Kindle Publishing Now Open To All Blogs
One of the neat little sub-features of Amazon's Kindle is being able to subscribe to blogs on it. You have to pay for the privilege, but for heavy Kindle users, it makes sense as you can get the content delivered to you wirelessly for your favorite blogs.
Context & Ripple Effects
When Amazon introduced the Kindle in November 2007, blog subscriptions were part of the pitch — but a closed one: readers paid for wireless delivery over Whispernet of a limited set of titles, while commentary like Silicon Alley Insider's 'the Kindle will save papers' fantasy framed the device mainly as a newspaper lifeline. Opening Kindle Publishing to any blogger flips that model from curation to self-service.
The move lands at a moment when the installed base finally justifies it: unconfirmed reports put Kindle 2 shipments near 300,000 units since the late-February launch, reportedly at roughly double the first-generation's sales rate. PC World's same-day pickup shows the story traveling well beyond gadget press.
First-order effects
- Any blogger can now charge for Kindle delivery of their feed through Kindle Publishing, turning a hobby distribution channel into a potential paid-subscription revenue line split with Amazon.
- Kindle owners get a far larger catalog of wirelessly delivered periodical content, deepening the value of the $0.99-plus blog subscriptions Amazon already sells on the device.
Second-order effects
- Big blog networks and newspaper publishers competing for Kindle subscribers suddenly face an unlimited long tail of niche titles at the same price points, pressuring them to justify premium pricing or bundle more value.
- Amazon entrenches itself as the toll-taker on wireless content delivery: every new publisher added through the open program routes recurring payments through Amazon's platform rather than the web.
Third-order effects
- If the open-publishing pattern holds, the Kindle stops being just a bookstore terminal and becomes a self-service publishing platform where Amazon, not individual sites, sets the terms for paid mobile content — a structural shift in who controls reader relationships.
- Widespread paid blog subscriptions on e-readers would give publishers a template beyond newsprint, accelerating experimentation with device-based micropayments across the periodicals industry.
The trend: E-reader platforms are evolving from closed, curated storefronts into open self-publishing ecosystems, with the hardware maker controlling both distribution and payment rails.