What Apple Could Be Releasing, Part 1: Kindle Killer
There is something quietly going on in the world of computing. They aren't quite Tablets and they aren't quite Electronic Books but Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader are fascinating products. Sure the Kindle looks like a hunk of white plastic turd, but leave that aside and check out the feature set. You can download books, browse a variety of blogs (sadly, not Apple Matters), read newspapers all through not a WiFi connection but an EVDO connection that will work pretty much anywhere.
The Kindle is a pretty nifty product that is only constrained by Amazon's desire to build it around their primary business model, which is selling books. The kindle can't check email (which is kind of bizarre for an EVDO device), can't browse the open web, cannot play music, and much much more. Amazon will argue that is because they want to focus on the Kindle being a electronic reading device, but the truth is they don't have the capability to build a tablet device that doesn't just fill a niche.
Therein lies the opportunity for Apple. Create a portable tablet that is as thin as the Kindle, looks 10 times as good (which isn't that hard), and has the power of OS X built-in. Apple could take advantage of all the innovations that it has implemented with the iPhone and bring it to the iTablet. Let's imagine this kind of product.
- A super-thin high-resolution monitor
- WiFi and a connection to the ATT network
- Ability to download music, movies, podcasts, and applications via iTunes
- Additional ability to download books for reading on screen from iTunes
- Built in full Mobile Safari
- Built in Mail
- Syncing capabilities with MobileMe (of course!)
- A ready to build SDK for developers to build on
Apple has the opportunity to build the hybrid product between a laptop and an iPhone. A product small enough to slip into a backpack or briefcase, but not so small to take to a ball-game (that's where the iPhone comes in). It could also be used all around the house, as an eBook, media player, web browser in a light, strong, always on form factor.
Laptops have tried to fill this need but in truth, they haven't. Yes some manufacturers call laptops notebooks but they are nowhere near notebook in the truest sense. A notebook is something you can take with you anywhere and everywhere. The iTablet would be that device. Something that will become the electronic companion for people no matter where they are.
Apple is in the unique position to create a new market segment. Now it just has to do it.
What do you think? Would you buy a product like this? Any features that I'm missing out on?
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“The kindle can’t check email (which is kind of bizarre for an EVDO device), can’t browse the open web, cannot play music, and much much more.”
Actually, the Kindle can do each of these things, although some of these features are neither elegant nor very quick. The subtext of your points are well taken: Amazon has soft-pedaled these features in its desire to brand the Kindle as a reader rather than a convergence device, much as it has always been important for Amazon to brand itself as a bookseller rather than a mega-mall despite its relentlessly expanding product mix. (I’ve sold 25,000 copies of a beta guide telling people how to use the Kindle’s email feature, its web browser, etc.—a niche created by the fact that Amazon plays the features so close to the vest!— amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0011XW1E8/EBEST)
More to your main point: yes, there are excellent openings for other devices to elbow the Kindle to the side, and Apple will surely take some of that space. It only makes sense that most of these devices, in time, will be able to purchase and download Kindle content from Amazon, which has and probably will keep a big lead in content selection. The Kindle has been a game changer because it has given traction to the e-reader concept after over a decade of others’ false starts, but it is a bit of a Trojan horse: Amazon’s longterm strategy is more about selling the digital content than about selling the device, and it won’t be long before it opens the gates to a big tent approach wherein other manufacturer’s devices are given the keys to enable them to sell Kindle content.
At that point, who wouldn’t rather read on a i-tablet such as you describe? One important practical question will involve the cost of EV-DO service. With the Kindle, rather astonishingly, Amazon foots the entire bill. It’s hard to imagine Apple doing that, but if it did….
Cheers,
Windwalker
I can’t see the point of apple putting all that effort into hardware for a tiny market. Particularly when anyone who wants an ebook reader, could use a product like ereader. It works fantastically on a macbook, I believe that apple may have released a new product recently and that ebook readers including ereader are available on it. While I can’t imagine anyone buying an iphone to read books on it. Anyone with an iphone considering buying a kindle, should perhaps consider trying one of the free download ereaders first.