Amazon's e-book coming Monday?
Amazon reps have been making the rounds calling the press about an event Monday in New York City. The press conference, which will feature CEO Jeff Bezos, is allegedly a big announcement held at the Union Square W.
Hmm. Let's put the following pieces together.
- Christmas, holiday shopping and a press conference four days before Black Friday.
- New York, which happens to be the book publishing Mecca.
- It's a big deal for Amazon.
- PR folks are asking for your Amazon log-in to send something to your account.
There are no prebriefings--but don't be surprised if the Wall Street Journal and New York Times happen to get one--and PR people wouldn't even play the guessing game. It's not Web services related we're told. But the e-book guessing game has been going on forever. Amazon has to announce this e-book thing, dubbed Kindle, sometime.
Since I'm not above a little speculation, here's what these clues add up to for me: An e-book that Amazon will send to your account, say Harry Potter. They'll have devices on hand to play with so we can whip up a Black Friday frenzy for e-books.
We'll know Monday at 9:30 a.m. EST. I'll be there live blogging from the W.
Update: News.com has confirmed most of the details of the Kindle. It's coming Monday.
Postscript: Other Amazon possibilities to ponder for the future.
- AmazonTV: A QVC-ish launch to sell stuff. The backend inventory management is in place. How would Amazon get cable carriers to tag along? Amazon would buy HSN, which IAC is trying to spin off anyway.
- Amazon is launching a social shopping network. The company did open affiliate access to MP3s, Unbox, OpenSocial and RSS. That would be a bit cliche though and hardly qualifies as huge.
- Amazon is buying Blue Nile. I seriously doubt that Amazon would give a heads up for a Monday press conference highlighting a merger. In any case, don't be surprised if Amazon gets big into jewelry. It is already selling diamonds and other items. If its current initiatives, which would boost margins, don't play out Blue Nile would be a great tuck-in acquisition.