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Jeff Bezos: 'You Don't Understand My Audience'

By Jeff Bezos · Product & Building · 1 min read

People kept telling Bezos the iPad would kill the Kindle. His response: you don't understand my audience. Hemingway is not going to pop more in color.

Key Points

Kindle is a purpose-built reading device — no tradeoffs, every design decision optimized for reading
The number one thing people do on iPad is play Angry Birds. On Kindle, they read Stieg Larsson.
When someone says add video and color, Bezos says — you don't understand my audience

You think Hemingway is going to pop more in color?

The Kindle Killer Argument

Bezos: I get this all the time — people saying the iPad is a Kindle killer. First of all, Kindle is succeeding. It's a very different product.

It's a little bit like if I came to Charlie Rose and said — Charlie, we need fast cuts, vicious arguments between your guests, we need to sex up your show. He would say — Jeff, you don't understand my audience. We have a cerebral conversation here. It's how we're differentiated.

Charlie would say — Jeff, you don't understand my audience. We have a cerebral conversation here.

Hemingway in Color

Bezos: When somebody says I need to add full motion video and color to the Kindle — all the things the iPad has — I say: you don't understand my audience.

You think Hemingway is going to pop more in color?

You think Hemingway is going to pop more in color?

A Purpose-Built Device

Bezos: For reading, people want a purpose-built device. A designated device where no tradeoffs have been made — where every single design decision has been made to optimize for reading.

It's $139. Works in bright sunlight. You can read with one hand. It's so light. The battery lasts a month. Why wouldn't you want a device like that?

The number one thing people are doing on their iPad right now is playing Angry Birds — throwing birds at pigs. The number one thing people are doing on their Kindle is reading Stieg Larsson.

Number one thing on iPad: Angry Birds. Number one thing on Kindle: reading Stieg Larsson.