The Kindle DX, introduced this week, is not so revolutionary in the progression of e-reading technology. Â Sure, the gadget has an elephantine memory and the ability to retain 3,500 book with the added bonus of an auto-rotating screen. But it’s still $489. That figure, coupled with the fact that most readers are still accustomed to tangible books, makes the e-reader inaccessible to most people.
Despite the barriers to accessibility, the most brilliant aspect of the Kindle campaign is the outreach to college students. Â Amazon has reported that it is giving select students at a variety of universities the new device with pre-installed textbooks for chemistry and computer science. Â The range of universities is a cross-section of schools: Pace, Case Western, Princeton, Reed, Arizona State, and University of Virginia’s Darden School.
By offering to supply students with Kindle devices, Amazon is establishing its user base. Whether or not struggling college students at other schools will be able to afford a $489 investment on top of the regular costs of school—dorm room, food, beer—is not the point. But it is to be expected that the chosen group of students will become dependent on this efficient piece of technology, and eventually turn their backs on outmoded textbooks with ‘USED’ written across the spine on crusty yellow stickers.
Then these kids could tell their parents about the Kindle, leading the parents to be guilted into paying for the devices (though parents are not likely to jump on the e-reader train themselves), which would open the door for the college kids’ little siblings because they’ll need a Kindle in high school. Â And why stop there? Â Grad school students will need their Kindles, too.
This is the way content will continue to be consumed in the future. Â The e-reader is here to stay, although it just might need a better marketing scheme to catch on. Â And, with due time, a cheaper, more accessible e-reader will come along, inevitably causing younger generations to complain that those book things are just too uncomfortable to read.
CATEGORIES: Culture
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I have to say: I’m going to be one of those old fuddy duddies white-knuckling my paperbacks while all the kids are flashing their Kindles around. Trees be damned. WHERE is the romance in this technology? Books books books. Give me books.
i want one!
It’s seems a bit impractical that they would market it using college textbooks. Of all the books that could be read electronically, ones used for school seem like the worst candidates. How would you highlight? Underline? Take notes in the margins? What if you need to be using 4 books at once to write a term paper? 4 kindles? If I were them, I would have targeted people who plow through books and dont’ care much about the content, like airport travelers or business men reading cheap thrillers, or even moms reading trashy novels. But that’s just me. I guess all technological change has to come from the youth, but still…
My first Luddite reaction to the Kindle was What’s the point?”…but now that I’ve been thinking about it, I’m wondering whether it’s not a great idea. That’s assuming EVERY book printed in the last 200 years will be available. So let’s say I get on a John Sanford kick — I don’t want to actually OWN all his books, I just want to read them till I get tired of Minneapolis…will the Kindle let me cheaply have access to all Sandford’s books? If the answer’s Yes, then I’m hoping someone gets me one. (Cause I would NEVER spend that amount of $$$ for such a luxury item when there’s Prada to buy.)
I think this marketing scheme is brilliant, and perhaps this is a way of making the book buying experience for college students way cheaper, better for the environment, and more practical. And, don’t forget what types of students they’re targeting: the tech geeks — chemistry and computer science. Get these kids hooked and they’ll never use a book again. After you tried the ipod on for size, did you ever want to use a discman again?
I appreciate the portability, but am unable to give up the feel of a book. One of my favorite things to do in a thrift store is switch out non-keepers and pick up something random, and there’s no way to pass it on with the Kindle.
electronic gadget fail. why would anyone shell out a couple hundred for something extra and unnecessary to carry around? depending on the book, it could take days or weeks for me to finish. what isolated world would i be going to where i’d need 3,500 books available to me all at once? an mp3 player makes sense, but my bookshelf does not equal my record collection. idiots.
i hear that all the cool kids have them.
As long as books are cheap used, I won’t be getting one. I like technology a lot, but this does not appeal to me. And yes, I’ll be eating my words in 5 years.
Okay, I just watched the promo for Kindle. First of all why is she at the beach with her $500 book? She definitely can’t leave that on her towel, while she goes frolicking in the water. Also, there is an option to have this device read out loud to you. It sounds horrible.
I agree with Laurel, who does a college student highlight this darn thing? And what about if you’re in science class and need to refer to the diagram, while reading copy. I am not feeling this.
When I was visiting campuses these past couple of months, I was surprised by how many students (basically all of them) had laptops in class with them. All they did was check their Facebook. How do kids take notes these days? I totally feel like an old fogey.
true, it’s $489, but with the new yok times raising their print prices to $2 a piece, a person could buy a kindle and a nytimes online subscription and still come out ahead. no wonder print media is dying.
p.s. i’ll cut you if you take my books.
The only way i’d be caught w/ a Kindle if I were a college student, and that’s always been the way I’ve view this device. It would have been a life saver, especially for the two Hebrew bible classes I took that required me to lug the WHOLE NRSE Bible in addition to my other books.
Judging on how many iPhones I now spot on college students, the Kindle’s price tag won’t be a problem.
Looks exciting, can’t wait to get my hands on one. With newspapers like the New York Times offering reduced rates on subscriptions, it could work…
Kindle is a game changer