I’ve been meaning to write this for some time, but the recent Microsoft Search announcement is forcing me to write this faster than my schedule would normally allow. Probably a good thing.We interrupt this blog to shamelessly hock…
I got one for my wife for Christmas, although it arrived just in time for her birthday. It rocks. She uses it, far more than her iPod I got her years ago.
On a recent flight back from Seattle, the guy next to me had a Kindle I, and the guy in the aisle across from me also had a Kindle I.
My brother-in-law asked my wife if we could get him a discount on one. He’s not a nerd. He sells Hyundais in Pittsburgh.
The point is, the Kindle has entered the US vocabulary in much the same way as the iPhone. Books are great, and eBook readers exist, but the Kindle… rocks! And people are talking about it, and coming up to people when they see one to check it out. There’s this huge energy around it.
THAT is how to tell if your product is relevant, or not. If people are talking about it, it’s relevant. If people are complaining about the price, it’s relevant. When you see non-early adopters, and non-techies to boot, use it - it’s relevant.
In a few days, we’ll be seeing what an 80M ad campaign can do. My measure for its success will largely be whether or not I hear anyone talking about it. Will my family and friends mention it to me, and ask me if it’s any good? Will they ask me if I feel bad for leaving? Will they ask me whether I use it or Google?
If so, then Microsoft might well be back in the game.
But if they ask about a Kindle discount…
Oh - answer is, “no, sorry.” 