I have got to admit that I have been surprised by Amazon’s persistence on not working on deals to give customers discount on their Kindles. If you haven’t seen it, Amazon has been promoting their new special offer for the iPod Touch:

The offer basically gives $100 off on eligible purchases when you sign up for Audible services for a year. Unfortunately, Kindle is not among the devices that are eligible for this deal. Now let’s not forget taht this deal doesn’t exactly give you $100 off for nothing. You will have to pay $14.95 a month for your Audible subscription. But after all is said and done, you will save $100 on your total.

Is Amazon admitting that folks don’t listen to audio-books on Kindle?

Oprah endorsing Amazon Kindle was a big thing. At least that was the logical expectations when a heavyweight such as Oprah calls Kindle one the “best gadgets” she has ever had. But analysts are claiming that Oprah’s endorsement may not matter to Amazon until 2010!

Oprah’s endorsement has had some effect. And I think the effects will be more significant than some of the naysayers expect them to be. I have been a big fan of Amazon Kindle since day one, but I see two fundamental challenges for Amazon in the upcoming month:

• Economy
• Culture

The economy has hit and has hit companies hard. The tech companies are now feeling the effects (Sun Microsystems is cutting force and more companies will follow suit). Folks simply do not have money to spend on Kindle (possible solution: offering free interest financing for 12 months, lowering the price, an alternative monthly fee structure).

Many folks simply do not take Kindle seriously. We have gotten used to paper books, and sometimes it is hard to breakaway from old habits. Amazon needs to find ways to encourage folks to adopt Kindle. That could be done with major book promotions, early book releases, exclusive content, free starter content packs, and content distribution promotions.

Amazon Kindle is a wonderful device, but if people fail to justify paying $350 for it, then Amazon’s got a big problem. In these tough times, Amazon needs to bring its innovative ways to product management and content distribution. If not, even the mighty Oprah can’t turn the tide.

I got to admit. I have always doubted Oprah’s hype, and I have always been prove wrong. This lady can sell, and a lot of folks just buy things that she says you should buy. Now. I may have had some disagreements with her about some of the items that she has recommended in the past, but recommending Kindle was just right on the money.

But she did more than that. For a while, she was giving $50 off on Kindle on her site. That offer expired a few days ago, but I’d be interested to see how many folks bought the $300 Kindle. I am sure Oprah has gotten paid handsomely for her recommendation, so the sales bump better be good. She did come through for Barack. Will she for Kindle?

Sony PRS-700BC is the new answer to Amazon Kindle’s dilemma for Sony. Sony did come out with a reader way before Amazon, but Kindle has jumped ahead of Sony Reader by offering features such as Wi-Fi connection, and the convenience of buying from Amazon store.

Well, if you have been waiting for an alternative to Amazon Kindle, you will get your chance on 11/14. I will have a preview of the device before then, but what I like about PRS-700BC is the way Sony is promoting it. 100 free ebooks are included with this device (which I think is an idea Amazon should use for Kindle 2.0). Stay tuned for the preview.

There is some bad news for folks who are hoping to get the Kindle for the holiday season. Now the good news is that it’s just happened which means you can still get fairly in front of the queue by getting your Kindles now. I remember when I bought my Kindle. Even a day made a big difference then. Kindle used to ship in batches then which meant a day of difference could have put you in a different batch. I am not sure how high the demand for Kindle is now but it should be enough to delay orders by a couple of weeks.

I am sure you have of this iPhone application that allows you to read eBooks on your iPhone. Stanza has outperformed Amazon Kindle, but does that mean Amazon is in trouble as some are suggesting?

I personally think Stanza’s market and Amazon Kindle’s market are totally different. You can’t honestly tell me that folks read long books on the iPhone on a daily basis. I admit that I have read a book or two on my iPhone when I have been on a trip, but the screen is very small, and I just don’t like the experience of reading on a mobile phone (no matter how shiny it is).

So should Amazon go Open source to compete with device such as the iPhone? I think they should. Having a community of developers contributing to the Kindle platform only helps, but Amazon doesn’t need to be the next iPhone. I don’t see any direct competition here, do you? Sure. Both of these devices may be competing for our cash, but I wouldn’t abandon Kindle to buy the iPhone or vice versa.

I have said in the past that Android can be what Amazon has been waiting for the move Kindle to the next level. With Android apps, Amazon Kindle can have access to plenty of applications (and their developers) to enhance user experience on Kindle. Now can it happen?

Android is currently designed for Mobile phone, but there is no reason Kindle can’t handle Android. I think the big problem for Amazon is figuring out how to get out of their “closed” system without losing their competitive edge (the e-book market). Amazon’s current software is designed to drive sales for the Kindle store. While there is no question that the same features can be implemented on any OS, I am not sure Amazon is ready to put Android on Kindle. I think Android can boost Kindle beyond what we have seen so far from Amazon ( and it may lower the prices too). But I’d be surprised if any version of Android made it to Kindle before the summer of 2009.

So what do you guys think? Is Android the magic pill Amazon needs to take Kindle to the next level?

Seriously. What can Oprah do for Kindle? Simple. Just endorse the heck out of the device. Now, I admit that I have never watched Oprah (except the time John Stewart showed Tom Cruise’s piece on his late night show). But I hear everything she touches just explodes as far as sales and adoption rate. Well, one would think that Amazon should be Oprah (paying her a lot of money) to endorse Kindle, right?

It’s actually happening already. Amazon is teasing its customers with a new video titled Oprah’s favorite gadget. Unless Amazon is dropping the ball big time, Oprah’s favorite gadget is the Kindle. If I were Amazon, I would’ve talked to Oprah sooner. Heck, I would’ve even gone to Barack Obama to endorse Kindle.

Now, I am a bit biased her, but Amazon Kindle will need mass adoption to continue. Amazon is currently struggling financially, and Kindle has been anything but a gamble for them. So, I hope this Oprah things woks out for them. Now here is the big problem: most folks are scared to spend money and they may not be ready to part ways with $350 of their hard earned money.

Some bad news for Amazon came out last night. While Amazon had a solid quarter, they had to lower expectations for the next quarter and their share fell afterwards. So why is this important? Simple. Amazon is rethinking its Kindle strategy. While there were rumors that Amazon was going to release Kindle 1.5 in December, now it seems Amazon will be going for a May release. Too bad I guess. I know I posted a story about the Kindle 2.0 Beta tester. But does anyone actually know how you become one for Amazon?

Well. It seems either guys at Plastic thing they really have a Kindle killer or the media is trying to make up a Kindle killer just like they are trying to make iPhone killer out of every Nokia phone. Forbes is running another story on Plastic’s soon to be released e-book reader.

My take on Plastic’s e-book reader is that it is certainly more portable than Kindle and looks very cool. But that’s about it. It currently doesn’t come with a viable “e-access” solution. Amazon also has a huge advantage with the Kindle store and all the books they are putting in the digital format, so my answer is no. I still have not seen a Kindle killer.