At Christmas, my wife gave me the Kindle as a gift. From its inception, I always wanted an eBook reader because I believed it would be very convenient for me when I was traveling. Having used it for over a month, my instincts were right. However, what has been even more surprising is that the Kindle has already started to change the way that I behave in consuming media. For example, during my latest trip, I did not purchase newspapers like the WSJ, instead just downloading them as I needed them.
As I think about my tenure in mobile, the improvements in smart phones and finally these new portable Internet devices like iPads and Kindles, I have come to appreciate how much and how fast mobile technology in all forms is tranformational by accelerating the way that digital content and the Internet is being consumed by users. The Internet has already pushed traditional media businesses like newspapers, DVD’s and music CD’s into more competition, but mobile technology has the potential of being even more disruptive as consumers permanently change the way that they access the Internet anytime and anywhere.
In the case of the Kindle, instead of building a coffee shop inside of a physical book store, the virtual bookstore will be inside of the coffee shop. This explains why bookstores, a challenging business for some time, will have even more difficulties in the future. I read a story in the Seattle Times this weekend the highlights this difficulty.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2010939207_danny31.html
For me, technology will always close some doors on traditional businesses but it will also open new doors to others. Consumers are going to continue to push for more access to digital content. As I have mentioned in previous posts, what can’t happen is that the overall value of media should not be destroyed in the process of opening these new doors. Digital should not be synonymous with free or less value. Media companies and distributors need to work together to create valuable digital business models.
My hope is that as the promise of these new connected devices are realized, that even if the pie is split between different groups that the size of the pie will be bigger for everyone. At UIE we work hard so that our customers can take advantage of these new technologies. We strive to make the ecosystem bigger, not just for ourselves but more importantly for our customers.
