Maybe a textbook case for innovation
Will Amazon's new Kindle boost e-readership with the promise of a larger screen, loose-leaf size and flexibility? Some may be skeptical, but the device could bring innovation to the textbook industry. Janet Babin reports.
Amazon's Kindle, the electronic book reader (amazon.com)
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Steve Chiotakis: Digital book readers have helped reignite the printed . . . typed word. And Amazon's got a new one coming out for newspapers and textbooks that publishers hope will do the same. From the Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio, here's Marketplace's Janet Babin.
Janet Babin: You can read newspapers and magazines on most e-readers now, but the small screens can make it difficult. The new, bigger Kindle is expected to be loose-leaf sized and could be bendable.
No matter how many bells and whistles, though, blogger Om Malik with GigaOm says e-readers won't halt sagging newspaper and magazine subscriptions. But he says academic journals and textbook publishers could get a boost from a larger digital reader:
Om Malik: I remember carrying around like a four-pound chemistry book. I mean if there was something like a Kindle, life would have been great.
The current Kindle costs about $370. That would make it an expensive gadget for many students.
Amazon won't comment on the new Kindle, but the company has planned a news conference for Wednesday.
I'm Janet Babin for Marketplace.
Comments
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From OH, 05/05/2009
Since this device sounds exactly like the forthcoming device from Plastic Logic, my guess is that Amazon is just announcing "vaporware" in an attempt to discourage people from buying the Plastic logic device.
From Hackensack, NJ, 05/05/2009
Well, $370 doesn't sound so bad to me, even on a student's budget. Textbooks were pretty pricey when I was an engineering undergrad, and I can't imagine they have gotten cheaper in the past 10-15 years. If the right price-point can be found for eTextbooks, then a good case might be made to students for eReaders. Granted, that's mostly for pricing of books used in professional and science degrees - I'm not sure if the same argument applies to the liberal arts.
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