On Sunday I was walking my dog early in the morning and happened to catch the newspaper delivery guy making his rounds. He was driving what looked like an unreliable Chrysler mini-van and I watched as he left his car running in the middle of the street, and walk up the driveways of two homes to make sure their Sunday paper was at the door when they wanted it. He then drove past a lot of other houses before he turned down another street.
Two homes out of twenty does not a good business model make.
I half expected to see the milkman drive up right after him. And yet, there are people who really love getting the morning paper -- it is part of their ritual. they know they can get the most up to date news online, but they prefer reading the paper.
It seems the newspapers - which see the writing on the wall as far as home delivery goes -- are hoping that the newest Kindle will capture the hearts and imagination of those who like to sit down with a morning cup of Joe and a newspaper.
The device targets two markets which weren't well served by the smaller Kindle devices: newspapers and textbooks. The New York Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post are signed on board as partners, providing discounted Kindles in areas where subscriptions aren't available. New York Times head honcho Arthur Sulzberger even joined Bezos on-stage for the announcement at New York's Pace University. The Times liveblogs the announcement:
“We’ve known for more than a decade that one day an e-reader product would offer the same satisfying experience as the reading of a printed newspaper,” ]New York Times publisher Arthur] Sulzberger said. He called the partnership with Amazon an experiment and a laboratory to test new digital distribution strategies. Mr. Sulzberger did not give details on the size of the discount the papers will offer.
The Afterword
Alan D. Mutter, a former city editor at the Chicago Sun-Times who blogs at Reflections of a Newsosaur thinks newspapers are fooling themselves.
Why do newspaper publishers think they can be saved by a clunky, electronic distraction like the double-wide Kindle DX introduced today? Do they really think anyone wants to spend $489 to lug around a clunky 10.4- by 7.2-inch tablet to read a static (that is to say non-interactive) version of the paper? Of all the things that are wrong with newspapers, the format of the printed product isn’t one of them.
The reason newspaper publishers are hoping the Kindle will re-kindle enthusiasm for newspapers is they don't have a lot of other options. The new Kindle DX is spendy--$489 compared to $359 for the Kindle 2 and Zero $$$$ for the Kindle APP on iPhones and iPod Touches--- but evidently newspapers are going to offer Kindle DX at a discount to some customers. There's a great conversation about the Kindle DX over at Engadget
the DX won't save newspapers -- partner papers won't even subsidize this thing if you're within range of a paper route, which is just about as myopic as it gets. Has it even dawned on these folks that people don't enjoy getting a wad of paper thrown on their deck anymore? Bottom line is this: Amazon has to be thinking outside of the consumer realm with the DX. Be it public school systems, universities or other enterprises, that is where the money is. You'll notice newspapers weren't included in that mix -- obviously, they're not interested in throwing tradition to the wind in a last-ditch effort to find a life raft. Too bad.
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