Kindle-ing Would

While ebook readers are nothing new, Amazon is trying to iPod-ize the process with their new wireless reading device, Kindle. While there does seem to be some updating to the old idea of an electronic reader, there also seem to be some missed opportunities.

The device could be so much more if only the Amazon Kindle would...

1. Lower the price point
Four hundred bucks? Really? An incredibly high price for a technology that nobody wanted in the past and flopped in the market, with more limitations than benefits in this new incarnation. (Really? $400??)

2. Fill the bucket
Why doesn't it come packed with content? Ideally, Amazon could include a gift card to be spent as the user sees fit -- but why not include a free magazine subscription or two? How about a hot best seller? Hell, I'd even settle for a few not-so best sellers.

3. Add Movies & Music
With Amazon hawking it's new Unbox movies and tv shows, along with their new MP3 downloads -- why isn't the Amazon-branded Kindle compatible with these other Amazon offerings? I see from the Kindle videos and photos that it has a headphone jack, am I to assume that's only for audio books?

4. Realize that blogs are free
A quick visit to the Kindle "blogs" sub-page and you'll see that Amazon intends to charge for access to blogs! This has GOT to be the dumbest offering I've seen yet. Amazon wants to charge between $.99 and $1.99 per month (PER BLOG!) for access to something you can already get for free via a half-dozen other devices.

And why can't I read blogs other than those on which you've put a virtual coin-slot? It's a wi-fi device with access to the internet -- provide some real value and allow it to act as my RSS aggregator of choice. Allow it to connect with blogs and podcasts (remember that audio jack?) of MY choosing and don't charge for access you greedy bastards.

When I buy a tv or computer it doesn't charge me for access to EVERYTHING (I can surf plenty of sites for free and watch DVDs I already own without picking my pocket.) Which brings me to...

5. Allow me to read books I already own
Hey, I get that you can't throw the doors wide and let me download every physical book I already own -- but how about letting me just download the ones I already bought from Amazon? I'd even understand if you put a cap on how far back I can go -- maybe purchases made in the last year? Six months? Okay... how about the last THREE months?

6. Stop pushing newspapers back to a subscription-based model
Just as daily newspapers are starting to finally realize they are better off with offering their content online at no cost and using an advertising-based model to generate revenue, Kindle brings back the bad-old days and wants to charge between $14.99 and $5.99 for monthly access to that which is (mostly) free online through every almost every other web-connected device.

7. Arrive at reasonable price points
Like it or not, iTunes is the defacto standard for digital content price points. If Amazon didn't agree, do you think they'd offer their music downloads for $.89 in an attempt to compete? Then why the heck are Kindle books $9.99 when I can buy an iTunes movie for the same price, and a tv show for only $1.99? Wouldn't this price structure dictate a retail price of $3.99 (or at most a $5.99) price point? Even the virtual titles available in paperback are priced higher than their real-world counterparts.

8. Let me loan books to a friend
My friends and I trade books all the time. Why not allow us to transfer books wirelessly between our readers? I'm not suggesting you allow duplication or copying -- let a utility "Move" the file from one reader to the other (let that DRM software work FOR you instead of against you) -- and Back-again (if desired) once the friend has finished reading it.

This was one thing the Microsoft Zune got sort-of right (maybe the ONLY thing), it allowed wi-fi sharing of songs for up to three days. Why not take the best ideas from other devices and incorporate them into your own?

9. Be a more compatible
Let me get this straight -- I can email my Kindle a document I already own/created, but Amazon is going to charge me a "toll" to process it into Kindle format so I can read it on the device for which I just paid $400 (really? $400??)

How about if you just make the damn thing compatible with Word docs and PDF files? I don't think that's asking for much -- I can already read those kinds of files on my PHONE. It should be a given that you can read digital files on something called a "DIGITAL READING DEVICE."

10. Add a touch-screen and stylus
The bookmarking feature of the Kindle is unremarkable. It allows you to dog-ear the corner of a virtual page -- but that's it. Why not allow the flagging of a specific paragraph?

Further, why not utilize a touch-screen interface (like 92% of other digital devices) and let me highlight text I deem important? Let the device collect all the underlined/highlighted passages into a summary list that can be accessed on-demand. No more searching for a Post-it note or faded yellow highliter in a physical book -- let my notes and notations become digital as well. (This would basically be a digital version of my Novel Ideas Bookmark.)

Why is Amazon making it so difficult to justify the purchase of one of these devices? It's like they've gone out of their way to recreate the idiocy of another single-purpose device -- the dreaded and debated HD Radio (don't even get me started...)

Here's the sad part-- I actually like the concept of the Kindle reader!
A book store that travels with me is almost too cool for words. I'm more than willing to pay a small premium (a large premium even!) for instant access to any title I desire, but there are too many other weaknesses in the overall vision of the product, and I find the execution lacking. I really want one of these things -- but I have to believe there will be corrections to these obviously flaws in a future version.

C'mon guys -- the last single-purpose device I ever purchased was a toaster. My video game plays DVDs and connects to the internet, my fridge makes ice and dispenses purified water, my mobile phone surfs the net, plays videos, and downloads music. And come to think of it -- even the lowly toaster has realized it better do more than burn bread to make it onto my crowded countertop. Have you seen the model that cooks an egg while it makes your toast?? (I think there's even one that fries bacon, but I couldn't find a link fast enough.)

Kindle is going to have to do the same if it's going to get added to my collection of gadgets and gizmos.

Click here to watch a video demo of Amazon Kindle.

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EDIT: In case you needed another reason to choose an iPhone over Kindle, someone just sent me a link regarding the fact you can read magazines for FREE on the iPhone. And not just crappy pubs. They got mags like Car & Driver, Men's Health, MacWorld (natch!), Kiplingers, Women's Day, Popular Mechanics, and Playboy.

Radiating Creativity

Here's a neat gizmo I found on Boing Boing Gadgets, it's a ceramic food and beverage warmer that sits atop a steam radiator.

Before you get too excited -- it's simply a prototype and not currently for sale, but the comments on the Boing Boing page are encouraging. Even the negative feedback can be used to increase the effectiveness and functionality of the design.

Keep this in mind when working on your own projects.

Why not release an early prototype to a trusted group of product users?

Their feedback (both positive and negative) will tell you what improvements can be made to make your product more popular in the marketplace, and their suggestions will allow you to skip over the need to "fix" things after releasing version 1.0 to the public -- you'll get to jump right to version 2.0 (which is frequently where your competitors enter the market -- releasing their version of YOUR product with all the obvious improvements.)

The Big Idea is DEAD.

Joseph Jaffe (author of Life After The 30-Second Spot and the new Join The Conversation) recently proclaimed the death of "The Big Idea" and the birth of focusing on the Small Idea.

Says Jaffe:
"I'm sick and tired of this notion that there is a singular BIG IDEA out there. Marketers demand it from their agencies and agencies in turn expect it from media sellers and technology vendors. And they all want it yesterday PLUS no one wants to pay for it.

Big ideas take too much time to find and we don't have the time to find 'em. Big ideas are equated to expensive ideas...hence the word BIG. They're meant to create a splash; secure buzz; enrapture the masses with pomp, grandeur and ceremony."

He's right.
One of the most common client claims that I receive when working to develop new marketing or promotional ideas is that they want something big, something revolutionary, something no one else can compete with -- but that's not REALLY want they want. Because they don't want anything that takes time to ramp-up or needs explaining to their target demo. New stuff always needs explaining. That's why the Forefathers wrote down their big idea back in 1776 -- someone needed to explain their big idea to King George (talk about 'revolutionary'.)

The big new ideas are almost always more expensive to execute. I just had a meeting the other day with a client to whom I'd just explained a recommended marketing campaign. He said it was too much and I needed to "sharpen my pencil." I said that if you need to reduce the price, I'd cut this component (indicating one of the elements of the plan.) He responded by saying "But, that the most innovative part of the project!" I could respond "Funny how that works, isn't it?" and try not to smirk as I said it.

Jaffe continues...
"Ideas are about potential. As Victor Hugo once said, there is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come... but the idea is a catalyst; a conduit; a means to an end... and NOT an end unto itself.

Today, the only time BIG IDEAS are means to an end is when that end is winning a new business pitch or a Grand Prix at Cannes. Most new business pitch BIG IDEAS are unimplementable and how many Grand Prix winners at Cannes have gone on to change the world or transform businesses, business models and/or lives?

You won't hear me talking about THE BIG IDEA anymore, but rather MANY SMALL IDEAS...

It's time to get out of the business of desperately seeking the HAIL MARY or GRAND SLAM and focus on SMALL BALL or winning through a series of calculated gains of inch increments.
It's time to truly recognize the power of SMALL (being the NEW BIG as Seth Godin might say), which more often than not begins with one human; one individual; one life; one smile; one spark; one seed and grows and takes off from there..."

The Big Idea is Dead.
Long Live the Small Idea.