Is True Amazon Kindle Killer Not A Device, But A Format?

Ever since the second version of Amazon's Kindle e-reader arrived in February, the hunt has been on for the so-called Kindle killer, that device or application that could take the exploding e-book marketplace by storm with at least the same gusto that the Kindle has, and make it clear to Amazon that not every e-reader is automatically a Kindle also-ran.

Rivals have responded, sure. Since the Kindle 2's debut, the emergence of new e-reader competition -- some with serious name-brand weight -- has been steady. And as of late, the announcements have been nothing short of dramatic: Barnes & Noble's massive eBookstore, for example, partnered with large-format e-reading device maker Plastic Logic, and Amazon's most visible device rival, Sony, busted out just last week with new e-readers, the smaller of which is much more affordable ($199) than Amazon's already-once-lowered Kindle price tag of $299.

But anytime a Kindle rival comes along, the emphasis is on what it isn't, especially if its strengths over the Kindle aren't readily apparent. And despite the qualities of the new Sony Readers (and, for the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, that more recession-friendly price point), the fact that the new Sony Readers don't offer 3G wireless connectivity is a major downside, even with the suggestion that Sony has a third new e-reader on the way that will solve that problem.

What could topple Amazon's Kindle dominance, then, if not another readily apparent dedicated e-reader or application? What qualities define the Kindle killer?

There are as many answers as pundits, but one big, glaring one might be ePub, the open e-book standard format established in 2008 by the International Digital Publishing Forum. Amazon Kindles do not support ePub, but Sony, Plastic Logic and other device makers do. (It's worth noting, of course, that Lexcycle's Stanza application for iPhones, which does support ePub, also is owned by Amazon.)

That Amazon ignores ePub at its peril isn't exactly a new idea; pundits such as O'Reilly Media founder Tim O'Reilly made that call months ago, illustrating that the fundamental difference between, say, Kindle and Apple's iPod is that people didn't populate iTunes and iPods solely with music purchased from Apple. If you're a Kindle user, you buy your books from Amazon through the Kindle store.

But the danger is there, now that e-books are gaining popularity. The Wall Street Journal's Brett Arends even goes so far as to compare Kindle to Betamax, the Sony-developed videotape format that despite a brief spell of popularity in the '70s faded into kitschy obscurity when VHS tape became the standard. New consumer technology always means format wars; look at what happened to HD DVD, the would-be competitor to Blu-ray.

The challenge then, is for Amazon's Kindle competitors to not only embrace ePub but to figure out how to convince would be e-readers that being locked into Amazon -- device, format, exclusivity, the whole works -- is not what they want.