Kindled

A while ago I brought up the question of whether anybody was interested in a Kindle version of Buying In. The response was, uh, muted. But as it turns out, through no action on my part whatsoever, such a version is now available.

It so happens that Seth Godin had an interesting post about the Kindle the other day (via Undependent). If you’re interested in the device, who is buying it, how it might evolve, and so on, I recommend checking out the whole post. (The most interesting thing to me about the Kindle is that it’s one of these weirdly divisive devices — even people who have never handled one seem to have strong opinions.)

Like Undependent, I was drawn to Godin’s passing assertion that “power is going to continue to accrue to authors with direction connections to readers.” I’m still thinking that through, particularly what “direct connections” means, exactly — or will mean.

This relates, somewhat, to the Murakami one-in-ten rule post the other day, or rather to the comment thread attached to it. Also to the Harvard Business Review article comparing Long Tail theory to sales data in certain cultural-product sales categories. And also to this recent, pessimistic Guardian piece, “Why Authors Can’t Go It Alone.”

More later.