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Amazon has Acquired Touchco - A Multi-Touch Company
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I agree, going head to head with Apple is a losing battle, especially since Amazon is way behind here with the software (here I'm mostly talking about decades of NeXtStep --> OS X -- iPhone OS development and refinement).
If they make the Kindle sleeker (get rid of that clunky keyboard as you suggest), even smaller and lighter, and cheaper, with even better battery life, they will sell a lot of them. If they can start selling these for under $200 that will be a real alternative to iPad for many people, almost impulse-buy territory. Heck, some people who own iPads may even buy them at that price, for a more travel-friendly reading format option. But if people are already spending $250-$450 for the current Kindles, I think it will seem like you get a lot more with an iPad for not much more money.
I think Apple does have the upper hand though, since Jobs worked the deal with publishers that forced Amazon to match prices, Apple has effectively negated Amazon's discount-content advantage, assuming Apple can get a decent number of texts in their store.
Steve Jobs himself said Apple was a niche...I remember in his first keynote after returning to Apple, he said Apple was a company with just a small user base in the designers area and in the educational area.
And also, I found this from Steve Jobs:
Interview 1994 said:
All computers had a small user base at that time.
He said this when he wasn't very happy with the company. If I got booted form work I would say they're a Niche law firm. Even though they serve nearly all of Franklin.
Yes, and a reaction time of 1000 times slower than LCD. Useless for Rich media.
Amazon should switch to LCD or stick with low cost kindles to compete with other e-readers as cmaier already pointed out.
But if Amazon doesn't make this move their product is sunk. I believe their viewer is better for eye strain, but with all the features the Kindle lacks comparatively, this acquisition may be like a band aid in the shower; short lived success.
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Why do people feel the need to advertise all the Apple products they (or have ever) owned?
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Why do people feel the need to advertise all the Apple products they (or have ever) owned?
This is really good news. More competition, better products. I think there is a really good chance the Kindle will have a color edition upcoming sometime in the near future.
Touch devices really are the direction technology will take off in the next ten, twenty years. Efficiency over bulky processing power for the average user. I'm just picturing a front panel in cars, which can control functions from opening your trunk to accurately controlling temperature to sending emergency signals over the air.
Having a flat tablet, in any setting, is so versatile now that the technology is finally gaining popularity we're asking ourselves why did society catch on so late.
Touch devices really are the direction technology will take off in the next ten, twenty years. Efficiency over bulky processing power for the average user. I'm just picturing a front panel in cars, which can control functions from opening your trunk to accurately controlling temperature to sending emergency signals over the air.
Having a flat tablet, in any setting, is so versatile now that the technology is finally gaining popularity we're asking ourselves why did society catch on so late.
If Amazon drops e-ink they're dead...but then again they might just combine it with the new touch panel which could lead to very interesting results.
If Microsoft joins the race for this touch thing and their product ends up in a car. I will avoid driving that thing!
Why is nobody talking about the amazing potential of pressure sensitivity combined with multitouch on the next iPad? I mean, if it was 100% sure that the next iPad would have pressure sensitivity then I would wait. Why? Because first of all I'm an artist and that would be amazing. But the potential is huge for a wide range of apps in general. With that being said, I don't expect the iPad to get pressure sensitivity until at least revision 3. That is when I will upgrade from revision 1. It will probably go something like this:
rev 2: iChat camera, 128gb option, longer battery
rev 3: pressure sensitivity, speed bumps, better camera, 256gb
rev 4: solar charging on front bezel and lcd, facial recognition, camera assisted multitouch, magical bunnies that brush your teeth
Well, mostly something like that.
rev 2: iChat camera, 128gb option, longer battery
rev 3: pressure sensitivity, speed bumps, better camera, 256gb
rev 4: solar charging on front bezel and lcd, facial recognition, camera assisted multitouch, magical bunnies that brush your teeth
Well, mostly something like that.
Yeah I kinda feel concerned for their future, this isn't a fight they wanna pick :/
E-Ink = Bad User Interface
The reason the touch interface on the iPod is so great is that it is immensely responsive. You move your finger and the screen moves or the item moves like it is welded to your finger.
That responsiveness is possible because the display can keep up with the touch sensor. And for that you need a display that refreshes 30 or 60 times a second.
e-Ink can't do that. And it never will be able to do that. E-ink can take a second or two to update a full screen. And that is incompatible with a fluid responsive user-interface.
The very best that Amazon can do is use the touch interface to remove the physical keyboard. And allow text entry on the screen surface.
Sony has done this already, but the touch layer reduces the contrast of the display. It looks bad.
C.
The reason the touch interface on the iPod is so great is that it is immensely responsive. You move your finger and the screen moves or the item moves like it is welded to your finger.
That responsiveness is possible because the display can keep up with the touch sensor. And for that you need a display that refreshes 30 or 60 times a second.
e-Ink can't do that. And it never will be able to do that. E-ink can take a second or two to update a full screen. And that is incompatible with a fluid responsive user-interface.
The very best that Amazon can do is use the touch interface to remove the physical keyboard. And allow text entry on the screen surface.
Sony has done this already, but the touch layer reduces the contrast of the display. It looks bad.
C.
There is one thing for sure...
Industry won't just sit on their buts, dribble on their mouth and do nothing...
I expect HUGE number of choices when it comes down to "tablet" devices by end of this year - and I mean HUGE!
Some will be cheaper and inferior to iPad while some will be more expensive and miles better.
Let the race begin!
Industry won't just sit on their buts, dribble on their mouth and do nothing...
I expect HUGE number of choices when it comes down to "tablet" devices by end of this year - and I mean HUGE!
Some will be cheaper and inferior to iPad while some will be more expensive and miles better.
Let the race begin!
The move was not well-thought, it just shouts "Desperation". Let us talk extremely big here, or hypothetically; assuming Amazon comes up with a new invention/innovation of multi-touch technology (which most would strongly doubt), then what? Only for e-readers? That is not worth it.
WTH? They should've used the money-wise Magical Equation properly.
I think it just caught on the right time. Successful companies will never jump over many steps of a ladder. Step by step, or if you like, always keep something extra in your pocket. For example, Apple likes to do marathon, hell more than just a sprint.
WTH? They should've used the money-wise Magical Equation properly.
I think it just caught on the right time. Successful companies will never jump over many steps of a ladder. Step by step, or if you like, always keep something extra in your pocket. For example, Apple likes to do marathon, hell more than just a sprint.
For me the biggest thing amazon could do other than colour for magazines is make it cheaper. I spend around £100-150 a year on books at most. So I see no point in spending as much again on a Kindle to enable me to read them. I would happily buy a Kindle to read papers, magazines and books if it was about £75. I'm sure it will happen eventually and ditto for the colour screen. Until then I'll stick with paper and experiment with reading on the iPad when I get it.
The last time we all looked, Amazon had already sold a huge amount of their Kindle eBook readers. Because, unlike the iPad, the Kindle is a product that has been shipping for more than two years now and the iPad won't be shipped for another couple of weeks or even months.
So: Amazon already has a successful product and nobody knows yet if the iPad will be a success at all.
Then, unlike some of you would love to believe, the Kindle is NOT competing with the iPad. The iPad is a gadget for watching multimedia content, and it certainly is a less capable eBook reader than the Kindle because of its inferior display technology for that specific purpose.
Now Amazon will open the Kindle for developers and they are also launching an own application store for the Kindle. Their device will attract a completely different crowd of developers, and it also attracts a completely different crowd of customers.
Or to put it very simply: Amazon targets READERS and RESEARCHERS, while Apple traditionally targets LISTENERS (music) and WATCHERS (videos) and people who want a surf board. The markets overlap in certain areas, of course. Both devices could be very useful in the realm of clinical trials, for example. You don't need - or want - fancy multimedia features for that specific purposes. You just need a flat device with long battery life that can replace paper. And actually, I think the Kindle is much better suited for that task than the iPad will ever be.
From my personal perspective, I will certainly not give Apple a single cent for another DRM-infested, locked-down gadget that is tightly bundled with their cash cow iTunes.
On the other hand, however, I am interested in Amazon's Developer Kit for the Kindle and what their exact plans and terms for their application store will be. I have some application ideas for which the Kindle for various reasons is better suited than the iPad, and I also doubt that I would have to use a niche language like Objective-C to implement those ideas on the Kindle (which is based upon Java).
Anyway. This is not an either-or market. The Kindle has a clearly defined purpose and Amazon has rather quietly but nonetheless successfully pulled it off.
The iPad still has to find a target audience. It does now have a clearly defined purpose and it has the problem that it was not designed for input, but only to consume content - content that exclusively comes from Apple.
So: Amazon already has a successful product and nobody knows yet if the iPad will be a success at all.
Then, unlike some of you would love to believe, the Kindle is NOT competing with the iPad. The iPad is a gadget for watching multimedia content, and it certainly is a less capable eBook reader than the Kindle because of its inferior display technology for that specific purpose.
Now Amazon will open the Kindle for developers and they are also launching an own application store for the Kindle. Their device will attract a completely different crowd of developers, and it also attracts a completely different crowd of customers.
Or to put it very simply: Amazon targets READERS and RESEARCHERS, while Apple traditionally targets LISTENERS (music) and WATCHERS (videos) and people who want a surf board. The markets overlap in certain areas, of course. Both devices could be very useful in the realm of clinical trials, for example. You don't need - or want - fancy multimedia features for that specific purposes. You just need a flat device with long battery life that can replace paper. And actually, I think the Kindle is much better suited for that task than the iPad will ever be.
From my personal perspective, I will certainly not give Apple a single cent for another DRM-infested, locked-down gadget that is tightly bundled with their cash cow iTunes.
On the other hand, however, I am interested in Amazon's Developer Kit for the Kindle and what their exact plans and terms for their application store will be. I have some application ideas for which the Kindle for various reasons is better suited than the iPad, and I also doubt that I would have to use a niche language like Objective-C to implement those ideas on the Kindle (which is based upon Java).
Anyway. This is not an either-or market. The Kindle has a clearly defined purpose and Amazon has rather quietly but nonetheless successfully pulled it off.
The iPad still has to find a target audience. It does now have a clearly defined purpose and it has the problem that it was not designed for input, but only to consume content - content that exclusively comes from Apple.