Comments on: Big news for Kindle owners – Amazon to release a Kindle SDK

By: DanielPeiser

DanielPeiser — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:31:07 +0000

I’d like to see apps that would make the Kindle community grow, by adding a social flavor to reading. The Kindle is too close and I believe that being able to share ebooks with friends, having apps that let users create quizzes and competitions or donate ebooks to cafes, airports, train stations where anybody could pick them and read them could be a game changer.
I wrote about a couple of ideas for new Kindle apps on http://www.bealoud.com/technology/kindle-development-kit/ Personally I think that Bookcrossing could be revived with a specific app that would benefit Amazon a lot. I’d like to know what Kindle apps you would like to see developed.

By: Felix Torres

Felix Torres — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:01:21 +0000

Hmm, just had a thought…
The newspaper types’ main gripe with Kindle is that Amazon controls the customer relationship. A Kindle SDK/app store would solve that problem easily by letting the NYT, Journal, Hearst, and whomever create a custom front end that plugs into Kindle and runs on whispernet but doesn’t run off Amazon’s servers and billing dept; they could simply pay Amazon a simple bandwidth fee and a percentage of the subscription and the big press guys get to have their cake and eat it too; access to the Kindle installed base and account control.
Similarly, small specialty publishers and authors could set up Kindle App/storefronts to front-end their online communities (Tor.com, Baen’s Bar, etc) and even alternate bookstores.
I could see a use for a Webscriptions app that emails purchases from a kindle app so Amazon still gets their bandwidth fee and the reader gets their anywhere/anytime access. Folks are already buying kindle content from non-Amazon stores anyway, providing onboard access isn’t losing Amazon any real sales plus they get to count the alternates as part of the Kindle ecosystem.
There might even be a way to use an Overdrive app to enable public library books on kindle (despite the lack of a real-time-clock) though that might be pushing it a bit.
There certainly is room for a much tighter DRM scheme based on phone-home license authentications for the really paranoid publishers out there.

Possibilities, possibilities…
Once you put an SDK out, the gadget becomes a platform and with connected devices like Kindles, platformization opens up a world of possibiities for social connectivity as well as commerce.
Things can get interesting by next year.

By: Devan

Devan — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:58:51 +0000

If they allow people like Adobe to create apps to read other ebook file-formats/DRM, I will finally buy a Kindle.

By: Alexander Inglis

Alexander Inglis — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:13:50 +0000

Agreed — an SDK is a very positive development.

Although I am a LOUD proponent of using the Kindle 2 to actually, well, read on — an SDK would allow the third party development of personalisation perks like screen-savers, simple games (I’m thinking airplane breaks such as Sodoku or *gasp* word games like “ABCDE is a definition for … with multiple choice, scoring, and full definitions of the words), font updates, and minor functionality updates that Amazon hasn’t thought of. Since the Kindle has 2 GB of onboard storage, any application requiring some fixed database could easily make use of the excess available (like my proposed word game).

Bravo!

By: Felix Torres

Felix Torres — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:20:41 +0000

An SDK release is a solid indication of Amazon’s commitment to Kindle hardware. (For those who actually doubted it.)
It also documents the system internals, which should make system extensions/hacks easier and opens the door to third-party support of other ebook formats, with or without Amazon blessing.
If Adobe really wants to see ADE on Kindle, they can port it over and offer it to end users.
The real question will be how tightly will Amazon control the installation of apps; will the use an Apple-like deathgrip or allow free and open end-user control?
Sounds like the unicorn is definiely real…