Amazon decided to inject the Kindle Scribe into the Kindle lineup at the end of 2022, and now the Scribes seem to get all of Amazon’s attention, despite being the least popular Kindles by a wide margin.
Most software updates these days revolve around adding new features to the Kindle Scribes, while other Kindles mostly get stuck with a constant stream of random changes to the UI that nobody seems to like.
Amazon has released 5 different Kindle Scribe models over the course of 3.5 years since it was first introduced. During that same time, Amazon has released 1 Kindle Paperwhite, 1 Kindle Colorsoft, and 1 basic Kindle.
Granted, the Paperwhite and Colorsoft both have upgraded Signature Editions available, but they’re still the same generation. And the basic Kindle is nearly identical to the model that preceded it, so much so Amazon doesn’t consider it a new generation.
Plus they mostly reused the designs of previous models for the regular Kindles, while the latest Scribes got completely revamped designs and new exclusive features. The Scribes have clearly been getting priority in the development process and the software department for several years now.
Amazon probably sells 100x more regular Kindles than Kindle Scribes, but for reasons I’ve never been able to understand, Amazon keeps pushing the Kindle Scribes like they’re the best thing going.
If you go to the main Kindle landing page on Amazon’s website, the Kindle Scribe gets top billing above all other Kindles in the advertising department.
I’ve been saying since the beginning there aren’t many ways for Amazon to monetize things like notetaking and annotating PDFs, so why are they so adamant about selling Scribes to begin with? Sometimes I think they got into the eNote business just so they could sell overpriced cases and other accessories, but that’s hard to do when very few people are buying Kindle Scribes.
I think people would be more interested in new Kindle devices with unique features and options than new Kindle Scribes. I’m surprised Amazon hasn’t done more to bring some variety to the Kindle lineup. A lot more people would be interested in buying a new Kindle Oasis or a mini Kindle than a Kindle Scribe. Do we really need three different versions of the least popular Kindle model (actually 4 since they’re still selling the 2024 model)? It simply doesn’t make sense.
I would love to see an 8” Kindle. I have a PocketBook Inkpad 3 Color with a 7.8” screen and the size is, for me anyway, perfect. Unfortunately the OS of the PB is way underpowered and glitchy so I don’t use it much anymore.