As the Kindle becomes more popular, it would seem to be a natural target for third party developers, much like the iPhone, to extend it from just a portable re-book reader into a multi-purpose device.

Much of the success of the iPhone has often been said to be due to the huge number of applications available for it from the Apple App Store. The incredible number of programs that run on the Apple mobile platform make it much more attractive to users, as each available app extends the utility of the iPhone itself, making it less a cell phone, or even less a smartphone, and more of a true multi-purpose portable portable computer.

The Kindle is a similar device, in that it is basically a portable programmable computer with some primary talents, and thus is almost by definition extensible in terms of functionality. Could the Kindle follow in the steps of the iPhone and become a success as a multi-purpose computer? An article on CNET doubts it, although it is obviously possible. The problems, as much as anything else, are the inherent limitations of the bundle of hardware that is a Kindle.

The Kindle is built in a much more specialized manner than is the typical smartphone, or especially than the iPhone. The Kindle’s display, for one thing, is not color, but rather gray-scale, which makes it a less attractive multi-purpose platform for users as well as developers. In addition, the display of the Kindle updates in a rather glacial manner, as befitting a device that is an e-book reader. The Kindle is also much bulkier than a smartphone such as the iPhone, and does not really lend itself to true portability.

However, one can be assured that Amazon is watching the development of a (perhaps phantom) market in tablet computers, with tablets expected soon from companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung. At the same time, there will almost certainly be a new model of the Kindle next year, and there are already rumors of a lesser bulk and a color display, among other improvements. When one looks at the sizes of proposed tablet computers, one notes that most are in the general screen size range of the Kindle.

So, assuming that there is a market in tablet computers, one could assume that Amazon could see that the plans for the next model of the Kindle are already most of the way to being a tablet. In the time remaining between now and the introduction of the next model, perhaps half a year, perhaps the best Amazon move would be to add a few more improvements and produce a tablet computer which is also a Kindle. Or, perhaps, to produce a standard Kindle and a Kindle Plus, with a programming API for the latter, and give Amazon fans the best of both worlds…

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Entry was posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 3:04 pm under Amazon, Apple, Cell phones, Media players, Microsoft.

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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