Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

Read any Kindle DX review or hands-on and there’s talk of the DX being the savior of the newspaper industry. What’s lost is actually reviewing -

1. How suitable the Kindle DX is for newspaper reading? 
2. How much of the newspaper industry is left for saving?

This review of the Kindle DX as a newspaper reader covers this.

DX won’t be out till summer – However, we do know that the DX has the same screen technology as the Kindle 2. We can take the experience of reading newspapers on the Kindle 2, Jakob Nielsen’s Kindle 2 usability review, and especially his post on Kindle Content Design, and get a good picture of Kindle 2 ‘s suitability for newspapers. 

Here is what reading newspapers on Kindles is like. Imagine the same with a screen that is 2.5 times as big, and allows for landscape mode -

Combining all these data points, we can review Kindle DX as a newspaper reader.

50 word Kindle DX Review for Newspaper Readers   

Kindle DX for newspaper reading -

1. Large screen. 
2. eInk - easy on the eyes.  
3. Cheaper Subscriptions.
4. Good for reading besides.

Things to consider -

1. Higher $489 Price.  
2. Limited selection of newspapers, currently.  
3. Lack of color isn’t nice.  

If you can afford it, you’re helping newspapers survive. Else, hope Kindle DX gets subsidized.

Kindle DX Images

Here is the Kindle DX in landscape mode -

Read newspapers in landscape mode with DX

Top 5 reasons Kindle DX is good for reading newspapers

 The Kindle DX is good for reading newspapers -

1. eInk screen is better for reading. See the Kindle 2 videos. You can get immersed and read for hours without tiring your eyes.
2. Large screen allows for more text and various layouts. Landscape mode is a big plus.  
3. WhisperNet means instant updates and instant news. 
4. Lower Prices – NYTimes subscription is $13.99, will be $9.99 (trial basis) when DX releases.
5. Convenient to carry and handle, and saves trees.

It is important to look at the Kindle DX as a first stab at a dedicated newspaper reader - it would be unfair to expect it to get everything right on the first try.

Top 5 Reasons Kindle DX is good for newspapers themselves

Newspapers should embrace the DX -

1. Kindle Users are trained to pay for content. 10,000 NY Times subscribers (in Sept 2008) is a good start.
2. Two out of Newspapers’ three revenue streams i.e. subscriptions and advertisements, can still work on the DX.
3. WhisperNet allows for instant updates and instant news - up to the minute news. 
4. Much, much lower distribution costs. 
5. As opposed to the Internet, here Newspapers are making money (as is Amazon ;) ).  

Newspapers have trained online users (not to mention online companies) to expect free content and new distribution channels like Kindle DX and the iPhone are their only hope.  

Top Reasons the DX might fail with newspapers

1. Newspapers and Amazon fail to agree on a win-win revenue share.
2. People have been trained to expect news for free.
3. The price of the Kindle DX.
4. The Kindle DX lacks touch, has slightly clunky navigation and switching between articles is not easy.
5. Great Expectations - DX will be hard pressed to meet the lofty expectations some people have.  
6. The screen might still not be large enough.  
7. A few people are wedded to the notion of color.

My gut instinct tells me it might not work – Newspapers are way too closeted into their own belief system to actually embrace a new model. They might forget that DX is an emerging technology and needs to be nurtured.

Kindle DX Price, DX Newspaper Subscription Prices

 There is not much to say about the $489 Kindle DX price. If you can afford it, its great and you will probably save enough on subscriptions to justify the purchase.  

If you cannot afford it, then all you can hope for is that newspapers start offering subsidized DXes.

Does Amazon really get a 70% cut?

 I really don’t know. It seems unlikely that Amazon is only making $1-$2 a book in the Kindle Store and, at the same time, trying for 70% of newspaper subscription revenue.

Given that they own the device, the distribution channel, the store front – Amazon can pretty much ask for whatever they want. 

However, Amazon seem serious about growing DX newspaper subscriptions and revenue. I suspect they will do the same as they do with books – Take a 65% to 70% cut and pass most of it on to users – to create a low price that users feel is justified for an electronic version. The price difference between print subscriptions and kindle edition subscriptions holds the truth.

Kindle DX, Newspaper Reader FAQ

Q: How many newspapers are currently supported for Kindle 2?
A: There are 27 US newspapers and 10 international newspapers – you can see the whole list at Amazon.

Q: How can I get a subsidized Kindle DX?
A: At the moment the trials being run by NYTimes, Boston Globe, Washingotn Post are paradoxically restricted to people who live outside the newspapers’ delivery areas. You’re only eligible if the newspaper companies can’t deliver to you currently. Get in touch with them if you qualify.

Q: Will the subsidized Kindle DX model?
A: I think it will. Newspapers will have to accept that they have to REPLACE their current model and stop giving away all their content for free.

Q: When will a full Kindle DX Review and a detailed Kindle DX usability review be available?
A: After the Kindle DX comes out. In the summer.

Q: Should I buy the DX or wait for Plastic Logic’s Newspaper Reader?
A: Am going to do a comparison – which will be severely limited because of neither device actually being available. Wait for that.

Closing Thoughts on Kindle DX, Newspaper Reader

The Kindle DX reviews quite well as a newspaper.

DX is clearly better suited for textbooks and books. However, it is a solid step up from the Kindle 2 for newspaper reading. The larger screen, and in particular, the landscape mode allow for a much more newspaper like layout and more reading per screen.

At the moment, DX is the best newspaper reader available. If newspapers were to start subsidizing the Kindle DX, perhaps against 2 year subscriptions, the Kindle DX would become a huge hit.

However, Newspapers will probably refuse to play along with the ideal scenario i.e.

1. Organic growth of Kindles is greatly supplemented by growth due to Subsidized Kindle DXes.
2. Mass production brings down Kindle DX and Kindle prices. 
3. Newspapers are able to cut down distribution costs and increase convenience for newspaper subscribers.

Filed under: kindle dx, reviews Tagged: | kindle dx, kindle dx newspaper reader