Early Preview of Free Software Update for Kindle
We're excited to tell you about some new features coming to the latest generation Kindle and Kindle 3G: — • Public Notes - This feature lets Kindle users choose to make their book notes and highlights available for others to see.
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon has spent two years widening what the Kindle does between hardware refreshes: the Personal Documents feature of April 2009 turned the device into a personal document reader, and this February 2011 preview extends the same playbook to the social layer. Public Notes lets owners of the latest-generation Kindle and Kindle 3G opt their book notes and highlights into view by others, delivered as a free over-the-air update rather than a new purchase.
First-order effects
- Latest-generation Kindle and Kindle 3G owners gain a shareable annotation layer at no cost, with each reader deciding whether individual books' notes go public.
Second-order effects
- Rival e-reader makers face pressure to match device-level social features through firmware, since Amazon is using free updates to add capability without asking customers to upgrade hardware.
Third-order effects
- If annotation-sharing sticks, the e-reader's value shifts from the purchased file toward the community commentary attached to it — a network effect that favors whichever platform accumulates the shared notes.
The trend: E-readers are being repositioned from static single-purpose readers into updatable platforms whose social layers arrive through firmware rather than new devices.