Should You Consider The Amazon Kindle eBook Reader?
Once a geek, always a geek? Consider this, though … some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and most powerful people have their roots in technology … Bill Gates (Microsoft) … Jerry Yang (Yahoo) … Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google). Technology has advanced so rapidly in the last few years that there’s virtually no industry left untouched by its reach.
Just today my wife and I were having a heated debate about why anyone would want to read a book on a computer. Or, take it one step further, why would anyone read a book on an eBook reader? I contend that eBook readers are just an extension of the possibilities for reading. Certainly not everyone will drop their hard cover books and switch to an eBook reader. But, just think about what Apple’s iPod has done to the world of listening to music.
Imagine being to able read almost 200,000 books WITHOUT having to go down to your local Borders … or having to wait for Amazon to deliver to your doorsteps your anxiously awaited latest edition of Harry Potter. If you’re like me, you might enjoy reading the NY Times or Wall Street Journal, but want the convenience of picking and choosing what you read, when you want to read it. This has been the promise of eBook readers for a long time.
Now, Oprah Winfrey has added her support and endorsed Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader. She has proclaimed it as her favorite new gadget. Oprah claims that it is a “life-changing gadget” and the “wave of the future.”
There have been many attempts by some very smart entrepreneurs to get people to read books on their devices. For example, PDAs have long been thought of as THE eBook reader. However, it has so many features and applications, that it quickly becomes almost overwhelming for some people who just want to read a book. Or, what about smart phones, such as the Treo, Apple iPhone or Blackberry? Once again, these devices somehow detract from the simplicity of just “curling up in front of the fireplace and reading a good book.”
I don’t know whether the Amazon Kindle is for me, as I have too many devices as it is. But, I do believe that it has tremendous possibilities to enhance our lives, especially in our educational system. The reason is simple. The whole process of publishing and distributing physical books is extremely expensive. This is one of the reasons why school budgets are so sadly strained. If we can reduce the cost of books / eBooks down to the level of today’s MP3 music, we can truly revolutionize the school budgeting costs.
Back to the debate that my wife and I had about eBooks versus traditional hard cover books. I believe that the next generation (my kids, for example) will have a “built-in” propensity toward eBooks. They have been brought up on cell phones, nintendo DS, WII, etc. They will “shop” for eCards before they go to Hallmark to buy a “physical” card, just like they will download an MP3, rather than buy a CD from the now defunct Tower Records.
This doesn’t make reading a book with Amazon’s Kindle as “right or wrong”, it’s just … different.
By the way, the Amazon Kindle sells at Amazon and EBay for $360. I still think this is a lot of money, But I found a website that is giving away free Amazon Kindles if you take a short poll.
Here is their website address:
http://ezsuggestions.com/amazonkindle.
