http://upandrunning.bplans.com/2008/08/04/success-of-the-kindle/ Start, Run, and Grow Your Business Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:52:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 http://upandrunning.bplans.com/2008/08/04/success-of-the-kindle/#comment-252 Stephen Windwalker Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:39:30 +0000 http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/?p=322#comment-252 As another blogger put it this morning, the KIndle is the Prius back in 2002 or so. Like you, I'm watching closely as well, not least because I'm pleased to have sold over 25,000 Kindle downloads of my books and articles these past 7 months. Although the Kindle has been initially marketed as an "e-book reader," its array of features actually set the bar considerably higher than any of its predecessor e-book devices. Electronic reading devices have been around for decades, but until the launch of the Kindle they failed to gain any serious traction. Foremost among these features is the Kindle's free broadband wireless connectivity (via the Sprint 3G EV-DO service), which has significant benefits for the device's functionality both with e-books and with other content. Such a data connection ordinarily costs over $50 per month, but Amazon pays the entire bill (whatever it is) and uses the connection to run a "Whispernet" service that allows Kindle owners to download content – books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs – within seconds of purchasing it from the Kindle store. In addition to this wireless connectivity and nearly instantaneous content delivery, of course, the Kindle’s viability as a reading device owes a great deal to the fact that it is manufactured and sold by Amazon. Over the 13 years prior to its launch of the Kindle, Amazon built enormous brand power among book buyers and book publishers, with over 40 million regular visitors (most of whom still think of Amazon as a bookseller despite its relentlessly expanding product mix), a catalog of over 4 million book titles, and business relationships with thousands of publishers and authors. Cheers, Windwalker As another blogger put it this morning, the KIndle is the Prius back in 2002 or so. Like you, I’m watching closely as well, not least because I’m pleased to have sold over 25,000 Kindle downloads of my books and articles these past 7 months.
Although the Kindle has been initially marketed as an “e-book reader,” its array of features actually set the bar considerably higher than any of its predecessor e-book devices. Electronic reading devices have been around for decades, but until the launch of the Kindle they failed to gain any serious traction.
Foremost among these features is the Kindle’s free broadband wireless connectivity (via the Sprint 3G EV-DO service), which has significant benefits for the device’s functionality both with e-books and with other content. Such a data connection ordinarily costs over $50 per month, but Amazon pays the entire bill (whatever it is) and uses the connection to run a “Whispernet” service that allows Kindle owners to download content – books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs – within seconds of purchasing it from the Kindle store.
In addition to this wireless connectivity and nearly instantaneous content delivery, of course, the Kindle’s viability as a reading device owes a great deal to the fact that it is manufactured and sold by Amazon. Over the 13 years prior to its launch of the Kindle, Amazon built enormous brand power among book buyers and book publishers, with over 40 million regular visitors (most of whom still think of Amazon as a bookseller despite its relentlessly expanding product mix), a catalog of over 4 million book titles, and business relationships with thousands of publishers and authors.
Cheers,
Windwalker

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