Dear Kindle Team, one of my favorite features of Google Reader has always been its “Trends” or more simply its statistics that give you insight into your reading patterns and volume.
As the Kindle has become a bigger and bigger part of my life, much of my reading time has shifted from RSS-based sources to content on my Kindle, but I’m really curious how much time, how many words, at what times of day, etc I’m consuming all this new content. I think providing stats would also encourage people to read more, and highlight to them how the Kindle has changed their habits.
Matt Mullenweg is one of PC World’s Top 50 People on the Web, Inc.com’s 30 under 30, and Business Week’s 25 Most Influential People on the Web. 
Jose Castro-Frenzel | September 13th, 2009 @ 10:53 pm |
I am very curious about this now that you brought it up. The kindle is one cool toy!!!
Pierre F. Walter | September 14th, 2009 @ 4:49 am |
Good idea. But please tell me, why do these folks not ship their Kindle to Cambodia? Why this white Western chauvinism in place, that makes that about 50 American multinationals do not ship products to any non-US destination, among them Microsoft and Amazon, to name only these two? I can’t buy any books from Amazon ‘Sellers’, nor can I buy any stationary items, nor can I enjoy any MP3 Downloads, despite the fact that I have a company in USA. The mere fact of my browser saying I am in Cambodia puts me off the board. I call this Internet fascism.
Matt | September 14th, 2009 @ 10:41 am |
Slow down! I’m sure they want to sell as much to as many places as possible — there’s probably some licensing issues preventing them.
Becca | September 15th, 2009 @ 7:12 am |
I understand where this guy is coming from, because just the other day I tried to get a book for my students from a website which was free and worked fine when I was in the US, but when I went to it here it said I wasn’t allowed to use the site from this country (Mexico). So I can understand Pierre’s irritation, especially because I was being deprived of educational materials that I wanted for my class.
However, I also think you are right, Matt, about the licensing and copyright issues. All these different countries don’t necessarily overlap in their laws and that really gets in the way of materials being shared internationally.
Pierre | September 16th, 2009 @ 7:45 pm |
Matt, I thought so as well. I am a retired lawyer. I wrote to Bill Gates about this issue, back in 1997, quoting a listing of all companies that are following this policy. He didn’t reply. I’ve had several times an issue with paying for software to American companies as Cambodia was not listed among the countries, well was Cameroun …
Okay, joke aside, speculations do not help us. Fact is that the USA is such a strong market that for most companies the hassle to go international is not worth it, I suppose, because the American market alone gives them more than 90% of their revenues, with relatively little investment compared to the huge expenses, namely for settling all those licensing issues. This costs a lot of money, given the values of trademarks, and the like. So, I think this is the unspoken reason why there is not really an effort done in that direction. The lesson is to help building a real global economy; even Europe hasn’t so far reached the American standard of a REALLY homogeneous market structure.
Michael | September 14th, 2009 @ 5:17 pm |
It really bothers me that people are using the term fascism so regularly nowadays. Comparing kindle sales to “a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology” is ridiculous, to put it lightly. Read up on fascism on Wikipedia at least, before you start spouting off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Justin | September 15th, 2009 @ 10:52 am |
Yo could always try downloading mp3s using a proxy server. Can’t help on the shipping things although certainly microsoft is readily available here in Peru. Am surprised it is not so in Cambodia.
Still I waited a long time for the kindle to come to the UK and gave up and moved to Peru… Another e-reader for my christmas present I think.
Lo ve the idea of stats on reading… Could do with the same thing to tell me how much time I am wasting browsing the web!
Debbie | September 14th, 2009 @ 9:22 am |
So, not being a Kindle owner (Yet), you like the Kindle over the Sony Reader?
Matt | September 14th, 2009 @ 10:40 am |
I would recommend the Kindle without hesitation.
Emanuel | September 15th, 2009 @ 11:07 am |
even with DRM? (not trying to start a religious war here, genuinely curious)
Josh | September 15th, 2009 @ 2:34 pm |
Since I’m not rich (far from it) and I really despise spending money on “handheld devices” I was thrilled when an App came out for my iPod Touch as a kindle reader. Now I too can download and read Kindle books/mags and not have to spend hundreds of dollars to do so.
Beau Lebens | September 14th, 2009 @ 11:03 am |
I wrote a support email to the Kindle people suggestion the same thing:
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07/10/09 14:27:10
Your Name:Beau
Comments:I’d LOVE to see an API available for accessing some information about my Kindle usage. Stuff I’d be particularly interested in would be:
- Titles purchased/Loaded onto Kindle
- Current Page
- Page history (e.g. current page vs time/date, so I could calculate pages per day/hour etc)
- Book details (ASIN, so I could look up from Amazon for things like # pages, author, other books, etc)
- Access to my bookmarks/clippings/notes
It’d also be neat if I could somehow sync my bookmarks in Basic Web to Safari via the Kindle for iPhone app.
The Kindle is in a unique position to do some really cool things around people’s *actual* reading habits, which have never previously been possible. I’d really love to see what could be done if this information was accessible.
Thanks for such an awesome product, looking forward to the future!
Beau
—
They replied saying that they know their software/tools don’t support the things I asked for just yet (but didn’t hint that they were working on it).They pointed me to check out the Kindle source code and gave me some instructions on how to get at my Clippings from my computer as well.
Carol Egbert | September 14th, 2009 @ 5:41 pm |
I just finished reading my second book on Kindle and I love it. I just loaded it up for my two week trip to Sicily. The only problem I have had is when I try to enlarge illustrations.
Nate | September 14th, 2009 @ 6:56 pm |
I love my Kindle 2. Nothing like having the paper ready when I get up; plus magazines and plenty of books to read at my finger tips. Wishes: more local paper choices (will possibly happen with time), better battery life (can go about a day or two give or take with wireless off and heavy reading). Able to shop Kindle store online with free wireless = priceless, and a good choice! I have bought more books recently just by owning a Kindle and finding stuff I felt like reading at the time.
Nate | September 14th, 2009 @ 7:00 pm |
Sorry, forgot to mention that your stats idea is a good idea, and I think likely to happen. I would also like to see a tiny bit of social networking around friends (Kindle friends and just plain friends who use Amazon) rated content that they wish to share (on top of the Kindle store reviews)
Hal | September 15th, 2009 @ 1:49 am |
The Kindle has not changed my reading habits in any way. I see this a lot from others who use Kindle, and I wonder if Kindle is having an impact on reading in general.
Another thing I’ve noticed is reading quantity over quality. I also wonder if there is any basis in fact to this.
I see the Kindle as an adjunct to books. Its a great gadget to have when traveling. I don’t know how many other ways it might be used. But for those of us who love books, no gadget will ever replace a real book.
Hicham | September 20th, 2009 @ 9:35 pm |
I agree with HAL. Generally speaking, the technology that offeres ‘e-reading devices’ is great but still leafing books is something special.
As for Matt’s original entry, I think providing stats is a very interesting idea for checking user trends too!
Molly | January 11th, 2010 @ 11:15 am |
I am writing a huge analytical essay right now on the very subject of printed books versus electronical sources, like the Kindle. Matt, if you ever find any statistics on the kindle (or any comparitive sources) I’d love to know.
Duane Storey | September 15th, 2009 @ 1:54 pm |
I don’t think we can get it up here in Canada yet. I’d totally get it if I could. But we’re still waiting patiently for the programming on Apple TV to not suck up here, so I suspect it will be a while.
Eats Wombats | September 16th, 2009 @ 4:12 am |
Pierre,
Many US companies automatically assume that orders from some countries (such as the Philippines where I used to live) are made with stolen credit cards.
I used a proxy server in the US to buy software online, which I then rarely had any trouble downloading directly.
Shipping atoms was a problem.
I am now in the UK and might be interested in helping circumvent this nonsense as I know how frustrating it is — if there’s sufficient interest. I think I could organize drop shipping and re-shipping from US and Europe.
Deb Kolaras | September 16th, 2009 @ 5:28 am |
First, a response to Pierre’s query: it’s doubtful your question could be answered here. My stab in the dark would be restrictions on commerce, shipping, fulfillment – any number of possibilities, but I’d check with the parties in question directly. Have you? A cursory look at Amazon UK shows they do ship to Cambodia. It could be individual “sellers” are reluctant to because of the hoops we have to jump through to ship oversees, not to mention the enormous cost, and corruption on the receiving end from postal services. (yes, I’ve shipped oversees and YES, my client was “missing” their product because it made a “pit stop” with the local postal office.)
To Matt’s post, I was soooo looking for stats here, but instead, all you’ve done is move the Kindle to my wishlist, and I thank you for it.
Pierre | September 16th, 2009 @ 8:04 pm |
To be more precise, all amazon stores do ship their regular products here, but not the ‘Sellers’, as you rightly suspected, with some exceptions however, who do. What I don’t understand is that they don’t ship stationary here, for example such useful things as CD and DVD jewel cases. There are no double DVD jewel cases to be found here which is why I wanted to order them. No way. Not only not with amazon but I have checked out a number of American online department stores – and then gave up.
Pierre | September 16th, 2009 @ 8:08 pm |
I’ve never had a Kindle in my hands. Can somebody give me an idea of the viewing experience. One of the arguments against the early idea of e-books was that those devices emit some form of light and that that was disturbing the retina. I was myself a fan of e-books from the start and published all my stuff myself but got to hear from friends that it’s troublesome to read a book on a computer or handheld, that it was more relaxing to have the lightsource outside of the book. So is there any real advancement in Kindle technology that makes it’s not giving strain to the eyes as a computer screen does? Thanks in advance.
Pierre
audrey | September 18th, 2009 @ 5:34 am |
stat monster!
Christine Wilson | September 19th, 2009 @ 2:50 pm |
Really want to get a Kindle myself. I keep running out of space for real books!