Research Paper Fullertonab(Final)

Amazon’s Kindle Fire Anthony B. Fullerton Due Oct 11, 2011 IT 103-006 Professor: Dr. Steve Schorling George Mason University "By placing this statement on my webpage, I certify that I have read and understand the GMU Honor Code on http://academicintegrity.gmu.edu/honorcode/. I am fully aware of the following sections of the Honor Code: Extent of the Honor Code, Responsibility of the Student and Penalty. In addition, I have received permission from the copyright holder for any copyrighted material that is displayed on my site. This includes quoting extensive amounts of text, any material copied directly from a web page and graphics/pictures that are copyrighted. This project or subject material has not been used in another class by me or any other student. Finally, I certify that this site is not for commercial purposes, which is a violation of the George Mason Responsible Use of Computing (RUC) Policy posted on http://universitypolicy.gmu.edu/1301gen.html web site." X . Anthony B. Fullerton George Mason University Major: Finance Patriot Ski & Snowboard Club President Email: [email protected] Introduction – For many years, advancement in computer technology has changed the way people interact with others. Computers have gotten increasingly smaller and more powerful. While functionality varies, the results are the same; they offer convenience in our daily lives. For example, in the past, people who enjoyed reading were limited to one book or newspaper at a time. The other option was to carry with them, bulky books or newspapers. Now, many companies are migrating to an online environment, giving consumers the options of having an online version of books, newspapers, gossip magazines, and much more. All of which can be read using a computer or electronic reader such as Amazon’s Kindle or Apple’s iPad. In this paper we will explore the benefits and drawbacks of a Kindle as an e-reader. We will first study the background, then we will examine some advantages and disadvantage of the Kindle along with some legal hurdle the manufacture must over come. Finally, we conclude with a summary of our finding. Background – As the demand for online reading increase, it creates a competitive environment to produce more e-reader. Different companies are entering the market to meet the increase in demand; as a result, existing companies must improve their product to stay competitive with new companies. For example, Google recently entered the e-reader market with the iriver. According to the official blog from Google, “in July 2011, Google release its version of an e- reader called the – iriver” (Banerji, 2011). In 2007, Amazon introduces its first electronic reader or e-reader known as the Kindle. Since then, several other versions have been released. Although, the Kindle was not the first e- reader, it has gain popularity largely in part because Amazon’s Kindle Fire Page 2 of 10 Amazon also sell the content. Consumers are able to preview and purchase a number of magazines from the Amazon store similarly to the way users are able to purchase songs from the online Apple store. Recently, Amazon released its latest version of the Kindle called “Kindle Fire”. The Kindle fire is an improvement over previous version; however, it is not without shortfalls. Next we will examine some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Kindle. Advantages Some of the advantages of having a Kindle as an e-reader are, size, lightweight, portability, access to a large volume of books, and ease of purchasing the books. According to Wortham et al., on September 28th, 2011, Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, announced the new Kindle fire. Mr. Bezos stated, “the Fire is 7.5" x 4.7" and weighs 14.6-ounces. It has 8GB of internal storage, enough for 80 apps, plus 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books. Additionally, Amazon’s prime customers have access to over 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books that can be streamed instantly,” (2011). For someone who lives in a small apartment where space is limited or who is always traveling, he or she would be able to take advantage of the lightweight and portability of a Kindle, verses hard copy books and printed newspaper. A Kindle is roughly the size of one book and in some cases smaller. The small size and lightweight allows its user to enjoy the convenience of carrying one device while enjoying many books, magazines, movies, and more. This also have a significant impact on the environment because of the amount of paper that does not need to be produce or destroy. Amazon’s vast library of books, newspaper, magazines, movies and more, makes it easy for its user to gain access to its content from almost anywhere. The ability of having instant download saves the user time of going to a store to browse and purchase their books or magazines. Amazon’s Kindle Fire Page 3 of 10 Another advantage of the Kindle Fire is the ability to synchronize its content wirelessly, with no additional charge to the customer. According to Cheng, “Bezos said that most of the content is backed up in the cloud and that the device features wireless synching. The company's Whispersync technology, which delivers digital books to the Kindle, will also work with movies and television shows,” (2011). These benefit the users in that he or she does not have to get additional service in order to own a Kindle. The use of e-readers is also creating a new market for publishers. For example, according to Rich of the New York Times, “Sixteen months after stepping down as president and chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, Jane Friedman has formed a new company that will republish old titles by big-name authors including William Styron, Iris Murdoch and Pat Conroy in electronic form,” (2009). The success of the Kindle and other e- reader will further help reduce the production of printed books and newspaper, thereby helping the environment by saving trees. Another advantage of the Amazon Kindle is the priced. According to Gross, “at $199, the Kindle Fire will be a full $300 cheaper than the lowest-priced iPad 2. That's possibly an easier entry point for folks who are intrigued by the iPad but can't justify spending $500 for a portable computer when they already have a smartphone and a laptop,” (2011). Disadvantages Although there are many advantages to the Amazon’s Kindle Fire, it has some limitation. For example, the Kindle has only a 8GB of internal memory with no option to upgrade. With free Amazon cloud storage, Amazon is hoping that consumer will maintain most of their files on their servers. Also, the choice of color is limited to black, which could be a disadvantage for someone who prefers to have another option. Amazon’s Kindle Fire Page 4 of 10 When compared to Apple’s iPad, the Amazon’s Kindle Fire lacks some functionality. For example, the Kindle Fire does not have the functionality of a camera or the ability to record audio. According to a video interview by Charlie Rose with Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, “Amazon is targeting a particular client that wants to use a Kindle for reading large volume of books with out becoming fatigue. Mr. Bezos says that people begin to experience fatigue from prolong exposure of staring at the backlit screen of an iPad; however, because of the ink technology of the Kindle, users can read longer and not be come fatigue”. Although there is a growing market for e-reader and the Kindle is successful among many consumers, not everyone is using the Kindle. With the growing popularity of electronic books, people also have the option of borrowing e-books from their local libraries. This new method of delivery makes it convenient for many people to checkout a book from the library without having to leave their home. According to Rich of the New York Times, “Eager to attract digitally savvy patrons and capitalize on the growing popularity of electronic readers, public libraries across the country are expanding collections of books that reside on servers rather than shelves”, (2009). Rich also stated that, “for now, the expansion will be slowed partly because, with few exceptions, e-books in libraries cannot be read on Amazon’s Kindle, the best-selling electronic reader, or on Apple’s iPhone, which has rapidly become a popular device for reading e-books. Most library editions are compatible with the Sony Reader, computers and a handful of other mobile devices”, (2009). This limitation will cause consumer to really consider which device they want to have, or having to purchase more than one device to accomplish the same thing. Another disadvantage of the Kindle Fire is the browser. Amazon has designed a new browser specifically for the Kindle Fire that is called Silk. The new Silk Web browser, which Amazon’s Kindle Fire Page 5 of 10 Amazon has embedded in its new Amazon Kindle Fire tablets, is supposed to make Web- browsing amazingly faster on relatively low-end hardware. However, “it does it by constantly watching all of its user web activity through Amazon’s cloud-based Amazon Web Services,” (Amazon, 2011). Therefore, users who are concern about there privacy may unknowingly give up information that they wouldn’t have otherwise. Legal and ethical issues When it comes to new technology and software, licensing can be a huge hurdle to get movies and other books to the consumer. According to Cheng, “Amazon has slowly been building up its online content, adding new shows and movies.

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