e-book readers
Will Amazon Launch The Kindle 4 In 2010?
This has been a big year for e-book readers – thanks mainly to Amazon’s efforts. The Kindle 2 was launched in February of 2009, which is an improved version of the first Kindle, originally released in November 2007.
In June of 2009, Amazon released the Kindle DX, a large display version of the Kindle 2. It was quite deliberately aimed at readers of magazines, newspapers and academic textbooks – and it caused quite a commotion.
The potential uses in the academic environment – from constantly updated texts to interactive textbooks – and not forgetting the possibility that academic institutions and bodies could save a good deal of money – attracted a lot of attention and speculation. As well as signing partnership agreements with a variety of universities and colleges, Amazon got a lot of free publicity from political bodies – for example, the New Democratic Leadership Council (of which Hillary Clinton is a member) and even Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California.
As a result of Amazon’s innovation and foresight – and greatly helped by free publicity – the Kindle has now become Amazon’s number one selling product. At the moment, the Kindle has an amazing 60% share of the American e-book reader market, and an international version has recently been launched. The Kindle is now synonymous with e-book readers.