Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

There’s a general consensus that we are in the middle of the next big evolution of the book. Something of the order of Gutenberg’s Printing Press and Movable Type.

What’s confusing though is that there are 3 separate huge evolutionary changes going on i.e.

1. Electronic Books are becoming mainstream and beginning to steal market share from physical books.
2. Electronic Readers are gaining popularity and offering features not possible with books – unlimited storage, changeable fonts, text to speech, etc. 
3. Amazon’s Kindle Whispernet service and forthcoming services like Cloud Google Editions are adding concepts like syncing across devices, and instant downloads from wherever you are.

Lets look at each of these, how important they are, and which (or which combination) is the real evolution of books.

The eBook as the big evolution of books

Most people would start by thinking of the ebook as the real evolution of books. The change from physical books to electronic books does a few big things -

1. Makes the book editing and creation process easier.
2. Makes transportation, storage and duplication of the actual book much, much cheaper and faster.
3. Creates a form of book that can be easily modified, molded and played around with - Changeable fonts, font sizes, line spacing, formats, and more.
4. Lowers the barrier for entry into Publishing.
5. Taps infrastructure that already exists i.e. the Internet, Readers’ Computers, and so forth.
6. Saves trees and has other positive environmental benefits.  
7. Allows for buying books in eBook format anytime and without leaving your house.

Just the shift from paper and print to electronic books is a huge change.

The eReader as the main evolution of books

The eReader has some significant claims of its own -

1. A very readable screen that makes replacing books a possibility. Computer, phone and PDA screens don’t provide the reading experience that eInk does.
2. Portability – The small size, the light weight, the long battery life all combine to create a very portable device that again replicates books better than phones or PDAs or laptops.
3. Functionality that books just don’t have i.e. search, an in-built dictionary, text to speech.
4. The ability to leverage ebooks well i.e. let the user change fonts, remember the reader’s place in the book, add notes, etc.
5. One handed reading.
6. The ability to carry or store thousands of books.
7. The ability to play audio books and music.

Perhaps the biggest argument in favor of the eReader is that eBooks were doing nothing until eReaders arrived on the scene.

Could the eReader be the real evolution? A personal reading device for every person that first replicates the book experience, and then expands the capabilities of books.

Services like Kindle WhisperNet as the Real Evolution of Books

We are only beginning to see the capabilities that WhisperNet and other Cloud services bring to the table -

1. Browse and buy books from anywhere - Your book store goes with you.
2. Get books downloaded in 60 seconds.
3. Store all your books in the cloud and download them anytime. 
4. Sync your book across devices. 
5. Reference services like Wikipedia and Google at your fingerprints. 
6. Add book reviews online from the eReader itself.
7. A connection to the Internet.  

Perhaps most importantly, what Barnes & Noble is promising i.e. Social services that bring people together i.e.

1. Connect to like-minded people.
2. Connect to your friends.
3. Share books you love with your friends.
4. Send snippets to your friends.
5. Share what you’re reading and snippets on social networks.

The one strike against Cloud Services is that at this point they are mostly promise – only 5 to 10% of their potential has been tapped.

Amazon’s WhisperNet is the big exception with the Kindle Store and instant downloads and WhisperSync. However, even WhisperNet is just beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible.

The Hidden Fourth Horseman – Information

While eBooks, eReaders, and Cloud services vie to be the main force behind the current Big Evolution of Books there’s a fourth element that might outshadow them all – Access to unprecedented amounts of data and distillation of that data into actionable Information.

For the first time ever we have an infinite amount of data about books, readers, and spending available, most of it almost instantly -

1. What books are doing well? Where? 
2. How much of a book does a reader read?
3. Every person’s individual tastes. 
4. How people reach your store (online or on the eReader)? At what time? How often? 

These and so many other data points are available that you have to think companies like Amazon, Sony and perhaps Google are considering publishing.

Perhaps have a talent pool of independent authors competing for attention and cherry pick the ones that show all the signs past winners did. Perhaps a variant of the App Store where every author adds value and the best ones get rewarded handsomely.

Will we look back at this time as the Biggest Evolution of Reading, Ever? 

Let’s look at the 4 horsemen we’ve considered -

1. The Book in electronic form.
2. A device dedicated to reading and reading ebooks.
3. Cloud Services applied to reading.
4. Data and Information about reading and readers. 

Each of these, by itself, has the potential to revolutionize reading. Together they’re creating revolutions along almost every dimension of reading –  

1. What a book is, is changing.
2. Who can publish a book is changing.
3. Prices and Access to books is evolving.
4. Ownership of Books has morphed.
5. Features to support reading and books are being added.
6. New features are being created that would be unimaginable just a few decades ago. 

We aren’t just witnessing an Evolution.

This is not incremental change spread over generations. We are witnessing a complete and utter transformation of books, reading, book stores, publishing, profits, power structures – even the word Revolution does not do it justice. 

And it’s all going to happen in our lifetimes.

Filed under: books, evolution Tagged: | future of publishing, the evolution of books