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There’s a rumor floating around that Amazon will be coming out with a new Kindle within the year.  That got me thinking back when I spoke to several Amazon representatives at the Kindle 2 unveiling. 

Amazon has already looked at touchscreens

People think that the next Kindle will have a touchscreen.  Is it possible?  Definitely.  One of the Amazon reps I spoke to discussed how Amazon did in fact look at having a touchscreen in its reader.  The reason a touchscreen was rejected by Amazon was current touchscreens are too reflective. 

The Disappearing Kindle

Jeff Bezos stated numerous times that he wanted the Kindle to not impact the reader’s experience with the text of the author.  A reflective touchscreen would get tiresome quickly.  After playing with Sony’s latest reader with a touchscreen, you can’t help but notice the reflection on the screen even if the text is easy on the eyes.

Since Amazon did in fact look at touchscreens as an option, it’s not too far a leap to believe that when a less reflective touchscreen becomes available, it will be in a Kindle.  Going back to the “disappearing Kindle” idea, a touchscreen would make plenty of sense.  If all you had was the same Kindle with a much larger screen, the device itself would become less and less noticeable.  A touchscreen lets the reader interact with the device in a much more natural way. 

Arizona State University has made some recent strides with the creation of flexible touchscreens.  I’m sure Amazon is keeping an eye on this development. 

The Apple model

There is no reason why there cannot be two models of the Kindle.  A large touchscreen on one and another with a keypad.  “Kindle touch” and “Kindle classic,” anyone?  Several people have noticed how Apple-like Amazon is becoming.  There was tons of coverage (including lots of live blogging) and secrecy for the Kindle 2.  Amazon even foreshadowed the unveiling of the reader by having the announcement take place at a library.

The Kindle 2 looks a bit like a giant Apple product with its white front and silver back.  Two models would make sense since Amazon could diversify its product line while creating a stream of revenue by book sales via its different Kindles.  It’s a lot like the iPod + iTunes model.  We’ve all seen how successful that has been.  Tearing a page out of the Apple playbook is definitely not a foolish move.