Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has reconfirmed his intention to put the retailers ebook titles on more devices, together with opening up the Kindle ebook reader range to more formats. The recently launched Kindle DX, which we reviewed last week, adds native PDF support; Bezos did not name specific file types, but it seems possible that future updates or new devices may be able to read other types of ebook file.
The move would be part of Bezos’ plan to treat the ebook and Kindle businesses as separate entities, rather than than have one subsidize the other as is the case with Apple’s iPod and iTunes store relationship. It would also see more flexibility in how users could read Amazon ebooks; currently there is a client for the iPhone and iPod touch, but that looks set to spread to other mobile devices.
Bezos also obliquely commented on one of our Kindle DX criticisms, the high sticker price. Talking about subsidized devices tied into a certain number of downloads or a monthly tariff, he said that he wasn’t opposed to such a scheme if enough customers requested it; however he prefers the “cognitive simplicity” of people buying a Kindle and then choosing to use it or not.
The move would be part of Bezos’ plan to treat the ebook and Kindle businesses as separate entities, rather than than have one subsidize the other as is the case with Apple’s iPod and iTunes store relationship. It would also see more flexibility in how users could read Amazon ebooks; currently there is a client for the iPhone and iPod touch, but that looks set to spread to other mobile devices.
Bezos also obliquely commented on one of our Kindle DX criticisms, the high sticker price. Talking about subsidized devices tied into a certain number of downloads or a monthly tariff, he said that he wasn’t opposed to such a scheme if enough customers requested it; however he prefers the “cognitive simplicity” of people buying a Kindle and then choosing to use it or not.
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