News
Amazon may launch textbook Kindle
Amazon is poised to reveal a new version of the Kindle device "with a larger screen and other features" to make it more attractive to readers of textbooks and newspapers, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The paper cites "people familiar with the matter" as pin-pointing a soft launch, where students will be given large-screen Kindles with textbooks already installed, for this autumn.
Amazon is believed to have already struck a deal with educational and academic publishers to make textbooks available on the device.
Lev Gonick, chief information officer at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said the university would compare the experiences of students who get the Kindles and those who use traditional textbooks.
Five other universities, including Princeton, Pace and Arizona State, are involved in the Kindle project, it is believed.
An Amazon spokesman declined comment. However, the company is holding a press conference in New York City later today.
Comments on this article
By Ray Hollingsworth
When the production team on Newsnight feature the minature screen text thing you know it's going to have an impact on the market. Everything is changing and it's moving at such a rate that some people are hard pushed to keep apace. Kindle and other stuff like it will grow faster than anyone thought. Of course there will still be books - but nowhere near as many in a few years time. Why print to pulp?06 May 09 13:22
By JULIAN RIVERS
If anybody ever doubted the inroads that digital content readers will make on the market now is the time to change your views . I know large publishing corporations [ well one actually], are planning 10% E books in 5 years . I think that the rate of acceptance will move from "early mover" to much more general within 3 , and I would not be shocked to see E books at almost 20% of the market in 5 to 7 years . Once institutions move to embrace this , such as the entire library sector , who could loan kindles rather than physical books , then the world will change forever . I have already said elswhere that wholesalers can continue to flourish as consolidators and distributors of digital content just as they do for physical content . This would incorporate long tail E publishers seeking a route to market.06 May 09 15:33
