Q&A: Ian Freed of Amazon Kindle
A fairly anodyne interview with the guy responsible for Kindle.
Didn't learn anything new, but if completely avoiding answering a question shows a discomfort about a topic, then e-reader apps on the iphone are either a cause for concern, or an acquisition target:
"Q: I read that Stanza, an electronic book reading application for the iPhone, has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. Do you consider that competition for the Kindle?"
"A: We think the Kindle ecosystem, end to end, is pretty special. The idea that you can get over 180,000 books from publishers that are sold on a regular basis delivered to you under 60 seconds — that’s something that we really do uniquely. And moreover being able to get over 25 different newspapers and over 25 different magazines delivered on a regular basis is something we do uniquely. So far things have been great and we think that will continue."
It is interesting to see how they're focusing on the 'ecosystem' of delivery - the device, like the iphone/pod in the itunes ecosystem. This is of course, Amazon's competitive advantage.
I absolutely expect to see them either create or buy an iphone ereader which has a direct link into the Amazon store for the instant purchasing model they're talking about on the Kindle.
Will Apple allow that? I bet they're in talks...Apple did a big Audible/iTunes integration piece a few years ago (before Audible was bought by Amazon?)
Even more of a killer business? GetAbstract on the iphone, with impulse purchase button and sharing of previews via contacts in the address book.
