Amazon.com’s new Kindle DX with the 9.7 inch screen and $489 price tag sold out within three days of its June 10 release. Read a story about it here. The Kindle DX should be back on sale (restocked) by June 17.
I’ve been skeptical of market babble like ‘sold out’ ever since I discovered that the term ‘bestseller’ was applied with less than scientific regard. It’s too easy to manipulate a marketplace and Amazon is notorious for this kind of semantical shell game. How can you apply the term ‘sold out’ if you have to wait 4-6 weeks when you’re ordering the device? Couldn’t that item also be referred to as ‘under stocked’ or ‘built-on-demand’ in which case, said item could never be ‘sold out.’ (Come on, we all know this is just market manipulation. First of all, they don’t have enough confidence in the new device to do more than lowball the expected demand. And by being chronically sold out or out of stock, they drive the mindset that the device is rare or difficult to obtain, and therefore worth the ridiculous sum you have to pay. They won’t even take the leap and put the Kindle on a store shelf.)
Sorry, I know I keep grinding this axe, but I believe in the new technology, and more than that I believe in readers and writers… Those two groups are not respected by these attempts at profiteering, yah?
Cheaper (unlocked) eBooks + Cheaper eBook Readers = Happy Customers, Thriving Marketplace.
