Thoughts on K3 software?

niceboy · 10-12-2010, 10:49 AM

It seems that Kindle has very rudimentary file handling while it has invested in some weird social media functionality. I just can't imagine users want to tweet excerpts or share highlights and such more than they want library sub-directories etc.

I wonder what you think about this? Do you think it is a result of classic suits treading on coders? Design by Marketing?

Also, what drives Amazon to resist native ePub reading... is it about DRM or about store competition? Epub can have DRM? Locking out Overdrive seems to be an odd business strategy since the heavy book buyers seem to also be the heavy library users.

avantman42 · 10-12-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niceboy

It seems that Kindle has very rudimentary file handling while it has invested in some weird social media functionality. I just can't imagine users want to tweet excerpts or share highlights and such more than they want library sub-directories etc.

I wonder what you think about this? Do you think it is a result of classic suits treading on coders? Design by Marketing?

I think they're targeting normal people, not geeks. I'm a geek, but I don't care about the Kindle's file handling. If I want to move/rename/copy/whatever files, I'll plug it into a USB port and use my computer to do it. I doubt I'll ever need to do that, though.

Personally, I don't use the Facebook/Twitter functionality either, and I doubt I ever will. I imagine most people would be much more interested in that than being able to move files around, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by niceboy

Also, what drives Amazon to resist native ePub reading... is it about DRM or about store competition? Epub can have DRM? Locking out Overdrive seems to be an odd business strategy since the heavy book buyers seem to also be the heavy library users.

At the moment, a Kindle owner doesn't need to own a computer. You can buy books on the Kindle, and they get delivered to the Kindle direct. Could they do the same with DRM'd ePubs? If not, I'd guess that's one reason, though it doesn't explain why it won't read unprotected ePubs.

I guess the other thing is that they want the Kindle to be tied to Amazon. As things stand, books bought for the Kindle only work on the Kindle (and Kindle apps), so if you buy a Kindle it's difficult to move to another e-reader.

kinstant · 10-14-2010, 08:19 PM

The tweets and status updates will all say "sent from Kindle" - it's viral advertising

niceboy · 10-14-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kinstant

The tweets and status updates will all say "sent from Kindle" - it's viral advertising

Subtle (sarcasm).

TheKindleWorm · 10-15-2010, 02:59 AM

I'm not into facebook or twitter to be honest. My nieces have something like 800 "friends" on facebook and when I quizzed them about it, they admitted that only a handful of those are actual friends or even people they know in "real" life! That really doesn't appeal to me - just chatting with people you don't really know about your personal life and some very mundane things. It's not like a forum like mobileread where people all have a common or shared interest.

It is good viral advertising on Amazon's part but also probably trying to appeal to the younger crowd because up to K3, I would say that most Kindle owners would have been in the 30 plus bracket. Now the Kindle is suddenly coming across as a "cool" device but is that mainly because they changed the colour?

If Amazon used that same facebook/twitter functionality but integrated it with google blogs then I'd find that very useful because you could then easily quote a passage from a book you've just read and give a quick review on it. That would appeal to me a lot more.

10-12-2010, 10:49 AM	#1
niceboy Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 14 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle	Thoughts on K3 software? It seems that Kindle has very rudimentary file handling while it has invested in some weird social media functionality. I just can't imagine users want to tweet excerpts or share highlights and such more than they want library sub-directories etc. I wonder what you think about this? Do you think it is a result of classic suits treading on coders? Design by Marketing? Also, what drives Amazon to resist native ePub reading... is it about DRM or about store competition? Epub can have DRM? Locking out Overdrive seems to be an odd business strategy since the heavy book buyers seem to also be the heavy library users.

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10-14-2010, 08:19 PM	#3
kinstant for Kindle-friendly sites Posts: 7 Karma: 24 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Boston MA Device: Kindle 3	The tweets and status updates will all say "sent from Kindle" - it's viral advertising

10-15-2010, 02:59 AM	#5
TheKindleWorm Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 177868 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: East Anglia UK Device: Kindle 3G, iPhone 3G, iPod 4G, PB 360, Sony 600 sold, Kindle 2i sold	I'm not into facebook or twitter to be honest. My nieces have something like 800 "friends" on facebook and when I quizzed them about it, they admitted that only a handful of those are actual friends or even people they know in "real" life! That really doesn't appeal to me - just chatting with people you don't really know about your personal life and some very mundane things. It's not like a forum like mobileread where people all have a common or shared interest. It is good viral advertising on Amazon's part but also probably trying to appeal to the younger crowd because up to K3, I would say that most Kindle owners would have been in the 30 plus bracket. Now the Kindle is suddenly coming across as a "cool" device but is that mainly because they changed the colour? If Amazon used that same facebook/twitter functionality but integrated it with google blogs then I'd find that very useful because you could then easily quote a passage from a book you've just read and give a quick review on it. That would appeal to me a lot more.

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