A Kindle in the Wind?

Ok just thought that would make a funny title-- but I did see a bunch of posts on the class blog about the Kindle, and had been browsing nytimes.com when I came across http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/technology/internet/06google.html?ref=technology
mentioning that Google and Amazon were putting more books on cell phones-- including the 1.5 million public domain books you can already access gratis online through Google. This of course makes me want an iphone even more-- however I don't think that screen is the best for reading necessarily. Still, I love the thought of a mobile library.

Concurrently, there is the current craze in Japan for novels written exclusively on cellphones-- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20japan.html
The article states that in Japan, "Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally cellphone novels..." This development fascinates me-- while I love reading actual books myself and bemoan the demise of the neighborhood bookstore-- I do appreciate the democratization of fiction. Of course, it is simple to read online-- or on a Kindle of course-- but the ability to download chapters from a website to a cell-- serialized just like print magazine publications in the previous century-- is that much more convenient. Further, it is a fantastic vehicle for young women (the primary users and creators) to express themselves creatively as they can upload and download works for free, or minimal fees. The sites that host the novels make their money from selling ad space-- and I also think this platform and mode of expression would make an interesting opportunity for branded content, or even product placement. Just as webisodes are produced by major corporations-- some with social bents such as Dove-- so could serialized cell phone shorts... That is if this fad takes off here.