... The Large Format Kindle

For the first time, an e-reader seems practical

Today, Amazon unveiled its new Kindle DX, which boasts a screen twice as large as the original model. Now there finally seems to be a reason to consider buying one, although for me it comes about a year too late.

I always thought the original Kindle, (and most e-readers for that matter) to be pointless. On average, people who read books tend to be cultish individuals. They revel in the fact that while other people just wait for the movie to come out, they took the time to read the book before it was popular. More importantly, they like the tangible nature of the book itself. They can easily spend hours just browsing Barnes and Noble flipping through books making a mental checklist of things they'd like to read tonight and things they'll come back for later. They also like the idea of passing books on to others to read. I don't know what DRM restrictions are on e-books, but at the very least if loaning your copy of Angels & Demons to a friend involves that friend having a $400 piece of equipment, you can bet there will be few takers.

While I still don't think the DX will appeal to the average book buyer, (and at some point in the future, i'll probably rant about why I don't think authors should back it,) it should at least cater towards the average student. A larger screen makes it easier to read something as lengthy as a textbook. This allows it to tap into the same hook that made the iPod so popular: portability. 

Prior to the existence of the MP3 player, we all had to carry around a big CD wallet if we wanted access to whatever song we felt like listening to, but lets face it, we all liked the idea of being able to listen to any song on demand. When it comes to reading novels, that demand isn't there. Novels are read one at a time. At most you might take three with you, and that's if you're going on a long vacation at a resort where there isn't much to do. People don't need to carry their entire library with them so they can look up their favorite scenes from Harry Potter on a whim, (okay maybe some people do).

Textbooks are another story. They're big, heavy and we do have to carry them all at once. Back in law school, I did most of my studying in the library partially because it meant I wouldn't have to lug my books to and from school. One book was heavy enough. Try to take home two and it was like asking to have back problems later in life. So when it comes to academics, there is a massive demand to have an entire library of books at your disposal.

Sure getting a DX would have meant giving up the tactile feel of the pages or the joy of giddily highlighting "important" passages (which sometimes ended up being entire pages). But if it meant I could carry all my books in something the size of my laptop I would have jumped on it in an instant.

Of course the obvious problem is that students usually try to save as much money as possible, primarily by buying used textbooks and selling back their old ones. With an e-textbook, that's not going to be an option. I can't see bookstores buying back and selling old book files, and even if they did, you can bet IP lawyers everywhere would try to put a stop to that right away. 

I still don't think that the Kindle or any other e-reader is going to ever take the world by storm in the way that the iPod did for music, but with this new model it might finally start to trickle down from the early adopters.