Quick follow up on James’ post regarding today’s upcoming announcement from Amazon. The Kindle should be unveiled under an hour from the time I write this. As an avid eBook reader, I wanted to comment on something but it looks like Robert Scoble beat me to it over the weekend. I still want to share my thoughts in hopes that they’re not taken as criticism, but constructive feedback. Whether the Kindle succeeds or fails, the question in my mind remains: why haven’t we seen an eBook reader from Microsoft?
I realize that Microsoft traditionally doesn’t do hardware. There are some recent exceptions: the Xbox platforms, computer peripherals, and more recently the Zune. But why not an eBook reader? Let’s think of the random pieces that are scattered around Redmond for a sec…
- On the software side, you need a Reader platform. OK, check: we got that.
- Let’s see, how about a lightweight operating system for mobile devices? Yup, got that too.
- Sounds like Amazon is offering up wireless connectivity for book downloads. Tens of millions of Windows Mobile smartphones come to mind here. No, Microsoft didn’t make them, but they have the partnerships to make it happen I think.
- The Kindle will let you subscribe to newspapers and magazines. How could would that be? Probably this cool.
- Web browsing will be possible on the kindle. How many years has Internet Explorer been around?
You get the gist of what I’m saying here I think. And yes, there are many complications and engineering challenges to work out: no, you probably couldn’t use Times Reader on a Windows Mobile device, for example. Still, I have to wonder in agreement with Scoble: is this a missed opportunity for the Tablet PC space? Or will Kindle light a fire somewhere to bring about a small slate with an embedded Tablet PC-rich OS? One thing’s for sure: while the Kindle is getting all the attention, the spotlight for me is showing a stagnant Reader in Redmond.Update: thanks to Dave Zatz, I see that Amazon has the product page and a video demo of the Kindle available. Looks like a UMPC could have fit the bill to me. ;)
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