On blog e-Learning Stuff, an unidentified blogger writes about a recent conference he or she attended at which discussion was had of the “Kindle Problem”—the Kindle is the most popular e-book platform, but not all e-book platforms and formats are compatible with the Kindle. And thus, there was a problem “with the Kindle.”
The blogger points out:
Blaming the user is indicative of an industry that fails to understand its users and is an industry that dictates how users should do things, over trying to meet the needs of the user.
The reason that people see the Kindle is a problem, is that the Kindle has been successful. Consumers have gone out and bought the Kindle and therefore want to use it.
The reason the Kindle has been a success compared to other eBook readers is that Amazon have created a product that basically works.
The blogger notes that he or she reads a lot more e-books with the Kindle than with the Sony e-Reader he or she had before, because the Sony’s DRM meant it was tricky to get books onto the reader. However, Amazon makes it simple for users to load their books onto their Kindles.
The blogger suggests that, if the Kindle is going to be the platform all the readers have, it might be a good idea for people who have to make e-books available to figure out how to support the Kindle.
To ignore the Kindle or to assume that it is a problem is missing the fact that it is well used and liked by the user. To push another device onto the user so you don’t need to change implies you don’t have a user focus. There needs to be a push to Amazon to support an ebook lending model and for aggregators and publishers to change their systems to support the Kindle.
Of course, this sort of pragmatic argument won’t go over well with those who feel Amazon is too powerful already. And even the blogger admits that he or she can’t see it happening any time soon. Still, I think the blogger put his or her finger on an important truth. People are getting Kindles more than any other dedicated e-reader, and they are wanting to read their books on them. This is a big part of the reason Tor is going DRM-free.
It’s well and good to complain about the Kindle taking over the market, but in the end those who don’t account for and adapt to that might be cutting off their nose to spite their face.
If Tor really wants to innovate, they will sell their own ebooks the same way O’Reilly does, in multiple formats, O’Reilly even tells their subscribers how to set up their Amazon account so that O’Reilly can send ebooks directly to the Kindle via email. It’s pretty easy and once it is set up, you just click the “Send to My Kindle” button when you buy an O’Reilly book.