Kindle + App Store = Great Success
My lust for the Kindle 2 spanned over a period of several months. (I’m a sinner: see #10.) I can now proudly state that I am an excited and very grateful owner of the Kindle 2. As it turns out, the cliches are true: 1) good things come to those who wait; and 2) good things come in small packages. After using it for a couple of weeks I can say that it’s an amazing device, and if you really want to know more about it you can find tons of reviews everywhere. I’m not going to lie. I tote my Kindle 2 around in its genuine leather M-Edge case, and the stares, questions, and compliments just won’t stop. You can see the wheels turning in the minds of those who are now in the position that I formerly held; they are attempting to justify the price and make the purchase. I’ll also say that the amount of reading I accomplish has gone up dramatically, because it is much more convenient.
Kindle App Store
After playing with my Kindle 2 for a few days, I realized that Amazon desperately needs an Application Store. I discovered the hidden Minesweeper Easter egg (hit alt-shift-M while on the Home screen) while reading a review of the Kindle, and after playing the game I realized that if the Kindle can execute this app it can execute others. Which led me to conclude, that an App Store, with the right apps, would be hugely successful for the Kindle. I don’t think the Kindle App Store needs to be the 70,000 app goliath that the iTunes App Store is, but if there was a very selective catalog of apps that made sense for the Kindle it would work. People are already accustomed to paying for books, magazines, and blogs on their Kindles, so they could be very receptive to paying for other types of items, like apps. Obviously, not every app would work on the kindle, but there are a lot that would.
The only requirements for an app to work for the Kindle is that it needs to be able to run in grayscale mode, it should not require instantaneous input, and it should not be processor intensive. While these requirements limit the types of applications, they also ensure that any app created for the Kindle would actually work in that medium. Games, such, as chess, checkers, Mancala and Sodoku, would be insanely popular and a great way to kill some time. Student centered applications, like flash cards, and literary applications, such as choose your own adventure novels, also make sense. Another app that would be popular is a Bible Study application. Right now on the Kindle trying to navigate the Bible is horrendous. You can’t go to a specific chapter and verse because the table of contents won’t perform this action. Yes, you can search; it’s just not the same. If it was an application, then you could specify exact chapters and verses, you could save notes (similar to how Kindle lets you do now for regular novels), and you could even have a daily devotion app.
This is only scratching the surface as there are a host of other possibilities for apps. There’s no way I could possibly come up with all of them, and neither could Amazon. This is why Amazon should strongly consider opening up the Kindle to apps from other developers. An added benefit is a new revenue stream from the App Store, and also increased value in what the Kindle can do for its users.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Criticisms? Leave a comment!
