Kindle 2
Amazon released the source code to their Kindle reader yesterday. Amazon puts code where its mouth is: releases Kindle source to the world. Reports are still sketchy about the licensing (GPL is the going bet based on the source), DRM and a few things along those lines. I’ve talked with several poeple about this and it seems that most are scratching their heads. Why would they do it? Aren’t they just cannibalizing their market? And, I can understand that line of thinking, but I think it’s a brilliant play on Amamzon’s part. Here are a few reasons why.
It should just kneecap the competeing devices. Sony’s eReader is nice but what chance does it stand now in the face of the Kindle clones? It reminds me in some ways of the early IBM clone days. The Mac was still in the game until Leading Edge, Panasonic and all the rest joined the fracas. The shear number of devices running DOS virtually guaranteed success. And even then, the Mac was still kind of in the game until Windows 3 and then 95 ended all of that. The same will more than likely hold true with the Kindle reader if it attracts companies who will produce those clones the way that I imagine they will.
And, speaking of Apple, what about their rumored tablet device? Won’t it give the Kindle a run for its money if it supports media the way the Kindle does? Remember, I can hear you thinking, Amazon already has an iPhone and iPod Touch app that supports Kindle books, etc. I don’t think that will matter at all. If Apple releases a tablet we can be fairly certain that it will cost oodles more than a Kindle, which in turn is still most likely to cost oodles more than the clones. Apple’s device will be a design masterpiece, wonderful to behold, and sell to the fanboys. Even if it has Safari support and all kinds of other goodies, I don’t see it mounting a serious charge against an army of Kindle clones. Most of which will probably have similar capabilities by the time it’s all said and done.
And, what about the 800 pound gorillas, Google and Microsoft? What if they jump on the bandwagon and begin to manufacture devices? Wouldn’t a Kindle clone be a natural fit for Google Books and Microsoft Press?
An army of Kindle clones means that Amazon has a marketplace to sell even more media. So much so, that we might be wondering why we all made such a fuss over the Apple app store. Imagine what the marketplace for media will be when the Kindle and its clones support not just books, magazines and newspapers, but music and video. And who’s going to be selling that media? Oh yeah, Amazon.
Could it also be that Amazon released the source code so that development of the device could move ahead faster than what it would have under just the Amazon umbrella? Maybe yes. Maybe no. But you have to think that it will push the development envelope to a large degree. Wired ran this story the first of the week, Future of Open Source: Hack This Gadget. They were excited then about a collaborative phone. Now that they have Kindle source to work with, they can really get excited.
So, has Amazon created and released a platform for others to build on and become successful? A platform that will in turn open up even more sales opportunities for Amazon? Time will tell but, yes, I think they might have. What about you? Do you own a Kindle? Would you buy a clone? What could the clone makers add that is missing from the Kindle’s feature set?
