Is the Kindle Dead?

With the launch of the Apple iPad just months way, Apple freaks and techies are raving at how much better it is than the Kindle by Amazon. It is true. For the price, you get more memory, more functionality and more that you can do with that little device. At a price point similar to the more expensive Kindle, the iPad is likely to chock sales of the Kindle.

That being said, there are some possibilities that the elusive "they" have not considered. Already, Amazon offers apps for the Kindle that run on the iPhone and iPod Touch, PC, Blackberries and even Macs. With the largest and most popular ebook store on the web, Amazon already has the means to maintain its crown if it will evolve with the market.

Rumors of another, better Kindle is in the water, but consider if Amazon puts its power behind pushing for more devices "like" the iPad to be created by companies we know and love (or not love) such as Dell, HP, Acer, HTC, Nokia, Motorola, just to name a few. If these little devices ran Windows Mobile 6.5, Android or heaven forbid REAL operating systems like Windows 7 and Lunix, then Amazon could release applications or actual programs that run the Kindle interface AS WELL as having their own device on the market. Amazon's money maker is not the Kindle device in my opinion as much as what I go to Amazon for... BOOKS! They sell the damn things by the boat load. Both new and used. Both paper and electronic. Hell, they sell audio books and music too! Why does Apple have to be the only company with catchy software like iTunes? Creating a store interface has already been done and Amazon can market and push this to their advantage. If a tablet device came with Kindle pre-installed and this software was beautifully programed so that you want to keep it for its usefulness, even the most tight fisted user would possible buy a book from them. And that it a WIN in the marketing business.

It is reported that Steve Jobs pouted how Apple didn't get into the search business and it is Google that is trying to take out the iPhone. Well, the shoe is on the other foot man. If you are gonna cry about how Google releasing what may be a better smart phone than you, you should not release a better ebook reader than Amazon. Seriously, this is a market for competition, and I am happy to see that there are more options out there.

If Amazon plays this smart, it will still be the super power of the book world. Then again, as we can already see, Google has a great market place in the works and my very well drown Amazon out if it keeps playing defensively rather than going for the gold. I can't predict what the market will do next, but if Amazon has any chance of pulling this out of the fire there needs to be a flood of the market place with devices that are cheaper than and more versatile than the iPad that have Amazon software already on there. And by versatile I mean more open than Apple. I recently read that a Microsoft executive said something along the lines of, it is a sad and funny day when Microsoft is more open than Apple. How true that is.

It has been over 2 years (closer to 3 actual) since I've written this article and the predictions of the Kindle's death are obviously false. Additionally, Amazon has launched a new device called the Kindle Fire that bases its operations on the Android operating system with a custom skin. Topping this with the fact that Kindle software is available in almost every operating system available just continues to prove my point. The Kindle concept is alive and well and doing nothing but growing. Amazon has itself a business model that is beating out iBooks and Barnes & Noble despite both having well made software and services. If anyone has a chance to beat the Kindle it is Barnes & Noble, but I don't want that to happen. Not because I love Amazon over the others but because I love the competition. Competition makes the market better.