Jeff Bezos on Charlie Rose show

MattEcho · 02-27-2009, 01:51 AM

Great interview. Jeff spent about 70% of the interview discussing the K2.

Some highlights:

May do video some day. Technology is several years away.

K2 will never be a swiss army knife. Meant to be an in-depth reading experience. Only offer the mp3 capability because it doesn't take away from anything.

Would love to have color. Would improve the reading experience. It will come.

Publishers need to get on board with ebooks, comparison made to the music industry. Wants every book ever printed to be available.

Over 10% of all Amazon book sales are Kindle sales, EVER! That was a pretty amazing stat.

Was not happy about lack of inventory during last 2 Christmas's. Was definitely not planned.

Renting books is an interesting and reasonable idea. Not being worked on, but will consider.

Device will get cheaper over time. Wants it to be cheap, but technology is too new and expensive. And there is no monthly fee for cell service. Would love to get it much more widespread.

Would not budge at all on # of Kindles sold, even though Charlie gave him a really hard time about it. It was kinda weird.

There was more, but this is what I remember.

Dragoro · 02-27-2009, 02:16 AM

Cool! Thanks

jibril · 02-27-2009, 04:40 AM

Below are links to several interviews Bezos did with Rose.

It shows the new interview but the link isnt active yet, so I suppose it may take a day or two for them to upload the video. OTOH, his 2007 interview with the old K1 is there as well. You can also see what he said on other things which may be interesting.

http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/2618

sirbruce · 02-27-2009, 05:06 AM

Watched the new interview tonight. Was very good, I always like to nitpick:

1. I've watched Charlie Rose many times, and I'm continually annoyed by his tendency to interrupt a guest's answer with a completely unrelated question. He did this to Bezos as well, which I find very off-putting.

2. I'm getting annoyed with Bezos' laugh. In fact, he seems to make a point to do it in every interview he does, which makes it seem like a gimmick and disingenuous.

3. As a "numbers" guy myself, I'm annoyed that they won't talk about numbers for Kindle. Charlie did a good job of trying to ask the question many times, but he never challenged Bezos' answers. If Amazon just wants numbers to be secret, why then do they provide, for example, sales rankings on their items? Clearly there is a reason they're treating Kindle secretively. My experience is that companies only do this when numbers are "low", or lower than a milestone number that they will be happy to announce once they reach it. So my guess is they've sold less than a million Kindles. But clearly the average Kindle owner buys a *lot* of Kindle books, if those are making up 10% of book sales.

Dragoro · 02-27-2009, 08:31 AM

I cant imagine that the kindle has sold less than expected or hoped for considering how many times and how long its been sold out.

BenG · 02-27-2009, 08:38 AM

He did say that they sold more than they expected. He just wouldn't give specifics. He said Amazon has always been that way about sales numbers.

sirbruce · 02-27-2009, 04:03 PM

It's obviously sold more than expected, but I don't think they've hit a pyschologically satisfying number. Nobody wants to hear that Amazon has "only" sold 200,000 Kindles.

thorn · 02-27-2009, 05:02 PM

i think bezos laughs when he feels uncomfortable.

thorn · 02-27-2009, 05:04 PM

ooh. and bezos ought to be informed that the mp3 capability can be important to the reading experience. if you throw on brian eno's ambient i, music for airports -- or whatever music works for you, you can still manage to read on the train while people around you are yapping on their cellphones.

pilotbob · 02-27-2009, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragoro

I cant imagine that the kindle has sold less than expected or hoped for considering how many times and how long its been sold out.

I absolutely agree. When an item is backordered it means sales are better than expected... because you usually make close to or a bit more than you expect to sell.

BOb

MattEcho · 02-27-2009, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I absolutely agree. When an item is backordered it means sales are better than expected... because you usually make close to or a bit more than you expect to sell.

BOb

Bezos said they completely underestimated demand. They factored in a cushion into the supply numbers and they still were under.

Oh and to Thorn's point about mp3's...Bezos agrees with you, which is the only reason the capability is there.

RickyMaveety · 02-27-2009, 11:03 PM

I watched the tail end of the interview. I agree with him that the Kindle shouldn't be a Swiss Army Knife .... it should be a book reader.

I noted that he didn't think that color was immediately on the horizon, so it will be interesting to see how soon there is a color K. Although, Alex's post on the rumored K3 said something about color (or I thought it did ... keep in mind, I'm still on drugs).

thorn · 03-06-2009, 01:08 AM

i've been saying that kindle 2 was built for people who read significant texts and for hours at a stretch. according to the same logic as that beloved unitasker -- ice skates. or a swimsuit. and you know? kindle 2 is cheaper than the top-of-the-line of either of those!

nothing wrong with a solid unitasker, as long as one does that one task enough to make it worthwhile.

02-27-2009, 01:51 AM	#1
MattEcho Member Posts: 23 Karma: 300 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Colorado Device: Kindle 2	Jeff Bezos on Charlie Rose show Great interview. Jeff spent about 70% of the interview discussing the K2. Some highlights: May do video some day. Technology is several years away. K2 will never be a swiss army knife. Meant to be an in-depth reading experience. Only offer the mp3 capability because it doesn't take away from anything. Would love to have color. Would improve the reading experience. It will come. Publishers need to get on board with ebooks, comparison made to the music industry. Wants every book ever printed to be available. Over 10% of all Amazon book sales are Kindle sales, EVER! That was a pretty amazing stat. Was not happy about lack of inventory during last 2 Christmas's. Was definitely not planned. Renting books is an interesting and reasonable idea. Not being worked on, but will consider. Device will get cheaper over time. Wants it to be cheap, but technology is too new and expensive. And there is no monthly fee for cell service. Would love to get it much more widespread. Would not budge at all on # of Kindles sold, even though Charlie gave him a really hard time about it. It was kinda weird. There was more, but this is what I remember.

02-27-2009, 04:40 AM	#3
jibril Connoisseur Posts: 68 Karma: 54 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: none	Below are links to several interviews Bezos did with Rose. It shows the new interview but the link isnt active yet, so I suppose it may take a day or two for them to upload the video. OTOH, his 2007 interview with the old K1 is there as well. You can also see what he said on other things which may be interesting. http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/2618 Last edited by jibril; 02-27-2009 at 04:52 AM.

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02-27-2009, 02:16 AM	#2
Dragoro Lovecraft Fan Posts: 414 Karma: 539914 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Michigan Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Kindle Touch	Cool! Thanks

02-27-2009, 05:06 AM	#4
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	Watched the new interview tonight. Was very good, I always like to nitpick: 1. I've watched Charlie Rose many times, and I'm continually annoyed by his tendency to interrupt a guest's answer with a completely unrelated question. He did this to Bezos as well, which I find very off-putting. 2. I'm getting annoyed with Bezos' laugh. In fact, he seems to make a point to do it in every interview he does, which makes it seem like a gimmick and disingenuous. 3. As a "numbers" guy myself, I'm annoyed that they won't talk about numbers for Kindle. Charlie did a good job of trying to ask the question many times, but he never challenged Bezos' answers. If Amazon just wants numbers to be secret, why then do they provide, for example, sales rankings on their items? Clearly there is a reason they're treating Kindle secretively. My experience is that companies only do this when numbers are "low", or lower than a milestone number that they will be happy to announce once they reach it. So my guess is they've sold less than a million Kindles. But clearly the average Kindle owner buys a lot of Kindle books, if those are making up 10% of book sales.

02-27-2009, 08:31 AM	#5
Dragoro Lovecraft Fan Posts: 414 Karma: 539914 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Michigan Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Kindle Touch	I cant imagine that the kindle has sold less than expected or hoped for considering how many times and how long its been sold out.

02-27-2009, 08:38 AM	#6
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,729 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	He did say that they sold more than they expected. He just wouldn't give specifics. He said Amazon has always been that way about sales numbers.

02-27-2009, 04:03 PM	#7
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	It's obviously sold more than expected, but I don't think they've hit a pyschologically satisfying number. Nobody wants to hear that Amazon has "only" sold 200,000 Kindles.

02-27-2009, 05:02 PM	#8
thorn Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 7940 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: currently: ipod touch	i think bezos laughs when he feels uncomfortable.

02-27-2009, 05:04 PM	#9
thorn Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 7940 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: currently: ipod touch	ooh. and bezos ought to be informed that the mp3 capability can be important to the reading experience. if you throw on brian eno's ambient i, music for airports -- or whatever music works for you, you can still manage to read on the train while people around you are yapping on their cellphones.

02-27-2009, 11:03 PM	#12
RickyMaveety Holy S**T!!! Posts: 5,213 Karma: 108401 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: San Diego, California!! Device: Kindle and iPad	I watched the tail end of the interview. I agree with him that the Kindle shouldn't be a Swiss Army Knife .... it should be a book reader. I noted that he didn't think that color was immediately on the horizon, so it will be interesting to see how soon there is a color K. Although, Alex's post on the rumored K3 said something about color (or I thought it did ... keep in mind, I'm still on drugs).

03-06-2009, 01:08 AM	#13
thorn Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 7940 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: currently: ipod touch	i've been saying that kindle 2 was built for people who read significant texts and for hours at a stretch. according to the same logic as that beloved unitasker -- ice skates. or a swimsuit. and you know? kindle 2 is cheaper than the top-of-the-line of either of those! nothing wrong with a solid unitasker, as long as one does that one task enough to make it worthwhile.

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