Amazon launched the Kindle DX reader yesterday in the US. This new device is being touted by some newspapers as a device which could help save newspaper publishing. Amazon said that three newspapers, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, will offer the Kindle DX from mid this year at a reduced price to subscribers who sign up for long-term subscriptions.
The New York Observer quotes Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times:
Mr. Sulzberger called the Times Company’s embrace of the Kindle DX “an important milestone in the convergence of print and digital.”
“We at the New York Times company are delighted to make use of the Kindle DX,” Mr. Sulzberger continued. “We know that the e-reader can offer the same satisfying experience [as the print edition].”
The Kindle is not currently available here as it operates through a wireless network and the Australian marketplace reportedly presents some challenges in this regard.
Looking at the US situation, newsstands and other newspaper vendors play no role in the new distribution model. In a Kindle relationship, the publisher offers the subscription through Amazon. Production costs beyond the first copy are nil. No wonder publishers see the Kindle DX and other e-reader type devices as crucial to their future business plans.
I would expect publishers to say that customers accessing newspapers through the Kindle are different to those purchasing print. Film, TV and music producers said that too many years ago. The iPod changed that. Only time will tell whether the Kindle is the iPod of print and changes distribution forever.
In the meantime, my view is that no newsagent should sign up for a shop fit which includes purpose built newspaper or magazine fixtures. These parts of our shops need to be able to be changed without any capital expenditure. we have a tremendous opportunity here compared to our counterparts in the US, an opportunity to lead change.
PaidContent has good coverage of the launch of the DX.
The photo is from the Amazon website.