I’d really like it if they hadn’t gone with the whole locked down device approach of the iPod family. Instead, if they had created an open protocol and a cool device that used the protocol and allowed others to take advantage of the protocol to build machines by their own specs to handle this they would, in my opinion, make more money because of the greater exposure and interest while saving themselves the hassle of doing something they obviously do poorly, hardware development.

Amazon is good at selling books. They should setup the system to sell books, not hardware to buy books on. It’s just wrong. Make a prototype to encourage others to build a device, maybe. No more!

The digital paper finally getting used in an effective and nearing affordable way is cool though.

Yeah, it’s a neat concept — I even like the free wireless, but it is a shame it is locked down, as you say. Even the iPods will take most open media formats. I think Sony has done a much better job of trying to copy Apple’s strategy, but the Sony Reader doesn’t seem to be selling so well either.

I’d like to see Amazon combine its electronic media efforts with non-electronic ones. For example, buy a regular book and get the eBook for a small bit extra. Or buy an album and pay a few extra bucks to get immediate access via AmazonMP3. As it stands, that isn’t possible, but it would be a cinch to implement and would further reduce the inconvenience of online shopping versus brick-and-mortar.

Name:
Location:
Homepage:
E-mail:
Subject:
Remember my information