Kindle Review – Kindle Phone Review, Kindle Fire HD Review

Please Note: We still don’t have any confirmation that Oprah will recommend the Kindle today. An Oprah Kindle recommendation is likely but not a given.

That being said here are 7 things Oprah could do for the Kindle if she recommends it -

1. Make Kindle cool again. The Press has started a recent non-stop attack touting Tablets over the Kindle. More people trust Oprah and she’d instantly tilt things in favor of the Kindle.
2. Make a ton of people aware that a $139 Kindle is available and that it looks great (screen wise). A lot of people still don’t know what eInk is or what it looks like. 
3. Cause the Kindle to go out of stock within a few days. Kindle is out of stock outside the US and UK and an Oprah Kindle recommendation is likely to tap out the US supply completely. 
4. Sell a million Kindles in a week. It’d be the fastest Kindles have ever sold - you can be sure Amazon will find 3 different super-vague Press Releases to send out (Most eReaders ever sold by a Talk Show Host, Most Kindles ever sold in a 17 minute stretch, Most copies of Charles Dickens ever sold to Franzen fans).
5. Knock Nook back. With the Nook Color B&N has a potential winner on its hands - numerous articles and blogs are touting it as better than Kindle and iPad. Oprah recommending Kindle would make a lot of people forget all the Nook buzz.
6. Show that Amazon is concerned enough to pull out its trump card. Amazon has been doing things it doesn’t usually do – Black Friday Kindle deal, TV Ads, TV Ads for Kindle reading apps. If it also asks for Oprah’s help with the Kindle you know it’s worried.
7. Send a signal that a new Kindle is around the corner. Last time Oprah stepped in (October 2008) it was a Kindle 1 stock clear-out move and we saw the Kindle 2 arrive in February 2009. Might there be a color screen Kindle 4 slated for an early 2011 release?

It’s not just the fact that Oprah might recommend a Kindle that’s intriguing. The way Oprah talks about the Kindle and what Amazon does will reveal a lot -

1. If there’s a Kindle coupon or a Kindle discount then it gives a lot of credence to both the ‘Amazon is very worried’ theory and the ‘there’s a new Kindle 4 arriving in early 2011′ theory.
2. If there’s no Kindle coupon (which seems extremely unlikely) then it might mean Amazon just wants to get back people’s attention.
3. If Oprah positions Kindle as a reading device for everyone and focuses on Kindle WiFi it would suggest that Amazon sees Kindle WiFi as ‘the Kindle that everyone has’.
4. If Oprah positions Kindle as a reading device for book lovers and/or focuses on the Kindle 3 it would suggest Amazon is more interested in wrapping up the dedicated book lovers market.
5. If Oprah doesn’t recommend a Kindle then it’d be a blow for Amazon – especially since Oprah picked the iPad as her ‘favorite gadget ever’ just a week ago.

For me the presence of a Kindle coupon or Kindle discount (or an absence) and Oprah’s words (how they position the Kindle) will be the most important parts of the Oprah Kindle recommendation. They’ll reveal a ton about Amazon’s feelings regarding where the Kindle stands and where Amazon wants to go with the Kindle.

Filed under: kindle Tagged: | oprah effect kindle, oprah kindle