Up until now, people who read newspapers, magazines and blogs like Kindle Nation Daily on their Amazon Kindle have been limited to reading their purchases on their Kindle--only. Ever since the apps for books that expand reading device alternatives (Kindle for PC, iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry) appeared, there has been an unfilled service gap: reading periodicals on a device other than the Kindle.
That's going to change, the Amazon Kindle Team revealed recently in a forum called "Coming Soon For The Kindle." The team made another promise in the same announcement: That Kindle owners will be able to start lending their ebooks to others before the end of the year.
Both announcements are the stuff of major press releases, yet they came in the relatively obscure space of a small forum tucked inside the Amazon Kindle infrastructure.
Of the more than 460 comments in the forum by Kindle Store customers, nearly all of the discussion focuses on lending books and the proposed limitations outlined in the team statement.
Newspapers and magazines present issues much broader than those faced with the once-monumental-enough task of turning over 700,000 books (and growing fast) into ebooks. The vast space of two printed newspaper pages held wide give publishers huge opportunities for graphic display of information and enhancement with color photographs. Magazines make great use of their slick paper and 8 by 10 inch acreage to present quality color photos and highly detailed charts.
Moving all that color and chart detail into the black and white e-ink on pale gray screen format cause all the periodicals sold on Amazon to add notes on their pages that photos and charts are not included. Indeed, not all of the text of any given issue of a newspaper or magazine is included in the Kindle version. (See notes on individual periodicals about this.)
But what's going to happen when a Kindle for PC or Kindle for iPad can suddenly see the New York Times or, for that matter, Playboy Magazine?
The Amazon Kindle Team's "heads up" in the “Coming Soon For the Kindle” forum did not mention the fate of more than 10,000 blogs now on sale in the Kindle Store. Nor did they hint at what Amazon has in development to respond to Color Nooks and iPads, all of which figure in the ereader future of nearly every periodical.
“Our vision is Buy Once, Read Everywhere, and we're excited to make this possible for Kindle periodicals in the same way that it works now for Kindle books,” the team said. “More details when we launch this in the coming weeks.”
Kindle owners, who seem to almost universally love their Kindles and the company that makes them, have been speculating and clamoring for a "Super Kindle" with all the flash, dash, color and daring to arrive and trounce the competition.
Is the addition of apps to push colorful newspapers and magazines to Kindle owners' secondary devices a hint that something else is coming?
Kindle owners, who seem to almost universally love their Kindles and the company that makes them, have been speculating and clamoring for a "Super Kindle" with all the flash, dash, color and daring to arrive and trounce the competition.
Is the addition of apps to push colorful newspapers and magazines to Kindle owners' secondary devices a hint that something else is coming?
Here is the full text Kindle Team announcement in the forum:
“We wanted to let you know about two new features coming soon.
“First, we are making Kindle newspapers and magazines readable on our free Kindle apps, so you can always read Kindle periodicals even if you don't have your Kindle with you or don't yet own a Kindle. In the coming weeks, many newspapers and magazines will be available on our Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and then we'll be adding this functionality to Kindle for Android and our other apps down the road.
“Second, later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable - this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.
“We will post to the forum later this year when these features are available.”
“First, we are making Kindle newspapers and magazines readable on our free Kindle apps, so you can always read Kindle periodicals even if you don't have your Kindle with you or don't yet own a Kindle. In the coming weeks, many newspapers and magazines will be available on our Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and then we'll be adding this functionality to Kindle for Android and our other apps down the road.
“Second, later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable - this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.
“We will post to the forum later this year when these features are available.”
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