Opinion

Print will have to develop its business model in response to Kindle DX launch

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Late last year, I wrote an article about the potential market for e-readers, commenting mainly on the Kindle reader from Amazon.

In this, I discussed the potential of devices such as the Kindle replicating the success of the Apple iPod and iTunes music store in converting readers of books to downloading content, instead of buying printed books. I stated that the option to download book content was not such an attractive business model as that for music.

I also commented on other e-readers that were an alternative to the Kindle and, in particular, the forthcoming PlasticLogic Reader, which I felt had a better business model as it was aimed at a wider market segment, including business documents from Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, as well as PDF documents. I also preferred the A4 size format of the PlasticLogic device, as it allowed much easier document reading, as well as being better suited for newspapers, magazines and educational books.

Next generation
Last week, the latest development in the sector was unveiled. Amazon.com made a major move to change the e-reader market with the launch of its new Kindle DX. This is aimed at three major user groups: college students, to replace their expensive textbooks by downloading this content into the Kindle DX; newspaper and magazine readers; and corporate consumers.

The new Kindle has a larger 9.7in screen more in keeping with the formats of newspaper and magazines. It is a major improvement over the current Kindle 1 and 2 e-readers and will become available this summer.

It does, however, still have some serious limitations. Apart from the proprietary Kindle DRM restricted AZW book and the unprotected Mobipocket MOBI formats, the new reader only supports reading of PDF documents. This means that anything not purchased from the Amazon store must first be converted into either a MOBI or PDF format.

Use of PDF, however, is somewhat restricting as it does not allow a document to reflow easily to the format of the Kindle and has to be laid out specifically for the device.

Data can be loaded into the Kindle DX either via the USB interface or via email through Amazon Whispernet and then downloaded via the Sprint 3G data network. At this time, the Kindle readers are only available in the US because of this reliance on Whispernet and Sprint. There is no WiFi in the device and no agreements with cellular suppliers outside the US.

However, already we have had announcements from the New York Times and Washington Post that they plan to offer newspaper subscriptions for Kindle DX users and to offer discounted subscriptions in areas where there is no home delivery of these newspapers. That is a great model for extending the coverage of these papers and potentially is a great opportunity for newspaper and magazine publishers to rethink their business models. If one takes out a subscription to a newspaper or magazine, will the set up process take account of my location and my interests to personalise the publication to fit my needs? Will they enhance the advertising to allow multiple media content?

There are, however, limitations in the way the new Kindle DX may be used. In the educational area, how secure will the publisher's content be? College students are world class at cracking code and no doubt the proprietary formats for holding this data will be relatively simple to break for a student computer geek. No doubt we will soon see the educational content appearing on BitTorrent-based sharing sites.

In theory, this is a great business model for enhancing the educational world for students, but it may be a real ‘killer app" for the educational publishers. We must also consider the advertising model for newspapers and magazines where ads are placed in colour, but for the Kindle subscriptions only delivered in monochrome. Will they expect to pay less to place ads in publications available on the Kindle?

Whatever happens, this is a major move in the publishing world and one that the print-based publications must understand and react to. Perhaps the push will be to adopt more personalisation together with high-speed inkjet printing to build new print-based business models.

30-second briefing on Kindle DX

  • Amazon is to launch its latest e-reader, the Kindle DX, this summer. It has a new, larger 9.7in screen better suited to newspaper and magazine formats
  • It is aimed at three core groups: college students, newspaper and magazine readers and corporate consumers
  • Anything not purchased from Amazon has to be converted to MOBI or PDF formats. Use of PDF is cumbersome as content has to be specifically laid out in the PDF for use with the Kindle DX
  • Data can be loaded onto the Kindle via USB or via email using Amazon Whispernet and Spring 3G. Neither of these are available, as yet, outside the US
  • Both the New York Times and the Washington Post have said they will offer subscriptions for the
  • DX, showing the potential of the e-reader to change the magazine and newspaper business models
  • There are, however, issues around copyright security, especially for educational books and drawbacks for advertisers with colour ads having to be converted to monochrome
  • However, publishing will be changed by the DX and print will have to react and change with it
Columnist Opinion