Amazon Releases iPhone's Killer App
Release Date: 4 Mar 2009 Keywords: iPhone 3G By: Joe Wilco From: http://blogs.eweek.com/
News Analysis. Yesterday, Kindle for iPhone released to the App Store.
Suddenly, iPhone is a true e-book reader, and there is loads of easily accessible content. Whoa. Amazon had said the Kindle app was coming, but that wasn't even a month ago. I'm stunned to see it now—and so soon after the Kindle 2 e-book reader shipped to customers (officially, Feb. 24).
Amazon did right by extending Kindle Books to iPhone. The company's main digital business is selling content, not devices. Amazon sells Kindles so that it can sell digital books, magazines and other readable content.
Strategically, Amazon is in the e-book business for the long haul, of creating a digital content platform that eventually replaces books and perhaps even subscription publications like newspapers. The company benefits by making its rights-protected content available to more devices.
Apple's handset is a great choice, and Amazon should make Kindle Books available for other smartphones, too. The iPhone is in many ways a better e-book reader than Kindle. People have to make extra effort to carry Kindle, while the smartphone is near constant carry-along. Multi-touch screen, larger storage capacity, color display are among iPhone's extras. Kindle for iPhone also works on iPod Touch.
Several foibles have stalled e-book adoption for more than a decade, with digital book availability and pricing and prohibitive DRM being among the biggest. Amazon has great e-book selection and surprisingly good pricing, but DRM looked to be a problem based on the first Kindle experience. Now matters are different. Your Amazon ID is the key that unlocks Kindle Books for multiple e-book readers, including iPhone or iPod Touch.
Back in summer, I tested the original Kindle but found the device to be an unsatisfactory e-Book reader. I assumed that my purchased books were a lost cause. Late last night, after I installed the Kindle app on iPhone 3G, Amazon easily made the purchased books available for quick download. For free, as I already had paid for them.
The e-book buying experience isn't as clean as Kindle, but it's good enough. Both iPhone and Kindle use built in wireless 3G capabilities to connect to the Kindle Bookstore. But there are extra steps on iPhone. The buyer must use Safari. It would probably be easier to buy the books on a desktop computer and download to the device; that's similar to some other e-book services/readers available for iPhone.
On a personal note, timing is good for me. Last week, I mothballed the Nokia N96 for a few weeks. I had asked in an earlier post if there is life after iPhone. The answer is no, if you want the App Store. I still find Apple's handset to be disappointing as a phone, but outstanding as a pocket computer. App Store hugely extends the device's utility.
E-books are ready to take off, and Amazon definitely deserves loads of credit for making them more consumable for mainstream buyers. What Apple did for digital music, with approach to pricing and invisibility of DRM, Amazon is doing for e-books. But Amazon does better DRM, by making Kindle Books available for more devices than its own e-book reader. Apple had to go DRM-free before iTunes music could be consumed on pretty much any device.