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Amazon's
success with its "revolutionary wireless reading device,"
the Kindle, has led to the launch of another "revolutionary"
reading device it's calling The Candle™.
Powered
by a wick, which users light on fire, The Candle™ emits
a soft glow that makes it possible to read even when the lights
are out or after the sun has set.
"When
we say 'revolutionary,' we really mean 'Revolution-era,'"
said Amazon CEO Jeffery Bezos. "This technology has been around
for centuries. We've made some significant improvements by
capitalizing the 'C' and adding a trademark symbol."
Like
the Kindle, The Candle™ is portable and wireless. "That alone
is cutting edge," Bezos said.
Another
unique feature of The Candle™ is that it comes in a variety
of scents, allowing readers to choose a scent to best match
the reader's chosen text.
"For
instance, a reader might choose a pine-scented candle if they're
reading The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne
Jewett or A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Someone
reading Moby Dick or The Raw Shark Texts might
want the herring-scented Candle," Bezos said. "Having all
those scents is like having Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jellybeans
for the nose."
Each
The Candle™ comes with a free accessory: a matchbox containing
twenty-five wooden matches. "That gives users the unhindered
ability to light the Candle's wick whenever they feel like
it," said Bezos. "Tell me that's not convenience."
In support
of the nation's growing environmental attitude, the matchbox
is being marketed as a reusable, or green, item. After a user
depletes the contents, the matchbox can easily be recharged
by adding more matches to the box. "We even made the matchtips
green, just to reinforce our commitment to environmental awareness,"
Bezos said.
Bezos
concluded by pointing out his personal favorite benefit of
The Candle™: "Hot wax—Oh, baby!"
The Candle™
has a total lifespan of approximately 125 hours, after which
time it needs to be replaced. "One hundred and twenty five
hours is plenty of time to get a lot of reading done. You
can read a whole lot of books in that amount of time," Bezos
said. "Anyone who takes more time than that to read a book
really, really needs to pick a new hobby, anyway."
(April
1, 2008)
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