The Kindle has been getting a lot of press recently thanks to a Jeff Bezos PR stunt on Oprah (well done Jeff, well done), after all who better to hock your e-reader to than the woman whose book recommendations drive the best sellers list? I got my hands on the v1.0 Kindle a few weeks back, and have to say it was very cool - the e-ink was very natural, and felt easy to read unlike staring at back lit lcd screens. The interface could use some adjustments like adding a touch pad, but overall the ability to quickly scroll thru books and turn pages (the killer app) was right on. Also, it has a FREE 3G connection for downloading books and limited web search.
With v2.0 the Kindle gets a price drop AND the market strategy begins to adjust towards not just casual readers, but education as well. No more printing - type up your book in Illustrator and publish it on Amazon. This also means no packing or transportation costs - only limited infrastructure support and storage on Amazon's cloud.
In the end, I'm not so sure the profit margins on the Kindle are very large. My guess is that it is like an iPod - moderate profit on the device and KILLER profit on the digital content, which is in this case books. If the Kindle takes on publishing like the iPod did music, get ready for some incredible competition, cheaper college textbooks, and an independent publishing boom.
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