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Jeff Bezos issues humble apology over pulled Kindle title
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants you to know he's really, really sorry for pulling Nineteen Eighty-Four off of our Kindles. In fact, the guilt expressed in this public apology is comparable to a modern day Dimmesdale -- he may have even seared a mark into his flesh for all we know. The short message calls the company's "solution" to what happened "stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles," adding that he and the company "deserve the criticism we've received." Look Jeff, we're still gonna be appalled by these beyond the pale actions even if you say it won't happen again... but if you really need a hug, we'll be here.[Via New York Times]
Bezos suggests Kindle books will appear on more devices, compete with Kindle readers
Amazon already sent a pretty clear signal that it has grander plans for Kindle than just its own devices when it launched its iPhone app earlier this year, but Jeff Bezos has now made those intentions clearer than ever, and dropped a few hints of things to come. Speaking at a Wired-sponsored conference yesterday, Bezos all but confirmed that Amazon sees Kindle books and Kindle readers as two separate businesses, and he even went so far as to say that "we are going to give the device team competition" by making Kindle books available on "mobile devices and other computing devices, although he obviously didn't specify other e-book readers. Interestingly, Bezos also confirmed that Amazon had considered selling the Kindle with a monthly subscription plan to lower the cost, or require a minimum number of books purchased, but said that he preferred the simplicity of providing one flat up-front cost, which he says has helped account for the Kindle's success.
A color Kindle is years away, buyers remorse here to stay
Hey, Kindle 2 owners, remember when Amazon made the device official and you thought: "Well, it took them a year and a half to replace the old one, so I can buy this one without fears of immediate obsolescence." And then remember how three months later they announced the Kindle DX and you thought: "Oh." Well, if you're now fearing a color Kindle will come sauntering along in a few months to make everyone jealous, fear not, as Jeff Bezos is saying the tech is still "multiple years" away, adding "I've seen the color displays in the laboratory and I can assure you they're not ready for prime time." From the few prototypes we've seen we'd tend to agree. So, anyone still on the fence about a Kindle, go ahead and buy now with confidence, as your devices won't be made to look quaint any time soon -- at least until that pizza box-sized reader Amazon's been working on in secret is announced in July. Did we mention it actually cooks pizza?
Jeff Bezos says Kindle is "outpacing our expectations"
While we're guessing you haven't seen too many of 'em pop up at your local coffee shop, Amazon's Jeff Bezos nonetheless seems to be quite please with the performance of the company's prized Kindle e-book reader, with him recently saying that "the Kindle, in terms of demand, is outpacing our expectations." That demand has also apparently caused Amazon to "scramble" on the manufacturing side, resulting in a notice on the Kindle order page that the device temporarily sold out due to "heavy customer demand" (again). Of course, expectations and hard sales numbers are entirely different beasts, and you can probably draw your own conclusions given that Amazon is focusing considerably more on the former than the latter.
