Please continue to hold

I’ve loved books since I was a child. When ebook readers started to hit the market, I thought, “nice gadget, but give me the real thing.”

Amazon’s entry in this category, the Kindle, is selling like gangbusters. I wouldn’t want one if Jeff Bezos showed up on my doorstep like the Publishers Clearinghouse prize patrol. Even if he brought balloons.

Who in their right mind names a book-reading device using a verb whose first meaning is “to start a fire burning”?

When I first saw the promo on the Amazon home page, I couldn’t believe it. What’s the definitive image used to conjure up the horrors of censorship? A book burning.

Sorry, but if I’d been on the branding team for this product, there is no way that name would have made it out the door.