E-books and The Kindle

For the past couple of weeks I have been researching the new technology fad of "e-books". E-books are electronic personal readers that can hold many copies and versions of printed books. I have paid particular attention to Amazon's Kindle. The Kindle can hold approximatley 3,500+ books in one convienent place (Anonymous, Electronic Business Journal, 2010). A reader can choose from about 670,000 books on Amazon's database, which includes New York Times bestsellers and new releases (Anonymous, Electronic Business Journal, 2010). These books run for about $9.99 or less depending on the book.

There are of course drawbacks to having such a technology. The Kindle does not use any type of backlighting; therefore it cannot be read in the dark (Mossberg, 2010). This does mean however that one can read the bok in sunlight with no difficulty, unlike the iPad (Perenson, 2010).

It could still be a little while before e-books emerge into wide use in the classroom and on college campuses. According to the “2010 Horizon report, it is predicated that a ‘full-scale movement to electronic books is still two to three years away.’ For college textbooks, that tipping point will be a bit further out, perhaps five years” (Clodfelter 2010).

My personal opinion about e-books is this. If you are an avid reader and are traveling a lot, this is a great way to bring your books with you without all the bulk. You can also purchase books and have them downloaded immediately without going to the store. There are drawbacks though that are sort of a deal breaker for me. This takes away from going to an actual bookstore and discovering books you wouldn't have once found. This is hard to do on a website. You can preview a book online like you can in person.

Despite what I may personally feel, the e-book has definitely taken off and will only continue to become more popular as the Christmas shopping season approaches.

Check out some great Kindle ad's I've added on the right sidebar of my page!