So I was one of the guys who bought two Kindles when the device came out. I wanted one to be for reading purposes and another one to give away as a present. Let’s say things didn’t work out the way I expected and I had to keep the second Kindle too. Boy that was the right decision. My first Kindle stopped functioning properly a couple of months ago, and like any buyer I assumed that Amazon would have a repair service for Kindle. To my surprise, the Amazon folks told me that there was no such service or repair facility.

I took it upon myself to repair my Kindle by myself. I used a repair guide to help me through the way. In the end, I ended up having to recycle my old Kindle (I broke the screen by accident). But here is the moral of the story. It would be unthinkable for a company such as Amazon to not repair their own product. I would even take a $100 discount to trade my old Kindle in for a new one (or for a few books). Can you imagine Apple not providing support for the iPhone? It’s unthinkable.

Your take: as good as Amazon is in taking care of their customers, is it logical to pay $350 fee for a device that won’t be supported once broken? What would you do if your Kindle stopped functioning properly?

Amazon has finally announced what we all have been fearing all along. Amazon Kindle is now formally out of stock and Amazon claims that the item will come after December 24th. What that really means is you are probably going to get your Kindle sometime in January if you pick it up now. The last time Amazon put up such a note folks had to wait 45 days at minimum to get their Kindles. I personally believe that Amazon not being able to meet the demand of its customers at this time of the year only hurts its cause. Folks have practically no incentive to buy the Kindle for this holiday season, and they won’t get it in a couple of months anyway, so why bother? Unless Amazon is selling millions of Kindle in this period, there is no excuse for making folks wait a month or two to get their orders. Not for a mature product like Kindle anyway…

Your take: does Amazon’s inability to fulfil Kindle orders on time hurt its cause?

I don’t know about you but I have always been wanting to know about those defective Kindles that get refurbished. There were rumors around that Amazon was not going to release the refurbished Kindles in order to encourage folks to buy the device in new condition. Well, the wait is not over. Refurbished Kindles have found their way to Amazon marketplace. Now you can get them for $329.00 (which is not that great of a discount). 

I am glad that Amazon is finally making refurbished Kindles available for folks who don’t afford to pay $360 for the new Kindles. However, the refurbished price seems to be awfully high. I always expected the refurbished Kindles to be priced in $200-$250 range, but it seems even at $329, Amazon will find enough customers to be happy with their sales numbers.

I can’t believe how many times folks ask me how they can find more content for Amazon Kindle. I am more in science and technical books, and there are plenty available, but a whole lot of folks actually use their Kindle to read novels and classic masterpieces. Now, that is you, then you have about two choices. You can either look for it on Amazon. But what if Amazon doesn’t have the work you are looking for? Try eBay!

That’s what I have been doing for a while now. There are folks who actually sell content for Kindle on eBay (take a look at this). eBay maybe a struggling company these days, but it is still a goldmine for niche items such as Kindle content. The good thing about purchasing Kindle content on eBay is that you can get your items fast. But you want to make sure you work with the right seller.

In the end, there are thousands of books available for the Kindle platform (way more than anyone can consume in a lifetime). But if you are looking for a super niche book, then you should try eBay (or maybe craigslist).

Your take: have you had any success finding ultra rare e-books for your Kindle on eBay?

I am a gadget junkie. I have probably spent more on gadgets than I have ever made money in my life so far. The concept of a smart watch too intriguing for me to ignore a couple of years ago. Think about it. No need to adjust your watch when you travel, having the ability to get the latest news on your watch, and figuring out the closed roads and avoiding them, these were all features that were interesting to have on a watch at a time. But watches were on their way down even in 2006. Studies have shown year after year that less people actually wear watches in the U.S. and rely on their cell phones to get the information they need.

Smart Watch 2006 may be dead, but Kindle can learn a thing or two from the tiny watch. For one,  that tiny device allowed access to much more information on the fly than Kindle. It’s true that folks are using Kindle as laptops these days (sending instant messages, e-mails, and Twitter updates), but Smart Watch was a very interactive and unique device. For instance, you would get news alerts on your watch, helping you keep yourself up-to-date with the latest sports, science, or political news. You could also customize the type of information you wanted to see on your watch (e.g. track a specific stock).

Smart Watch died a quick death, and there was a reason for that. But Amazon should put more effort in improving Kindle’s software than its hardware if it wants to truly become a mega device in this digital era.

You decide: what would you change about Amazon Kindle’s current software? How would you improve it.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving and holiday to everyone.

I don’t know about you but I have waited a year for Amazon Customer Vote promotion. Basically, this is Amazon’s most popular promotion every year which allows a lucky few to save a ton on best selling items on Amazon. This year we have PS3, hot GPS, HDTVs, and mini laptops for sale, but Amazon customers don’t get to vote for the Kindle. I was hoping for Amazon to have 100 Kindles available for $99 each, and based on the deals that I have seen that wouldn’t have been outrageous. So why did Amazon leave Kindle out of its Customer Vote promotion?

No one knows for sure. It could be that Kindle is out of stock and folks won’t want to buy it even if it’s going for $99, having to wait a couple of months to get it. It could be that it’s so hot right now that folks would pay $359 for it without even thinking twice. But could it be that folks rather buy a PS3 instead of a Kindle for the holiday season?

Either way, Kindle is left out of the biggest Amazon promotion of the year. Disappointing? Yes! Maybe, just maybe, Amazon will offer another promotion on Kindle before the year’s end. Besides, the current deals are not that bad either.

You decide: should Amazon Kindle be a part of Amazon Customer Vote promotion?

Amazon Kindle started going out of stock a while ago. You could see that Amazon was telling folks they had to wait 3 weeks to get their Kindle. Now Amazon is claiming that you need to wait 11 weeks(!) to get your hands on Kindle.

I am personally glad that I picked up a couple for the Christmas way back. But at the same time, I feel bad for folks who missed out. I don’t know how accurate these numbers are but Amazon does usually over-shoot, which means if you get your Kindle now, you may get it before the new year’s eve.

Has anybody here missed out?

For a while now I have been trying to compile a comprehensive list of all accessories that are available for Kindle. But I am curious if you have bought any Kindle accessory for your Kindle. A lot of folks I know believe Kindle is good enough as it is and there is no need for more accessories. Obviously, I don’t believe that. So here is the question: What’s your favorite Kindle accessory and why? Please share your thought here.

Is Amazon getting ready to give a discount on Kindle for Black Friday or the holiday season in general? While I believe they should, I don’t see any indication that they will. The truth is, Amazon is hurting from the effects of our hurting economy, and I’d be surprised if they dropped their price on their hottest gadgets for the holiday season.

In recent years, Amazon did offer one day deals on their bestsellers, and that could be the case this year. But my best bet would be on Amazon offering a similar deal to what they did a couple months ago when you go get $100 off of Kindle with Amazon Visa Card. A permanent price cut does not seem to be in the works for this year (my best bet is we will see a $100 to $150 price drop when Kindle 2.0 comes out).

A lot of folks don’t know about it, and I am sure Amazon is not exactly super excited about putting the refund policy forward. But Amazon does in fact cover your content purchases as long as you return them in 7 days:

Any content you purchase for Kindle from the Amazon Kindle store is eligible for return and refund if we receive your request within 7 days of the date of purchase. Once a refund is issued, the item will be removed from Your Media Library and will no longer be readable on your Kindle. To request a refund and return, click the Customer Service button in the Contact Us box in the right-hand column of this page to reach us via phone or e-mail. Please make sure to include the title of the item you wish to return in your request.

One may wonder if 7 days is a fair period to have for returning the content. I know that when you buy a paper book from Amazon, you can return it in 30 days. If we consider that reading a digital book will take as much as reading a paper book, then the return period for Kindle content should be 30 days as well. Does Amazon know something that we don’t?

Perhaps! Returning Kindle content is much easier than returning a paper book. There is nothing to mail back, and all it takes is a touch of a button. I get that. What I don’t get is Amazon banking on the fact that folks won’t return their Kindle content in 7 days. That is such a short period of time. I don’t know about you, but I buy so much from Kindle store that sometimes it takes me a week to just check out all the stuff I have bought.

Amazon has been known for making things easy for customers. For instance, they make it very easy to cancel subscriptions or Prime membership. They don’t try to hide things or make things difficult. That is why it’s surprising to see Amazon offering only a short period for returns.

You decide: Is Amazon’s return policy fair?