Amazon Kindle eBook Blogfest

Original Post from February 1st 2008.

Well, if nothing else the Kindle eReader seems to have lit a fire under the eBook blogging community. I get distracted for a couple of days and when I come back there are so many blog news articles about Amazon, Books and the Kindle that I think I can only really list and summarize them and let you browse the ones that catch your attention.

Here goes:-
- Amazon to acquire Audible.com (leading audio book company) for $300M
This builds on their burgeoning MP3 music download business, on-line book retailing business and on-line eBook business and Kindle (which can play audio and MP3 and hence also audio books. I think they're really getting it together and maybe the only company to give Apple a run for their money for the next few years.

- Kindle scores high in Disrupt-O-Meter test
Not so much the device itself per se, as the great service and device-service integration. Can't argue with that really.

- PVI cannot meet Amazon Kindle demand
Meeting-demand problems can always be spun as a positive thing, when the real reasons maybe more sinister. Amazon are not releasing numbers which makes many suspicious, so who knows. But it seems that PVI (currently the only manufacturer or eInk display modules) could meet Sony demand but can't meet Sony + Amazon (plus all the other eReaders) demand combined. We just heard they bought an LCD manufacturing company and have increased capacity a lot (for their manufacturing overall, not just eInk) and when that comes on-line it should help.

- Amazon Kindle - driving lots of traffic to Amazon
Not too sure how much to read into this one.....I guess it *at least* shows that people are showing interest in the Kindle, whether buying or not.

- Never mind legal issues of the Kindle for most libraries: How about the financial ones?
A blog entry discussing the use of Kindle in Libraries.

and plenty others ones coming out with proposals for improvements, tips for use and finding books, etc....

So, early signs are I think starting to show that Kindle maybe the category defining product for eReaders, arguably due to the service side not the device....which is interesting. We'll see how things go eh?