Some speculation emerging on what Amazon will announce this week (I hope to get some disclosure in Seattle on Monday) around a new Kindle and perhaps the opening of the platform to permit Amazon e-books to be read on cell/smart phones — eg the iPhone perhaps.
An interesting piece in Computerworld by Mike Elgan speculates the new device will be cheaper and more featured that 1.o — which is to be expected — but Elgan touches on an interesting possiblility by speculating authors will soon be able to self-publish e-books and bypass the medieval functionality of the publishing industry. So, will Amazon open the Kindle SDK to writers? That would be very interesting and be the right move in my opinion.
FWIW, Kindle self-publishing has been a feature since Day One: https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin
What about getting self-published titles listed and hosted? How would someone distribute a Kindle compatible title ex-Amazon?
I’d love to get my hands on the Kindle SDK. There are a ton of different ideas floating around in my head that would be awesome additions to the Kindle.