This is a transcript of part two of my interviewwith Apple evangelist and Alltop Founder, Guy Kawasaki when we discussed the Kindle and green publishing.
Alison van Diggelen: What are your thoughts on Amazon’s Kindle and electronic publishing? That’s going to save trees; that a green technology…
Guy Kawasaki: I think Kindle’s on to something, but I don’t know if it’s for books…I can see it for reference books. I could see if you have the Chicago Manual of Style on the Kindle. Rather than carrying the Chicago Manual of Style around with you – which is a huge book, six hundred pages or so- and if you really need to know what’s the rule for how to write percent out, is it four zero P-E-R-C-E-N-T, is it 40%….it’s nice to have the Chicago Manual of Style on a Kindle.
Would I read the latest Tom Clancy book on a Kindle? I don’t think so. Is it nice to know that when I get on an airplane I have a subscription to Wall Street Journal, Road and Track, New York Times, Tech Crunch, my blog etc., that is good. I like that. It means I just have to buy a whole lot less stuff in the airport bookstore and I don’t have to carry a stack of stuff and I don’t have to feel guilty about killing a tree…having said all that, I don’t use a Kindle because I have to keep so many things charged in my life. I have to keep my iPhone charged because its battery life is pathetic, keep my Mac Book charged because its battery life is pathetic and so I prefer when I travel not to have to carry 15 lbs of extension cords, adaptors and all that, so it would just put me over the top to have to make sure …you know… I don’t want to be like I’m going on a mission: Mac Book charged? Check. IPhone? Check. Kindle? Check. Gas? Check. You know: I just need to get in the plane. So that’s why I don’t use it.
Alison: And what might persuade you to use it?
Guy: Infinite battery life
Alison: Infinite battery life?…OK
Guy: One week…
Alison: By why wouldn’t you use it to read a novel? Is it that touchy feely thing of just holding a book?
Guy: Well, the first Kindle – I have not touched a second Kindle – the first Kindle the bottom corners were sharp, they were like daggers. You know I just didn’t like to hold it in my palm and I don’t know…it’s like one more thing…worry about charging, worry about dropping…but I do believe that those things will take off. Will they eliminate books? I don’t think so. Not in my lifetime.
Someone wrote a blog about how, for the cost of printing the New York Times, the NYT could give every subscriber a Kindle…that’s interesting.
Alison: That’s pretty powerful.
Guy: But I have to say…in my life, I’m on my computer constantly. There is about 15 minutes a day I sit out and I read the Mercury (News) and I read the Chronicle at a table and it’s just nice to be not looking at a monitor.
Alison: Mmm
Guy: The interesting thing is that my kids, who’re teenagers, they do not read the newspaper, right. So they have never NOT looked at YouTube…I don’t know where they get their news, God help us. So maybe this generation, for them, a Kindle’s perfectly normal …OK that’s where they get their news. What is this piece of paper here? My kids don’t know what a typewriter is…they’ve never used a typewriter. Arguably they …my three year old will never use a CD, right? It’s going to be all digital downloads. So, he knows what a DVD is because he watches Aliens and Monsters or whatever on it, but just the physical media is going to be gone by his age.
Alison: Guy Kawasaki, thank you for joining me today on Fresh Dialogues.
To listen to Part One with Guy Kawasaki on green revolutionaries and evangelism click here
To read the transcript of Part One with Guy Kawasaki click here
I talked to Alltop cofounder, Guy Kawasakiat his Garage Technology Partners office in downtown Palo Alto and we discussed Amazon’s Kindle. Although he’s not yet a Kindle user, he can see the attraction to users, especially for reference books. What would persuade him to use a Kindle?
“I don’t use a Kindle because I have to keep so many things charged in my life. I prefer when I travel not to have to carry 15 lbs of extension cords and adaptors.”
“I do believe these things will take off. Will they eliminate books? I don’t think so, not in my lifetime.” Guy Kawasaki (more…)
“It’s not so much about the money, it’s about the kudos of winning the prize; the recognition from the global marine energy industry.” Paul O’Brien, Scottish Development International
The interview was recorded on February 19, 2009 in Scotland. To listen to the full interview, click here
I met with Rob Bernard, Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist, at – appropriately enough – Green’s Restaurant in San Francisco to discuss the company’s green strategy and why it was late to embrace its green credentials.
What motivated Microsoft to appoint a Green Czar?
Why isn’t Microsoft more prominently green?
“This is not a competition issue for us. This is about literally lightening up the entire ecosystem of the IT industry; and we see it as a collective approach as opposed to an individual company, A or B.” Rob Bernard
Laurie Yolerwas an early enthusiast and angel investor for Tesla Motors, the pioneering electric car maker. She talked to me about her rationale for backing green technology and Tesla. Laurie doesn’t believe we should be green at any cost. Instead she focuses on the great opportunity to find innovative businesses and make (a lot of) money. Laurie points to General Electric which has a long standing history in clean energy innovation, inspired by the profit motive.
“The reason I’m involved in Tesla and I’m passionate about green technologies is I feel you can both be solving the world’s problems and making a profit at the same time.” Laurie Yoler
This is an extract of an interview recorded on October 15, 2008 at the WITI conference in Silicon Valley. For the full interview click here for Part Oneand here for Part Two
