Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

Apparently the Kindle might be coming to BestBuy soon (Kindle World) -

A long-time commenter at Engadget, David Wixom has posted that he is an employee of Best Buy (sells cameras there) and says today that:

  “I have a feeling we are going to start selling the Kindle at Best Buy as well seeing as we just got cases for them in on the truck today.  I find it hard to believe we will sell cases for a product we don’t sell.“

  My impression is that the comment is genuine (not rumor-mongering), as he identifies himself, unlike the bulk of anonymous posters

This is in addition to claims that Kindle is going to start selling at Target on April 25th (TechFlash via Engadget) -

… Kindles may be headed to Target store shelves by April 25. Perhaps Amazon sees a greater need for a brick-and-mortar sales channel for its e-readersAsked about the Kindle-Target report, Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener said “we don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”

We also have news from Engadget that B&N’s Nook will start selling at BestBuy on April 18th -

… now multiple sources are telling us that Best Buy will start selling the Barnes and Noble Nook on April 18th — a rumor we can back up with this shot of Big Blue’s inventory system.

We’re also informed that units are arriving at stores right now, so keep your eyes peeled …

So in the space of a few days we hear that Amazon might start selling the Kindle via Best Buy and Target and B&N might start selling the Nook via Best Buy.

By the end of April we’ll have the Kindle available for the first time in physical stores and Best Buy will be the stage for the War of the eReaders and Pretend eReaders – Kindle vs iPad vs Nook.

How badly do Kindle and Nook need retail presence?

(Of course, for Nook we mean in addition to B&N stores).

Very badly.

Apple has managed to get more publicity for the iPad than perhaps any product ever. It’s also trumpeting sales numbers (now at 450K iPads sold).

The way Steve Jobs is promoting the iPad is a master-class in sales psychology -

1. ‘A Magical and Revolutionary Product at an Unbelievable Price’ - That phrase is a work of copywriting art.
2. The constant reminders of sales invoke Social Proof – notice how they are always referred to as amazing and magical sales numbers and when possible contrasted against lower figures.
3. At the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement Steve Jobs kept harping about how they can’t make it fast enough – which is exactly what he would say whether 1 million iPads had sold or 100,000. That and the convenient sold-out status a week before launch invoke Scarcity.
4. Selectively talking up good points (reading light, color screen, Winnie the Pooh) while ignoring negatives (reading in sunlight, advantages of eInk, lack of range in iBooks). 
5. The constant bombardment of the Press increases familiarity and that creates a Liking for the product. It’s why advertisers always try to get their brand/product brought to customers’ attention again and again.
6. There’s always talk of 600,000 books downloaded on iPad without mentioning how many are free books. Note that Amazon got blasted for their Christmas ‘more ebooks than books’ press release even though they did NOT include free book downloads.
7. The constant reminder of the promise of Apps and of the sheer number of apps.

Apple is just destroying eReaders in the War of Perception – Steve Jobs’ Reality Distortion Field is in full effect. The best response to that is Reality.

The Kindle and Nook need retail presence badly to provide a dose of reality. A shot of eReader reality will create three main effects -

1. Familiarity – All the iPad articles and press coverage are getting people very familiar with the iPad. Amazon and B&N need to ensure that users get a chance to see their devices regularly too. If all things are equal the more familiar device will get picked. 
2. Fair Representation - The Press have downplayed the strengths of eReader devices. When people try them out themselves they’ll be able to tell the difference instantly – eInk vs LCD, unitasking vs multi-tasking, weight, portability, glare. Things that all the iPad reviews and Kindle vs iPad comparisons completely miss out. 
3. Financial Reminder - A reminder of the price and of cost of ownership really helps eReaders. $259 is a LOT less than $499 - Especially when you get a chance to see the Kindle has free Internet (with a limited browser). 

The importance of reality brings up another question.

Could Kindle and Nook win against Steve Jobs on Perception?

Quite frankly that’s almost impossible as long as the Press are in bed with Apple. In a few years when the Press realize that Apple have exploited them just like the Internet did they might be more likely to paint a fair picture. For now, it’s best to assume that it’ll be a guerrilla war against the main stream media and Apple’s full-out invasion of people’s minds.

Getting actual eReaders in stores is a big step.

Equally big is positioning eReaders well and focusing on their strengths -

1. The focus on reading.
2. Reading in sunlight.
3. Reading for longer periods.
4. Battery Life.
5. Reading purchased books on PC, Mac, Blackberry, and so forth. With iBooks you can’t.
6. Lack of distractions.
7. Portability – smaller size, lower weight, one-handed reading.

At this point it might make sense to talk up the price difference a lot. With the understanding that an iPad Mini down the line (perhaps, in Q1 2011) means price can’t be relied on as the main advantage.

If eReader companies really do want to stick to only books (and not expand the Kindle and Nook brands to multi-purpose devices) it might be worthwhile to paint Kindle vs iPad as book lovers vs the world. 

It’s really difficult though – Apple are masters of psychological influence and the one thing that’s keeping dedicated eReaders in the game is that Apple’s strategies don’t work that well with people who read books. Which is perhaps why they want book lovers to buy a device that’ll lead to reading less books.

Filed under: thoughts Tagged: | ipad vs ereader, nook strategy