It’s Time to Free Your E-Reading From Amazon
Kindle competition is coming soon
The Kindle has hardly changed in almost a decade. Sure, it’s had some incremental improvements — slightly nicer e-ink screen, waterproofing, OS tweaks, removal of all physical buttons — but the basic unit is much the same as it has been for years.
Amazon dominates the e-reader industry, so it can afford to be complacent, or so the company might think. PocketBook and Kobo create some competition, but no other devices are a real threat yet.
Kindle’s rivals compete by exploring new directions (front-lit screens, smaller versions such as the short-lived Mini, “warm light” amber LEDs, and more), while Amazon waits to see which features customers like before deciding whether to adopt the innovations themselves. (I’m not knocking Amazon for this; it’s a solid risk-averse business strategy.)
But despite its dominance and willingness to adopt any feature that proves successful with a competitor, Kindle has a glaring drawback: It’s strictly a walled garden. If you have a Kindle, you’re locked into Amazon’s e-books ecosystem. The Paperwhite does have a web browser, but the software is so clunky that you might as well not.
I know that people love their Kindle devices, and they really are nice for reading. But stagnation in any industry isn’t healthy. Viable competition is usually just around the corner, often with surprise innovations.
There’s a new class of devices emerging that could shake things up — and I’d say it’s about time.
“Hybrid” Android tablets with e-ink screens have been around for a few years, but the latest models are just now becoming good enough to take seriously. They come in various sizes and at various price points, from little-known but well-regarded vendors such as Onyx and the Chinese manufacturer Boyue (creator of the Lifebook series of e-readers).
But the benefit is the same throughout: You have an e-reader just like a Kindle, on which you can install any Android app you like. This includes any book-reading app and, of course, the…
