any book, blog, magazine or personal document can be read aloud,” Mr. Bezos said. Users can switch between reading text and hearing it read by a fairly computerized voice. “It’s very easy to go back and forth between reading and listening,” Mr. Bezos said
10:26 a.m. | Interface Updates: Mr. Bezos is demonstrating the new Kindle and the joystick-like controller. The old version of the Kindle had an awkward scroll wheel and a separate vertical screen that helped users maneuver a cursor up and down its screen. Kindle users can use the five-way controller to highlight a word and the Kindle will automatically display the word’s definition.
(Credit: Danielle Belopotosky)10:22 a.m. | Sync or Swim: Mr. Bezos is touting a new Kindle feature, Whispersync. You can read a kindle book on one device and switch to reading the same book on another device, and Amazon will keep track of where you left off in the book. The new device also has a joystick-like five-way controller to help users navigate the screen.
10:21 a.m. | The Reveal: Mr. Bezos is showcasing the device: The Kindle 2 has redesigned page-turning buttons along its sides, a thinner profile, a metal back, and standard round keys — none of the angular weirdness of the original model. The device has seven times the memory capacity of the Kindle 1, but it’s half as thick. It has 16 shades of gray, crisper photos, clear text, 25 percent faster page turns and 25 percent more battery life. “You can read for 2 weeks on a single charge,” says Mr. Bezos.
9:42 a.m. | Some Background: The Kindle, a $359 gadget that can wirelessly download books, periodicals and blogs, has been out of stock since November, when Oprah Winfrey gave it her golden endorsement on her show. Nevertheless, the device has lived up to its name by kindling unprecedented interest in e-books and delivering a glimpse of a potential future for a publishing industry in steep decline.
Amazon has thus far declined to say how many Kindles it has sold, though a Citibank analyst, Mark Mahaney, has pegged sales at around 500,000 units. Mr. Mahaney also noted that Amazon, unlike Apple and the iPod, must succeed with the Kindle or face the inevitable deterioration of its original business – selling and shipping books, made of good old-fashioned paper, through the mail.
“If Amazon can’t successfully jump the chasm from Internet ordered/mailman-delivered media products to Internet delivered-digitally delivered media products, its financial fundamentals and its stock price will be significantly challenged,” Mr. Mahaney wrote in a report last week.
0 comments:
Post a Comment