5 takeaways from today’s Amazon Kindle event

1. Amazon is a fantastically interesting company. Sometimes, it is the first big company to a market, and sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes, it does great work, and sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s definitely not boring.
2. The new Kindles are going to sell like crazy. Most people still don’t have an e-reader or a tablet. Many people will buy one or both in the next several months. Jeff Bezos wasn’t posturing when he said that “we’re going to sell many millions of these.”
3. Amazon is a serious technology company. The Silk browser isn’t exactly a revolution, but it’s impressive. So is all of the Amazon Web Services stuff. (And it’s also great — if a bit creepy — insight into consumer behavior.)
4. Amazon is willing to be more aggressive in pricing than just about anyone in the market. I highly doubt that Amazon has the gadget supply chain mojo that Tim Cook and Apple do. But I don’t doubt that some folks at Apple HQ are thinking about that $199 Kindle Fire tablet right now and wondering if they need to do anything about it. It may hurt Amazon’s margins, but if it’s any good, the value people feel they are getting should help build long-term loyalty, and that’s the whole point. (Important: Amazon has a track record of generally making these expensive bets correctly.)
5. As a pitch man, Jeff Bezos is pretty good. He’s no Steve Jobs, but that’s okay — no one is. But he does happen to quote some smart and handsome people in his presentations. Thanks, Jeff!

Related: Kindle Fire: No big threat to the iPad, but should sell well