I must say, I’m beginning to admire Henry Blodget for his unabashed willingness to ignore any irony others might see in his analytical posts about Amazon.com, like this one that looks at Citi analyst Mark Mahaney’s report that the Amazon Kindle could be a $750 million iPod-like franchise in a couple of years.

Blodget does not explicitly agree with the prediction, indeed, he points out some holes in the theory. He doesn’t fully repudiate it, however.

I’m clearly not a financial analyst and so any disagreements I may have with Mahaney’s predictions have nothing to do with market-share numbers. I have no idea about the revenues or bottom-line impact of future Kindle developments. However, since some of his analysis is based on his personal experience with the device, I feel I can at least weigh in on that front.

First, let me say I use the Kindle frequently. Not quite daily, but several times a week. My review of the Kindle from last December is still accurate. I haven’t really been surprised by anything about it during the past five months. It’s still a clunky, poorly designed piece of hardware with a ridiculous interface. Yet the EVDO (digital cellular)-powered feature that allows one to instantly purchase books from Amazon for less than $10 is near magic. That price-point for books and the instant download are what make the device work for me — and, apparently, the Citi analyst, also.

However, I stand by my earlier prediction — and this is where I find a flaw in Mahaney’s analysis: Apple won’t stand still and let Amazon have this market all to itself. As I’ve written about ad-naseum, a slightly larger iPod Touch linked to eBooks distributed via the iTunes store would match and raise the game with Amazon. At that point, Amazon would be competing with the iTunes distribution channel, but with Amazon hardware that looks and feels like it was designed in Soviet-era Russia.

Also, with Apple in the game, its eBook format would be readable via the Mac or iPhone, as well. The Kindle format is locked into a Kindle device.

As I wrote last November, I’ll continue to use my Kindle until Apple comes out with something like this (even if it’s not in the next couple of weeks):

If you search inside
Steve’s brain, I doubt
you’ll find bullet-points.

After being among the first to rant about what a horrible interviewer Sarah Lacy was at SXSW, I backed off when the crowd piled on and even ordered her book, became her fan on Facebook and suggested the controversy was a great book-marketing ploy. In her acknowledgements, obviously written before SXSW, she does take a swat at the bloggers who, “reacted violently to her (BusinessWeek cover story that led to the book deal) that it only gave me more press and legitimacy.” (The controversy in the story was the suggestion that Digg was worth $200 million.)

Yesterday, I received the book from Amazon.com and quickly scanned the first couple of chapters — enough to convince me she’s a much better writer than on-stage interviewer. On the page, she doesn’t interject herself into the narrative.

Frankly, I’m typically not a fan of biographies of still active business executives — or in the case of her book, biographical vingettes strung together in a book-length “trend story.” Over the years, I’ve discovered that books about dead people are more instructive than books about the living. Call me old fashioned — or morbid.

For example, I tried really hard to like the recent book about Steve Jobs by Leander Kahney, Inside Steve’s Brain. And while I found it nice that he eschewed the typical recounting of Jobs’ darker side, it is still a bit flat. I was especially disappointed by what must have been a publisher’s request that he put bullet-point “lessons from Steve” at the end of each chapter.

Lesson from Inside Steve’s Brain: If you want to throw cold water on a biography, end each chapter in ready-for-Power Point bullet points. Bullet points in a biography are about as elegant as big buttons on an MP3 player.

Sidenote: I really love the way that Amazon.com “Search Inside” logo juxtaposes with the book cover in that screen grab above.

• Dispatches magazine prefers print over Internet | washingtonpost.com
  Quote: A pall hangs over the word “print” these days, but the editors of a new magazine bet that discerning readers want news analysis on paper and don’t mind getting it just four times a year. (via: mashable.com)
  (tags: magazines)
• Swiss ‘Fusion Man’ Flies Over the Alps With Jet-Propelled Wings | FoxNews.com
  It’s not a flying car, but the photos sure look cool.
  (tags: flyingcar)

The NY Times and others are reporting that GE plans to sell its appliance division.

In other news, McDonalds has announced it will stop selling Quarter Pounders and Nike is exiting all lines of business related to sports.

Who dreams this stuff up? This sounds like an idea straight from Jack Donaghy, vice president of east coast television and microwave oven programming?