Audio and video on Amazon's Kindle? They'd have to launch a whole new device to do that, right? Nah, they're doing it anyway, but only as part of the Kindle iPad app. That's right: Amazon's just introduced new features that can only be accessed on a competitor's reading device. What the heck are they thinking?
Well, they're probably thinking that there's more profit in selling books on every device than there is in trying to lock users down to Kindle hardware in an increasing competitive reader market. Still, do users want audio narration with their books? Wouldn't they just buy -- y'know, audiobooks? Also, I wonder what kind of video could enhance, rather than distract from, the reading experience. Exclusive author interviews, perhaps? One of the first books to get video is a travel guide, Rick Steves' London, which sounds like a smart use of multimedia.
The additional content will really be up to the publishers, so maybe Amazon is throwing them a bone here. Publishers could always use audio and video for marketing, adding in trailers for other books a reader might want to buy. I guess we'll have to wait and see, because only a handful of books are using these new features so far.
[via TechCrunch]
Audio and video come to Kindle ... but only on Amazon's iPad app originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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