Dear Amazon & Jeff Bezos,

I anticipate the arrival of my Kindle next week. I made the decision to buy this device based on two factors: anytime access to the Amazon store, and the convenience of not having to carry around books or newspapers. I’m a fan of e-ink technology and I look forward to experience your version.

With that said, I’ve read a lot of reviews and opinions of the Kindle. The common theme that I see is that the service and access is great, but the device could be improved upon. I will reserve judgment until I have an opportunity to use it myself. What I am puzzled about is why a online merchandise retailer/service provider decides to jump in the electronics business with a device that is handcuffed to the Amazon store. Why not open the Kindle store up as a platform for technology vendors to create fantastic e-ink devices that have access to Amazon’s e-book library? Amazon is an excellent service and online store; continue to be great at that and offer a new and better way to read books with the Kindle store. Continue to be an advocate of e-books and continue to be a force in the industry that forces a tidal wave of change and innovation. However, please allow hardware vendors to compete for the opportunity to have the best e-reader that connects to the Amazon store. This way, everyone wins — Amazon continues to have the best e-book library and service, technology vendors create fantastic devices, and most of all, consumers benefit from a best-of-breed approach.

Sincerely,

Michael Puhala