I was pretty excited to read Amazon.com's announcement the other day that they are soon releasing the Kindle2, the second version of their popular e-book reader. I do not own the original Kindle but have been a big fan of the device since I first laid eyes on it. I have wanted one very bad but have not yet made the purchase for two reasons: cost of the reader and the effect it would have on my library.
Now, I am not an early adopter but I am also not a technophobe. I love my Blackberry, I am typing this blog post on one of 3 computers in the house while I watch HD TV that is provided to me through ultra high-tech Verizon FiOS. I want to read books on an e-reader, I really do!
In the few years that I have been an avid reader I have become very proud of the library I am building. I enjoy owning books and hard-covers are my preference. I even have three books signed by their authors and I look forward to acquiring more signatures! But When I finally do get myself a Kindle, what will happen to my library? Will I still need to own print books? What will my favorite authors sign when they come to town on a book tour?
I want to own print books and I also want to read on a Kindle! However, I refuse to buy two versions of every book. That's why many months ago I came up with a perfect solution for me and Amazon.com.
I ask that for every 'dead tree' book purchased from Amazon.com, they provide Kindle owners a free e-version of that same book if available.
Its a simple solution that will encourage me and many others to finally buy a Kindle Not only that but it will likely increase sales of books at Amazon.com in general. In the event that anyone else feels the same way as I do, I have setup an online petition via Google Doc's to collect names. When the petition reaches critical mass, I will package and send to Amazon.com.
The petition can be found online here and I have also embedded it below.
Thanks for your support!
-Jeff the Great
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2 comments:
The only problem I can see is from people like me. I would buy the book and get both, just use the Kindle and sell the book through Amazon's website. This would only work for recent releases that don't have huge supplies of used books. The average Kindle book is $10, but for new books there is only about a $5 mark down from Amazon's price for used books.
Good point. Have you stopped buying print books altogether now that you own a Kindle?
Maybe a good compromise would be to charge a couple bucks to also get the digital copy of a print book purchased. Or vice/versa.
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