Yesterday I wrote that the only two Kindles which matter are the Kindle Touch and the Kindle Fire. Michael Laccheo argues that there is a place for the “plain” Kindle, and he put his money where his mouth is by ordering one already.
Laccheo bought the plain Kindle because he wanted the smallest, lightest, cheapest, model possible:
I’m looking for a throw away device. […]
The Kindle will let me have a cheap device that won’t heat up in the blistering summer sun, is light enough to hold and read one handed, won’t be affected by glare from the sun, and I won’t mind reading while standing in the pool because for 80 bucks it’s relatively replaceable.
I think Laccheo’s point is completely fair and valid — there is a market for the plain Kindle. And likewise, I would say there is also a market for the Kindle Keyboard and the Kindle DX. But the size of the market for these other three devices is significantly smaller than the two new flagship Kindles.
Think about this: if someone were to ask you what has changed about the new Kindles, would you say they ditched the keyboard, or would you say it now has a touch screen?