Kindle News: 'Inside Story of the Kindle' ... Will Walmart same-day delivery fill Amazon w/ dread?

Why am I showing an old Kindle 2?

After seeing the story below, my mind went back to my older Kindles, and this Kindle 2 was one I enjoyed a lot in its day.

  Saw today, in the Huffpo, an excerpt from Jason Merkoski's Burning the Page -- the chapter on Inside Story of the Kindle

  From what I gather, Merkoski, as a former Amazon staffer and early innovator on Amazon's Kindle team, doesn't offer a glowing look at the whole scene, and the New Times blog area recently had this quote:

' "Q. Why did you leave Amazon?

A. Working at Amazon was like getting an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. at the same time.

It was an incredible education. These were the smartest people I ever worked
with.  But Amazon had a dark side as well, as if it were the mean stepmother in a
fairy tale.

There was this push to get great products out to consumers.  It makes
a lot of teams very haggard.  Amazon is held together by adrenaline, spreadsheets
and people running around like crazy." '

Note to Kindle Edition readers (subscribers) (UK page) of the blog (which shows the most-recent 25 blog articles) - When you click through a link, you can get a more readable version of the web article by selecting Menu/Article View. (Then, press 'back' arrow or Menu/Web View.)


"Will Amazon tremble at Walmart’s same day delivery dream?"
Mediajob's Cheryl Ross describes Walmart's possible plans for same-day delivery, which she apparently feels Amazon might fear, though she then explains why it might not.

  I don't know. What do you think about it? From the story: (emphases mine)

' The idea? Offer in-store visitors a discount on their purchases if they agree to deliver a same-day package to a Walmart e-customer on the way home.

Karen E. Edwards, an e-retailing expert from the University of South Carolina, explains:
“Walmart would want to have a proof-of-delivery system, as well as a written agreement with the delivery person that includes a reimbursement clause if the goods are damaged or not delivered. That would probably have a chilling effect on some people who otherwise might have performed the service, but would also reduce the likelihood of theft...”

The company would also need to find a way of establishing that such delivery persons are not Walmart employees and aren’t entitled to Worker’s Compensation, Edwards continued, and there’d need to be a waiver to release Walmart from liability if the deliverer got injured during the errand... '

How many of us would welcome delivery by strangers not officially employed by the store, who would bring us what we ordered, to our doorstep?  Granted, there'd be a record of the customer who was sent out to bring you your package...

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Amazon 's new same-day delivery / BN e-reader pics

Called "Local Express Delivery," the new Amazon same-day feature will be available only in select markets, since the shipment destinations have to be within a reasonable distance of a distribution hub.

Amazon is implementing same-day delivery in New York, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Boston, Washington DC, and Seattle.  PC World's Tony Bradley reports that there are plans to add Chicago, Indianapolis, and Phoenix in the near future.  He writes:

' The cut-off time to be able to receive same-day delivery varies from city to city.  For most markets the cut-off will be around 10 or 11 AM.  Shoppers in Seattle can place orders as late as 1 PM and still get their delivery that same day.

Amazon already has a premium shipping option called Amazon Prime.  Amazon Prime members pay $79 per year to subscribe to the service.  Members receive unlimited free 2-day shipping on a variety of items, and can upgrade to one-day shipping for an additional cost of $3.99

[Now] Amazon Prime customers in Local Express Delivery markets can upgrade to the same-day delivery service for $5.99.  Rates for non-Amazon Prime members are not yet available.  Suffice it to say that it is safe to assume that premium shipping will come at a premium cost. '

  He mentions that Barnes & Noble already offers this service, free for orders over $25, but only in Manhattan.
  B&N, by the way, will unveil their own eReader Tuesday, which also uses a 6" e-Ink screen in shades of gray.

  At the bottom of their e-reader, though, will be a little LCD window that will show the book covers in color although the book-reads will be in black & white, or grays, as with the Amazon and Sony models.

  Use of that LCD feature will drain battery power but I imagine it can be turned off.  A main feature of other e-readers is the long session life (a week or two) of the e-Ink screen with its light demand on battery life.  It'll use a virtual keyboard that displays when typing is needed (which would likely be even slower than the Kindle 2's physical keyboard).

  Here are some 'leaked' images of it with no information on whether it has equivalents of the Kindle's inline dictionary with status-line summary definition of the word your cursor is on, highlighting capability, notes, or word/phrase searches within books, or of the entire device, that the Amazon models have.  In fact there just is no information.  Only pictures.  Nicely clean design.  Rumors abound but on Tuesday there'll be actual info.

  For now, some have asked if it will also have text-to-speech, background mp3's, and audiobooks as the Kindle does.  B&N's software eReader is not readable on a Kindle or Sony, nor can a Kindle or Sony read B&N's eReader format.  Digital-rights-management complexity and multiple file-formats will continue.

  An important question will be whether or not it has wireless access to the B&N store.  It'll have to of course.  It's a sure bet, though, that it won't have even a slow but free 24/7 web browser as the Kindle does

  Monday, Amazon starts selling the International models of the Kindle.  Tonight or tomorrow, I'll write what I've found about the different Kindle features and Kindle-book offerings for the various countries and look at whether there is any reason for U.S. Kindle owners to move from the U.S. model they have to an International one.  Short answer - No, unless they travel a lot and don't mind paying extra fees for downloads to the Kindle while in other countries, or they don't get Sprint Whispernet where they live.  But there are other things to think about.

  Downloads while abroad can be continued to be done by U.S. Kindle owners to a computer and then transferred to the Kindle, at no cost.

  (International customers won't be charged fees for downloads made when in other countries, as the book prices include both VAT and some of the cost of international wireless access to the store.) Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!