In the weeks and months preceding the holidays, the Kindle was already establishing itself as the most covetable gift this year. Amazon confirmed the suspicions regarding the wireless electronic book apparatus’ popularity, announcing it to be the highest selling gift in the company’s history. The record breaking is representative of something even larger; however, about the future of how people will read. Christmas Day, more people received Kindles in 2009 than they did paper books. This last part creates an interesting quandary.
The 390,000 paperless books available at the Kindle store represent a victory for green advocates as well as the changing face of publishing. What this will mean for publishing companies and such novelties as hardcover books, which are profitable for them, remains to be seen.
Also to be considered, how this new development will affect retailers like Barnes and Noble and Borders which rely on the sale of physical books to stay in business. While it will be some time before the kindle technology entirely revolutionizes the way we read, such retailers should consider a business route for what’s ahead.
The threats aren’t limited to the Kindle for these establishments either, Apple is also rumored to be putting the finishing touches on a tablet computer for a March release that has the options of doubling as an e-book reader.
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