The free application downloaded in a matter of minutes to your PC, Mac, iPad or Blackberry now puts Amazon’s 480,000 Kindle books in the hands of a much larger market segment – all the people who wanted a Kindle, but didn’t want to shell out the $259 for the Kindle or $459 for the larger Kindle DX.
Amazon is always ahead of the curve because they knew they would eventually lose market share keeping their Kindle books in its walled garden (proprietary to the Kindle only).
If we have learned anything in technology development, proprietary devices only work if you are first on the market like the Kindle, but as it is reverse engineered, better solutions evolve and you have release your technology, change or become a candidate for the Smithsonian. Amazon knew this all along and played their technology hand well. It was just a matter of time before Amazon would extend its Kindle books to every new ebook reading device on the market.
And be assured that the next major ebook reading device that emerges will have a Kindle application.