Amazon’s Kindle
To add to yesterday’s topic, here’s another potential breakthrough product - the Amazon Kindle. It’s an ebook reader, which is nothing new. What is new is that it uses the e-ink technology we’ve heard about for so long that creates sharp, clear text. What is really, really new is that it also uses a wireless technology called EV-DO, a cellular data network that provides high-speed access to the Amazon repository of books, magazines, and weblogs from just about anywhere that has cellular phone access. For free.
The genius of this is that there is no need for a computer. You order your books through the Kindle, and they download wirelessly. If you subscribe to one of the many newspapers or magazines available, you simply turn on the Kindle in the morning and they’re waiting for you, because they downloaded overnight. Oh, and it accesses Wikipedia, too!
For an interesting review of the Kindle, check out Guy Kawasaki’s impressions.
It’s not a device that’s ready to replace textbooks yet (questions about durability and the lack of color displays), but the trend is irresistible. Paper is costly, bulky, and obviously hard to update. This is the kind of device our students will spend their adult lives using, at least in their professional lives.