Electronic “readers” are not new, but Amazon has upgraded what you might have come to think of in a reader product and how the books are delivered to the machine. This is an innovation of delivery system, first and foremost, but also of product. This innovation could change the way we interface with books from now on. Instead of browsing through the shelves at the library or a book store or online, you could browse through lists of titles, authors, key words and reviews and choose books or magazines to have downloaded in seconds. Say you are about to get on an airplane for a long flight, and you have forgotten to bring a book, magazine, or newspaper. Instead of being stuck reading the airline’s magazine, you can now download the newest Stephen King opus or one of the Russian masters you have been working your way through.

So far there are 80,000 books available on the Kindle store for purchase at $9.99 each (though many older books are less). Yes, this means you will have to buy To Kill a Mockingbird again but, perhaps for the last time. Ever. There are two things that the Kindle has going for it that previous e-readers did not. One is it’s simplicity (a promotional video says if you can operate a book, you can operate Kindle) and two is that it offers an experience very much like reading a book, with a display that closely mimics print, and a physical shape and overall interface that feels like a book.It also has the capacity to receive the daily newspaper or weekly magazine as well as preorder new releases for delivery the moment they are released. You can make notes on the “pages” as well, just like a real book, using a Qwerty keyboard, instead of a stylus.

Add to that the rave reviews of some well known authors like Toni Morrison and Neil Gaiman. Says the Pulitzer Prize winning Morrison, “I think it'll be much more attractive to walk around with an instrument in your hand and read whenever, and wherever, and how much you like. So I think it's huge!” 

But, design-wise, the Kindle does not stack up against the sleek and shiny iPhone or Blackberry. It does not look as though it is the hallmark of a new technological  age.  It comes in a one-size fits all off-white that brings to mind first generation computers and though thin and light, looks cumbersome to hold. The $399 price tag is also prohibitive at this point, though it is likely to come down and quickly.  

Another downside is the unknown of what powerhouses like Apple or RIM expanding have in their pockets; will this technology be out flanked by one of the features of the existing PDAs, making this yet another $399 electronic doodad that you have end up shoving in a drawer? But the main question is: is it innovative enough to change the way we have read since The Gutenberg Bible?  

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