Hmm I don't know - maybe the Kindle is the future because we as a society want content *now*. It could all come down to: how is easy and quick is it to find and get stuff? Amazon is *light years* ahead of others in that dept.
They make it really (really) easy. The Kindle Vision: "Any book ever published, in any language, in under 60 seconds." Geez. This is not an empty promise - for 300,000 or so titles it is reality, now. They have a huge foothold in the market. IMHO nobody else comes close. I don't have to download books to my computer and transfer and jump through hoops, and open programs and re-input credit card information. Click the little picture of the book, read the book. Grandma's can do it. Non techie kids (rare as they are) can do it. Hell, my cat could do it if I could teach him to read.
The brand sticks in my mind because I buy all sorts of things there (just bought some bulk coffee btw). I push a couple of keys and in a day or so nearly anything (it seems) arrives at my door. I don't think of Barnes and Noble. I don't go to Sony's website.
Good luck to your stockholders trying to compete with that.
And in the professional, scientific and academic publishing markets content is *really* king. At DX launch, Amazon had already brought 60% of textbook publishers on board. Very, very big coup. We talk abt the 'ailing publishing industry' but there is still big $$ to be made in STM (scientific, technical, medical) publishing.
The only reason I'm a phanboy of Amazon.com/the Kindle at the moment is because it just works for me.
Maybe some other company will come to bat and do one better, but right now I doubt it.
