Where Did All the Kindles Go?
What's that you say, Apple's iPad and other upcoming tablets will decimate the market for eBook readers? Maybe so (probably not), but if something like that is to play out, we'd need to see some seriously low-cost tablets come to market, ones that are not only easy on the wallet, but adept at fetching and reading eBooks. It all comes down to wampum, and the less these hardware makers try to take from you, the more product they'll be able to push.
We need only visit Amazon's Kindle product page for evidence of this. Remember that little price war the eBook reader makers waged with each other a few weeks ago? Amazon ended up lowering the price of its Kindle reader to $189, and as it turns out, that's a price point consumers can live with for what's largely a single-function device. If you were to head over to Amazon and try to purchase a Kindle right now, you could do so, but when it ships is anyone's guess. That's because the device is listed as "Temporarily out of stock," presumably because the lower price point has created a much higher demand than what existed before.
Unless we just weren't paying attention, this is the first time Amazon has sold out of its Kindle reader in nearly two years, and who knows when it's coming back in stock. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a lot longer. What we do know is that Amazon pulled the standard Kindle from its front-and-center position on the company's homepage and replaced it with the Kindle DX, which is in stock and sells for $379.
What do you think about the new lower price points? Are you tempted to buy an eBook reader from Amazon or Barnes & Noble now that both companies sell sub-$200 models?
We need only visit Amazon's Kindle product page for evidence of this. Remember that little price war the eBook reader makers waged with each other a few weeks ago? Amazon ended up lowering the price of its Kindle reader to $189, and as it turns out, that's a price point consumers can live with for what's largely a single-function device. If you were to head over to Amazon and try to purchase a Kindle right now, you could do so, but when it ships is anyone's guess. That's because the device is listed as "Temporarily out of stock," presumably because the lower price point has created a much higher demand than what existed before.
Unless we just weren't paying attention, this is the first time Amazon has sold out of its Kindle reader in nearly two years, and who knows when it's coming back in stock. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a lot longer. What we do know is that Amazon pulled the standard Kindle from its front-and-center position on the company's homepage and replaced it with the Kindle DX, which is in stock and sells for $379.
What do you think about the new lower price points? Are you tempted to buy an eBook reader from Amazon or Barnes & Noble now that both companies sell sub-$200 models?
