Amazon to the Rescue!

Ever wonder about why eBooks aren't taking off? Well, it's because Amazon hasn't been involved in the marketing of this fabulous, tree-saving, shelf-space-saving tool of the future! And everyone knows that the future is all about digital, right?

And if that exciting announcement in itself isn't enough, get ready for the BIG news: The rumors are that the Amazon eBook will have proprietary software! Nothing that's been done before is good enough for their new machine, so it's great news that users who are already "hooked" on eBooks will have to download new software. (This awesome twist is logical from a company who has been hauling in the sales with their incredible "Unbox" video service.) What genius.

But this article's punch line is the hint that Google is also looking to get into the market.

Incredible. In case you don't pick up on the sarcasm, I'm appalled that Amazon is so thick as to attempt more proprietary software. Their "Unbox" service is so illogical that it will probably win a Darwin award before too long. Think about it: They sell iPods. iPods have sold about 100 million so far. Huge market. So they decide to get into the video market and create a service that doesn't run on iPods. Makes sense to me.

Whatever Amazon calls their eBook, it will not succeed for the simple reason that they are working at odds with their customers. Rule number one of good marketing is to not confuse your customers. But Amazon's smarter than we are, right?