Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Kindle Likely to Flame Out Quickly
The $400 e-book reader is too costly and too limited in function. Even if you are paying $15 less per title for a best-seller, that's more than 28 book purchases before you break even in the cost of the device.
According Steven Hartley, senior analyst at Ovum
It is big (467cc); heavy (292g); expensive ($100 more than the Sony Reader); and has a black and white display (albeit from E-Ink, manufacturer of the Sony Reader display). Surely users could take a paperback and a mobile internet enabled device to get the same or greater experience (certainly lighter!) for less?
Charging to read newspapers and blogs as well as for email (about 10 cents each!) is also the exact opposite way the industry is going, as well as the business model that should have been chosen.
This device could have worked if it sold for less than $200 and included free online subscriptions (supported by advertising). The Kindle should be a showcase for the power of Sprint's fast wireless data network; instead it's a pay as you go service with high upfront costs.
While making the Kindle PC-independent is cool, are their really that many people who want to buy an e-book as an impulse purchase? If you want to buy a book immediately, their are plenty of bookstores at the airport to do so. And who really wants another electronic device to carry around?
As much as I'm a book and tree lover, the total audience of affluent and avid book readers could probably fit into a Broadway theater. Sorry Kindle, you're not going to make it.
Posted By John Gartner at 09:22 AM
Permanent Link: Kindle Likely to Flame Out Quickly
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