Book Wars
The Kindle: Dead, Deadly, and Dominant
Just before the launch of the iPad, I ventured the safe prediction that Amazon’s ebook reader, the Kindle, was kindling. It was doomed to be crushed by Apple’s reactionary, if magical, iPad. As hardware, the Kindle is history, but as software it is brilliant, with enduring advantages over Apple’s iBook. During the last four months, Amazon has [...]
How Amazon Can Compete with Apple
At the moment, Amazon's best selling Kindle is the king of the eBook readers. But the impending launch of Apple's iPad means that unless Amazon changes its direction and its mindset, the Kindle is kindling. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has a tough habit to break. It started when he built the Kindle and he deliberately [...]
Why the iPad Matters — even if you are already sick of it.
The PR was stunning, the product impressive, and the strategy tiresome. Apple stoked rumors of a dreamy tablet for either two years old or thirteen, depending on how you count. For six months, the leading tech blogs have been quivering with speculation about the "Jesus tablet". One blog, Gizmodo, offered $100,000 cash for an hour [...]
How the Kindle Helps Destroy Textbooks
When Bill Clinton was elected President in the early 1990's, encyclopedias were a $1.2 billion dollar business in the US. The best encyclopedia, Britannica, owned half of the market and advertised "more than 80 Nobel laureates" among its contributors. A Britannica set cost over $1,000. They were sold door to door by over 2,000 commissioned [...]
Billionaire Amazon CEO works in his own warehouse.
He looks like a leprechaun and laughs like a hyena, but do not ever underestimate Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Back in 2006, Amazon accounted for 5.1% of all online sales. Now it accounts for 6% and it's cash flow more than doubled. The company ranks 8th in the Fortune 500 for ten year [...]
Reinventing and Rediscovering Music
The traditional music industry is dead and likely to be more studied than missed. Every label is in trouble, mainly because CD sales decline every year, with 2009 likely to be a free fall. Every dedicated music retail chain is out of business. Only the #1 retailer matters – Apple’s iTunes. The rest, including Walmart [...]
iBrain
On two recent flights the person sitting next to me had an Apple iPhone. I asked them both "is your iPhone taking over your brain?" Both times, my seatmate looked slightly embarrassed before confessing, "actually, yes". My iPhone has been taking over my brain — or at least the digital part of it. When I [...]
Media Wants to Be Digital, Downloadable, and Free
Mooreâs Law famously describes an important trend in computer processing power: the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit increases exponentially. Specifically, Intel founder Gordon Moore observed that chip density doubles about every two years. Thanks to Mooreâs Law, computer processing is now free for most intents and purposes. Metcalfeâs [...]
The Time is Right for E-books
Like music five years ago, today’s book industry is ripe for an iPod. Here is why eBooks are back and why, when they hit, many brick and mortar book stores will start to look like the fading relics that many music stores do now.
