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Why did Amazon Create the Kindle?

16 September, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

I have wondered why Amazon push the Kindle, after all they are a book seller, not a technology manufacturer.  Then the penny dropped.

Amazon want to be “the most consumer centric organisation in the world“.

Historically if I wanted a book, I had to go to a book store and order it, and (if it wasn’t out of print or pulped) wait weeks for them to get a copy for me.

Now it is likely that Amazon can find a copy that they have themselves, or their network has, but there is still the chance it has been pulped, and I still have to wait 4 days.

If I own a Kindle though, and the book has been “Kindleized” I can have the book now, it will never be out of print.

So it has nothing to do with technology, and everything to do with customer service.  Pretty good, except for the £100 price tag.

Now, if they can fix that…

Kindle

Image by kodomut

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: Amazon, continuous improvement, customer focus, information technology, innovation, purpose

About the Author

James Lawther
James Lawther

James Lawther is a middle-aged, middle manager.

To reach this highly elevated position he has worked in numerous industries, from supermarket retailing to tax collecting.  He has had several operational roles, including running the night shift in a frozen pea packing factory and carrying out operational research for a credit card company.

As you can see from his C.V. he has either a wealth of experience or is incapable of holding down a job.  If the latter is true this post isn’t worth a minute of your attention.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to read it and decide for yourself.

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