Irony fell on its sword and died yesterday, as Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) rolled out a Kindle application for Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry devices.
It's been nearly a year since a similar program has been available for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone and iPod touch. With Apple's iPad set to seriously challenge Amazon's Kindle as the digital reader of choice, it's surprising to see Amazon wait this long before officially throwing its support behind a non-Apple smartphone.
Developers have a way of gravitating to Apple first when it comes to smartphone applications. Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) launched its online streaming program for select BlackBerry owners two weeks ago, several months after its iPhone debut.
BlackBerry owners shouldn't take it personally. This comes with the stigma of being portrayed as primarily a tool for corporate email. Amazon also had no reason to speed up the process, since the market for consuming long-form literature on small smartphone screens is as unproven as it is dubious.
Apple's iPad will have a right to be taken seriously, but it's hard to fathom smartphone owners squinting their eyes and pinching their screens to get through even chunks of a novel. I find getting through a single article to be a taxing chore on the iPhone. I can't imagine consuming several pages at a time.
Yesterday's press release sounds scintillating -- promising access to 420,000 Kindle books -- but it's ultimately a empty romance, devoid of passion or excitement.
I don't blame fringe players Sony (NYSE:SNE) and Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) for bypassing the App Store craze entirely. They're not dissing the platform. They're simply making the logical decision.
One can always argue that smartphone apps will be useful in terms of audio-book or text-to-speech features, but I think that misses the point of what being a bibliophile is all about.
Sorry Apple. Sorry RIM. Sorry Amazon. You all know it's true, though.
Is Rick wrong? Will e-book apps take off? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
