Innovation is not optional
Posted: March 4th, 2009 in Senior Management Committment
Recently, Amazon released it’s updated e-book reader, the Kindle 2. This device allows users to purchase and download books wirelessly, kindle-2and read them wherever they go. It packs in a lot of cutting-edge technology to make reading, as well as buying reading material more convenient. Regardless of your opinion of e-book readers, the Kindle 2 tries very hard to innovate relative to avid readers’ needs and problems.
One of the Kindle 2’s nice features that probably isn’t “core” for most users is the ability for it to convert text to speech. It uses a voice synthesizer (if you’re not familiar - picture a much more human-sounding speak-n-spell) to read text from books, news, or other documents aloud. Synthesized speech tends to mispronounce some words, and does so in a monotone that could not be honestly mistaken for human. Most computers also include some variation on this feature, and have for years. Overall, it’s not really an exciting bit of tech.
This makes the Author’s guild’s reaction to the Kindle 2 that much more bewildering. Instead of expressing support for the advancement of technology devoted to reading, they attacked the text-to-speech feature and are threatening legal action. Why? President Roy Blount Jr. contends that having a gadget read an e-book aloud constitutes copyright infringement.
I’ll let that sink in.
The short version of their argument is that when the Kindle 2 reads an e-book aloud, it infringes on the author’s right to be paid for listening to a copy of an audiobook. To most people, a computerized voice reading text is not equivalent to an audiobook prima facie, making Blount’s complaint not a little contentious.
While the legal and technological ramifications here are dense and generally defy common sense, these are covered well elsewhere. The truly discouraging feature of Blount’s complaint is that it shows a deep commitment to not innovating.
Mr. Blount starts his argument by lamenting “…all the new ways of not getting paid that new technology affords authors.” Blount’s problem here is twofold - first, he is determinedly avoiding the possibility of using innovation and new technology to better meet the needs of consumers of books. Second, he is ardently propagating the public perception that the Author’s Guild cares about “getting paid” more than the needs of his industry’s customers.
By attacking the Kindle 2’s functionality, he is not looking for ways to make the pie bigger, he is simply demanding another piece of Amazon’s pie. Blount should be looking for ways that authors can leverage the Kindle 2 to innovate and deliver more value to the consumer. The Kindle 2 is ripe for the introduction of a new way to deliver literature and connect with consumers. In fact, this is the entire point of Amazon’s device. Blount ignores these opportunities and unfortunately invites ridicule from the tech-savvy crowd in the process.
A refusal to innovate is not just a missed opportunity - it is a step toward alienating your customer.