After weeks of speculation about the bestsellers list by Amazon, we finally know that Amazon Kindle will finish the year as No. 1 in the electronics category. Information Week has the story. I did raise a point a while back about the accuracy of the list but am willing to concede that Kindle has over-performed, considering that it has been out of stock for about 2 months now.

The fact that folks have kept buying the Kindle during these tough economic times should be very good news for Amazon. Kindle is not a cheap gadget, but perhaps is the most useful gadget you can buy this year. This may come as harsh, but we need to read more and watch less TV if we want to become more competitive in this global economy. Kindle may help some of us do that. But more importantly, devices such as the Kindle will change the way we  buy and read books. Kindle can save serial book readers money over the long run, and who wouldn’t want that?

It’s been an amazing year for Amazon, but 2009 can only get better. Amazon could have pushed the Kindle more, but the device now has enough following to survive. The next step, and perhaps the most difficult one, will be to convince ordinary Joe and Jane that buying the Kindle is the right choice.

I don’t know about you, but the end is near for 2008, and I have decided to have a bit of fun on this blog. Can you tell me the most dreaded job interview question? How about the most important question a Venture Capitalist could ask an entrepreneur? If you agree what research has shown, “tell me a bit about yourself” and “tell me a bit about your idea” are the most dreaded questions that you can face in the above situations. These questions are not tough but most folks don’t know how to answer them properly. Most people can’t market themselves or their ideas properly, and that’s why answering the above question can turn into a car wreck.

Now, here is my question for you. Let’s say you are meeting someone who has no idea about the Kindle, and you are trying to explain in less than 50 words why they should get Kindle, what makes Kindle the best reader on the market, and what they can get out of it. What would you say? Simple question, isn’t it?

Happy Holidays, folks! When I started K.indled, I didn’t start it to make a profit. I didn’t plan to do anything with it really. As some of you may know, I am a serial blogger, and Kindle was a device that I fell in love with a while ago. When I started this blog, I just wanted to share my thoughts and ideas for Kindle and hear yours. I’ve got to say. In the past year, I have heard your thoughts and feedback, and I am very impressed how K.indled has come in 2008. I manage many blogs, which means once in a while, K.indled gets neglected, but you guys have kept K.indled going and I am thankful for that.

The next year will be the most exciting year for me. I know a lot of us are suffering from the state of economy, but I look at it as a challenge. Something that we need to and will overcome. What can I say? I am an eternal optimist. But whatever happens in the next year, I hope you’ll stick around for the ride. 2009 will be a very tough year, but I can honestly say, it’s a great time to be alive! Happy Holidays everyone.

You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that Amazon Kindle has been in demand for the holiday season. Let’s not forget that it’s a cool device and the absolute best gift you can give to a serial reader. Amazon probably miscalculated the demand level for Kindle which is why it’s out of stock till early 2009. But that hasn’t stopped folks from searching for Kindle on Google.

TechCrunch has a story on this whole issue. The good folks at TechCrunch talk about how folks are searching for Kindle and Sony Reader. I agree with their assessment that Kindle is still the top dog in this niche. The problem is, folks are hoping to buy something and get it now, not 3 months from now. If I were Sony, I would use all this to my advantage. Think about it. How likely is it for folks to buy both the Sony Reader and the Kindle?

To be fair to Sony, they have been offering discounts for Christmas and the holiday season. But the trouble is, the Sony reader is just not good enough yet for folks to want to buy it, nor are iRex, Plastic, and other similar devices. Amazon has changed the game dramatically with their ebook reader, and Sony and other rivals have a lot of catching up to do.

Having said all this, it’s still astounding that Amazon underestimated the demand for the Kindle, especially for the holiday season. It could have sold more than 1M Kindles instead of 800K+ had they not dropped the ball here.

What’s your take: do you believe the Kindle being out of stock has hurt Amazon in a significant way?

Oprah endorsing a product is a huge deal. Oprah has a lot of money but she has a lot of power too as she has direct access to the ears of so many folks in the nation. I got to admit that when Oprah endorsed Amazon Kindle, I was a bit skeptic. I wasn’t sure if Oprah could encourage ordinary folks to pick up this revolutionary device. But according to the folks at Bloomberg, Oprah could be the reason why Kindle is and will be sold out for 3 months. That’s still no excuse for Amazon not doing a better job forecasting demand.

While it’s impressive that Amazon has sold 450-500K Kindles this year, it is still ways away to truly challenge paper-books. That will happen in the future, but no in 2009. The fact that Amazon stayed conservative with their forecasts also hurt them. Not only their loyal customers are made to wait for months to get their hands on Kindle, Amazon has left a lot of money on the table by not producing more Kindles.

Oprah or no Oprah, Amazon needs to take more risks with the Kindle project. Kindle won’t be great unless Amazon gets more aggressive. Selling 400K - 500K Kindles is impressive, but Amazon should be aiming for selling 5M in 2010.  That will all depend on how Amazon plays its cards.

Recently, I had a chance to create a poll on Linkedin about the gadgets that we will probably see in 2009. I did add PS4, and Xbox 720 as wild-cards.

The initial results are in. As you can guess, there aren’t enough votes to make a clear conclusion from the data. However, the initial results does show that folks are more excited about next generation iPhone than anything else. Another survey showed that folks rather get PS3 or the iPhone than Amazon Kindle for the holidays.

While these surveys don’t prove anything significant, it does show that Amazon has a lot of work to do to create more buzz around Amazon Kindle. Kindle is lacking in the “coolness” department right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon decides to go in that direction with Kindle 3.0 (we already know what Kindle 2.0 looks like).

Take a look above. That’s the product that has finally dethroned Amazon Kindle on the Top Sellers List. Canon’s budget digital camera has been second to Amazon Kindle for weeks (first in my book without Amazon’s help). Kindle being out of stock for 13 weeks certainly doesn’t help anyone, but I am glad that Amazon has finally “allowed” another product to reach the top of the best sellers list. Now, I don’t claim that Amazon is doing anything dishonest here. I am just not sure what they are looking at when they determine what products make this list.

One thing is apparent from this new development. Amazon Kindle should be the best seller for Amazon during the holidays. Amazon may have sold the amount they had planned, but is it really a good business practice to ask folks to be patient for 13 weeks? The hardcore fans will wait, but how about the ordinary Joe/Jane? Would you buy Kindle knowing that you’d have to wait 13 weeks to get it?

During the past few weeks and months, we have seen companies such as Plastic, Sony, and IRex try to properly challenge Amazon Kindle. Some of these guys try to go thin, some of them try to go cheaper, and in case of IRex, they are going bigger. Amazon Kindle is not as attractive as the iPod, make no mistake about it. But Amazon has a huge competitive edge over everyone (except Google) with its huge digital library. And Amazon’s Whispernet network also helps too. What Amazon has been doing is to create layers over layers of competitive edge. It has also understood the ecosystem of this niche better than anyone else. All this means that companies are going to make it tough challenging Kindle, but it’s not impossible.

So here is my question for you guys. Let’s say you can be any company in the world (Google, Microsoft, Sony, …). What would it take in your opinion to top Amazon Kindle? Size, price, connectivity? or something completely different?

iRex Digital Reader 1000s is yet another attempt by an Amazon competitor to wrestle away Kindle’s momentum (if there is any since the device is sold out for 6 months each year). iRex 1000s is certainly an impressive ebook reader. With a 10.2 inch, it certainly tempted me to give it a try. The trouble with iRex and other ebook readers for that matter is they focus more on cool features and less on valuable, useful features. The device is big, but it does not come with a marketplace behind it. It has a big screen, but it does come with a buggy interface. And I don’t know anyone who would go for this device instead of buying a tablet pc for about $750.

At the end of the day, iRex 1000S falls way short of actually mounting a challenge to Kindle and Sony Reader. The size is impressive, and I hope Amazon will adopt the same size of screen for Kindle 2.5. But iRex will learn sooner rather than later that size is not everything.

According to Amazon and many folks behind the scenes, Amazon Kindle is now out until late February. Amazon has announced that they simply can’t get things in stock sooner. Now, I had a story a while back about Kindle 2.0 coming 0ut in May 2009. By my estimation, 13 weeks from now is awfully close to the release date of the 2nd generation Kindle. Coincidence?

We have no indication that Amazon is planning to postpone the release of Kindle 2.0. And I fully expect us to have more information, including more pictures, by next March. So, why is Amazon still selling Kindle 1.0?

Here is what I think. I think Amazon had a magic sales number in mind for Kindle 1.0. I firmly believe that Amazon is going to sell as much as possible to get as close as possible to that number. After that, they are going to announce that Kindle 1.0 is out of stock for good and introduce Kindle 2.0. If that is the plan, and the 2nd gen Kindle is priced lower than the first gen one, there will be a few unhappy customers (Apple learned the hard way.)

What’s your take: Should Amazon Keep selling Kindle 1.0 knowing that they will not be shipping it in 3 months, considering that Kindle 2.0 may be out in May?