Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

There are a number of Kindle owners concerned that Apps will detract from reading.

The way the Kindle App Store is set up there is little chance for time-wasting apps (or for that matter apps that take away from reading) to succeed.

Kindle App Store Rules keep out most Apps that would be distractions

Here are a few facts to consider in terms of Apps not being a distraction -

1. The eInk screen’s qualities i.e. black and white screen, 0.5 second refresh speed, etc. rule out some of the biggest time wasters such as YouTube, music videos, and graphic intensive games.
2. The bandwidth costs are borne by the app makers – that pretty much rules out another big category of time wasters i.e. Facebook, MySpace, etc.
3. The games that are actually possible are mostly ones that are good for small breaks. Not games that are entire stories in themselves. 
4. The bandwidth cost factor and the lack of advertising means that ‘play a lot’ games and ‘lots of ad impressions’ games are not going to get much traction.

Amazon has put rules in place to keep out apps that detract from reading.

There’ll almost certainly be an app approval process

In addition to the rules the Kindle App Store will probably have an app review process and approvals.

1. If someone creates a massively distracting app it won’t be let in.
2. If some app detracts from Kindle’s focus on reading it’ll be kept out.

Amazon have a very nice revenue stream from Kindle eBooks – they are not going to let in apps that adversely impact that.

The rules of the Kindle App Store encourage reading related apps

What are the apps that -

1. Are not impacted by bandwidth costs.
2. Kindle owners are likely to buy. 
3. Go well with the Kindle’s capabilities.

 Well,

1. Infrastructure Apps and apps that add to basic functionality i.e. folders, tagging, organization, bookshelves, screensaver app, and more. 
2. Word related Apps and Short Breaks Apps i.e. crosswords, vocabulary apps, word games, etc.
3. Apps that add reading related features i.e. notepad, reading lists, PDF viewer, Fonts App, and more.

Those are all Apps that make the Kindle a better eReader.

You get the possibility of Killer Apps and More value for money

There are a lot of ideas that could make the Kindle much, much more valuable -

1. A well thought out Journal App.
2. Well implemented Folders.
3. Grocery Lists and Recipe Apps.
4. Much better music player.
5. ToDo Lists and Prioritization and Scheduling Apps.
6. Speech to Text (when the hardware supports it).

Switch between audiobooks and your favorite music when driving or commuting. Use your Kindle as a journal or a personal organizer. Perhaps use it as an audio recorder or dictation device.

We don’t even know what developers will come up with.

Apps are optional

Perhaps the biggest safeguard against Apps being distractions is that they are optional.

• We’ll all probably find a few applications (Tetris on Kindle, Twitter, Email clients) that eat up time. As soon as we realize that we just uninstall them.

The only things we are stuck with are the core Kindle features and they’re all reading related.

Truth is that the Kindle App Store has been set-up to focus on value-adding applications.

1. There are lots of complaints about how the Kindle’s technology and the Kindle App Store rules make it difficult to do games.
2. People are upset about how inappropriate the Kindle is for time-pass apps.
3. It’s obvious that most IM and Social Networking Apps won’t be able to survive the bandwidth costs.

That only leaves applications that assist reading and/or add core features and functionality to the Kindle. The Kindle is going to be a better eReader - plus developers will unveil capabilities that were locked away or hidden.

Filed under: kindle app review Tagged: | kindle app store, kindle unitasking