Amazon’s strategy is as sensible as any I can think of for the Kindle–make it more like a book and even less like an iPad, thereby catering to all the folks who want the equivalent of a relatively cheap, highly portable digital paperback rather than the costlier do-it-all device that is Apple’s tablet. For all the people who do their electronic reading on the iPad and/or smartphones like, um, me there should be plenty of customers left who want a dedicated device–at least for now.

via New Amazon Kindle: Even Kindle-ier and Less IPaddish.

Bingo.  Pre-ordered mine last night.

The New York Times published an article yesterday which tells you just about everything you need to know about the state of the Kindlesphere.

On e-book sales:

Amazon.com, one of the nation’s largest booksellers, announced Monday that for the last three months, sales of books for its e-reader, the Kindle, outnumbered sales of hardcover books.

In that time, Amazon said, it sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books, including hardcovers for which there is no Kindle edition.

On the Kindle in an iPad world:

One reason Kindle book sales have held their own is that owners of iPads and other mobile reading devices buy Kindle books, which they can read on computers, iPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys and Android phones. But, except for the free uncopyrighted books, Kindle owners must buy or download content via Amazon. “Every time they sell a Kindle, they lock up a customer,” Mr. Shatzkin said.

Some industry analysts say that many people do not consider the iPad to be a reading device the way the Kindle is, and see a need to own both. Amazon’s latest sales figures are “clearly an indication that the iPad is complementary to the Kindle, not a replacement,” said Youssef H. Squali, managing director at Jefferies & Company in charge of Internet and new media research.

And the impact of the Kindle price reduction:

The growth rate of Kindle sales tripled after Amazon lowered the price of the device in late June to $189 from $259.

Every single one of these larger trends mirror my personal experience to a T:

• I’ve pretty much abandoned buying hardcover and paperback books.  If a book isn’t available on the Kindle, I almost always wait it out and instead find another e-book to read.
• Owning an iPad hasn’t decreased my Kindle usage, it has actually increased it and also made me more aware of the value of the platform.  There was something about seeing my Kindle content show up on the iPad, that just cemented the entire value proposition around its ubiquity.  And it goes without saying that trying to read on the iPad’s LCD screen both in bright sunlight and for an extended period of time only makes you appreciate the Kindle’s e-ink screen even more.
• Since the Kindle price has dropped and Kindle deals have been abound on everything from woot.com to Amazon’s own refurbished sell off, I’ve only been thinking more and more about Kindles as viable gifts for friends and family.  I’ll be shocked if there’s not some sort of Kindle charged to the credit card before the year is out.

This is all great news for the Kindle.  Keep your fingers crossed for an August Kindle refresh.

Two years ago, none of us expected what has happened so far. It is [our] No. 1 bestselling product. It’s the No. 1 most-wished-for product as measured by people putting it on their wish list. It’s the No. 1 most-gifted item on Amazon. And I’m not just talking in electronics—that’s true across all product categories. We’ve spent years working on our physical books business, and today, for titles that have a Kindle edition, Kindle book sales are 48 percent of the physical sales.

via Why Bezos Was Surprised by the Kindle’s Success – Newsweek.com.

Newsweek recently published a great interview with Jeff Bezos in which he talks about the Kindle’s success, Amazon’s business philosophy, how Kindle fits with the rumored Apple tablet, and more.  I could have easily plucked a half dozen quotes from it.  You should definitely check it out.