Dear Mr. Bezos:
You know how Gillette gives away the razor to get you to buy their blades? You should do that with the Kindle. If you gave me a Kindle, I’d buy more books than you could imagine. And I bet I’m not alone.
Thanks for listening,
Ron Shevlin
Technorati Tags: Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Kindle
Count me in too, Mr. Bezos…. Heck, you could even require a Netflix-type membership plan and you’d get many new customers.
A monthly membership for new books and magazines for a Kindle is a great idea.
In absence of the subscription idea, the main problem with giving away the razor (kindle) to sell the blades (online books) is that no matter how good the software protection on the online books, they are going to get hacked and shared illegally for free. Gillette has two things going for it in the razor/blade model: One- the razor handles are cheap to make, probably much cheaper than the blades, and two- no one is going to go to the trouble to manufacture and share their own blades. It’s just not worth it.
@Warrior: Great idea.
@Morris: Shhh!
I would totally be on board with an “e-book” library card so to speak if I could get a reader that didn’t cost the equilivent of a car payment… I guess I use the car I am paying for to go to the library and get real books for free…
Free the Kindle!!
I’d be buying up e-books like they were going out of style if I got a kindle for free.
@ron: Ooops, errrrrrrr, I mean, great idea, Ron! Yes, Amazon would make kaboodles of dollars if they gave away kindles. They’d sell a zillion and a half online books if everyone had one! Please listen, Mr. Bezos!
[...] fellow blogger Ron Shevlin published an open letter to Jeff Bezos, proposing that Amazon should start giving away Kindles. He proposed that giving away their ebook [...]
Hey, Ron –
I just published a dissenting opinion on my blog (see the trackback above). Further evidence to what I state on that post is this:
You can be sure this isn’t a viable business model by the fact that the best you can get out of Audible.com is $100 off an iPod when you join (according to their web site as of today). If they could sell more books on “tape” by giving away the player, you know they’d do it in a heartbeat.
I can assure you Audible has tested every permutation of a free player offer under the sun — far more than Amazon I’m sure — and yet you don’t see it surviving the testing process by being offered today.
Dear Jeff Larche:
Thank you for your comment. Here’s what spurred me to write this blog post:
1) Ruminating about business models, wondering what type of “free” product would truly be effective in driving future purchases and loyalty.
2) My own behavior. I often walk over to Brattle Book Shop in Boston during lunch and buy some used books. I then end up sticking ONE book in my backpack for the train ride in and home from work. I often wish I had more books in my bag, but hate carrying around more than I have to.
3) I want a Kindle, and I’m too damn cheap to shell out the bucks for it. Will you guys PLEASE stop coming up with reasons for why Bezos should not give me a Kindle.
I WANT A KINDLE TOO!
But then again, I’m a geek. LOL
I’ll do some ruminating of my own. You’ve definitely got me thinking about #1: What free offers would spur ebook sales.
Thanks for triggering a stimulating discussion (as you often do!)
My wife and I both have Kindles. Between the two of us, we have developed a $70/mo. book habit. Plus, I’m using Amazon.com more than ever. If Amazon doesn’t want to give it away, it should probably sell it at a loss to increase market penetration.
You know why I won’t buy a Kindle (well besides the fact they’re not available in the UK!) because the eBooks are too darn expensive. Why are they only a couple of $$ cheaper than a ‘real life’ book – when there are no printing or paper or delivery costs? When they bring the cost of eBooks down to less that £2 (I can buy a paperback at the store for £3.73 and I don’t have to pay for something to read it on) then I’ll consider it.
@Mrs S: To answer your question “why are they only a couple of $ cheaper…” I suspect that publishers see it as an opportunity to capture a higher margin, and justify the difference based on “added convenience”. Just guessing, though. Prices will come down. I hope.
Just got my wife a Kindle yesterday, and her first book cost $9.99. A little high if you ask me, but compare that to how much I’d pay at Barnes & Noble for the same Ken Follett book and it’s hard to complain.
What if, instead of a free Kindle, you got 20 free book downloads for the list price of $359? Amazon still gets the cash flow to pay for this extremely novel piece of tech up-front, and publishers benefit longterm on ebook revenue when more people actually have a Kindle to use and download. Sure, there’s details to work out in the model, but the goal here is to change publishing the way the iPod changed the record industry.
Would you do that?
@Brett: Good to hear from you. Answer to your question: No. Here’s why: Psychologically, laying out $359 upfront doesn’t sound as good as spending $500 over time.
And anyway, if Amazon gives me a Kindle for free, and I buy the books over time, my wife won’t notice my book habit as readily as she would I dropped $359 all at once.
Ahh, yes, the wife factor. Often overlooked, but ever-present.
I agree with $359 now vs. $500 over time. However, if I put my Amazon hat on, I might not be willing to give it away after the years of R&D I’ve poured into it.
It’s needs to start getting out there, cuz it’s too good an idea to flail around like it is.
I wrote a similar note to Reed Hastings suggesting Netflix give away DVD players with a paid 2 year Netflix subscription. This was in 2002, before everyone had a player.
Still waiting for a response…
Likewise, HP could have given me my printer and I would have paid for it 4x over in ink.
@larry thx for the comment. The Netflix/DVD player is a great idea. As for HP, I’m not so sure — I think they have such a high market share. You probably would have an HP printer which you paid for. I know I do.