Kindle

Launching in late April 2008, the first newspaper article about Amazon’s Kindle was on October 12, 2006. The New York Times article “Trying Again to Make Books Obsolete” states that the emergence of the Kindle came from the crash of e-books. These new e-books provided a convenient new alternative to bound books. The article states that the Kindle is lightweight, portable, and a convenient way for college students to buy textbooks, or for doctors and lawyers to carry their heavy reference books. While still awaiting for the arrival of the Kindle, the author questions if people would give up their non-breakable actual books in order to purchase yet another device. In my ProQuest scholarly article search I found information in “Today’s Most Innovative Products” published in February 2008, that focused on the attractiveness of buying the Kindle because of the wireless abilities. By following the downfall of e-books, the Kindle brought an exciting new idea to connect to the wireless e-commerce giant. The ability to buy books seamlessly through the Internet gave Kindle the potential to be extremely popular with customers in its first launch.

Today’s use of the Kindle may not be for textbooks as mentioned in the New York Times, it is still used wirelessly today to download a variety of books. While the intended use of the Kindle might have been scholarly, in recent years most people use their kindles for enjoyment rather than for educational purposes. Today, readers can hold their entire collection of favorite books in one handy device, using them in airports, beaches, or in their homes.  Nonetheless, the attraction towards Amazon’s Kindle still stems from the fact that it has the ability to hold a multitude of books in one 3-pound device that can be carried in your pocket.