It won’t come as any surprise, but modern technology has caused a lot of changes to the way we do even the most mundane of tasks. These changes have had an impact on both work and leisure, and that extends to something as routine as reading. Digital books, or e-books, have been around just about as long as the internet itself. And while the electronic book reader (commonly referred to as an e-reader) hasn’t been around nearly as long, it’s certainly not as new as some people believe. They may seem new, though, due to how popular they are starting to become.
If you are not familiar with the, digital books are simply electronic versions of regular books, that are purchased online and read either on a computer or on a hand held device made specifically for the purpose of reading e-books. They only take a minute or two to download, and then are ready for your reading enjoyment.
One of the big reasons e-readers seem to be new is the Amazon Kindle. Though there have been earlier versions of the technology, it was the Kindle that started attracting more attention, and caught on with the public in a way other digital book readers did not. While there is competition, Amazon’s e-reader is currently the one to beat. So, what are some of the things that makes the Kindle what it is,
Well, for starters, it’s offered by Amazon.com, the premier bookseller online, bar none. The number of titles Amazon offers for the Kindle keeps going up. It wasn’t all that long ago that they claimed to have over 250,000 titles for their e-reader, now that number has jumped up substantially to 670,000. Their stated goal is to eventually have every book ever printed available in digital format. Not only do they add to that 670,000 count with blogs and magazines for the Kindle, but they also give you access to over 1,000,000 titles that are in the public domain. To put it simply, no other book seller can offer this many titles as e-books.
But having a lot of titles available is not the same as being able to get them easily. There’s no need to worry, though, as the Kindle comes with Whispernet. This is a wireless service provided by Sprint and costs nothing extra. You don’t even have to sign up for Sprint or Whispernet as it is integrated with the Kindle. What this means is that you can download your digital books from just about anywhere that has wireless access.
The Kindle digital book reader is quite portable. It’s 7.5″ by 5.3″ and about 1/3″ deep. This easily fits in the palm of your hand. The 6″ viewing screen is easy on the eyes, and the E-Ink technology does a good job at duplicating the experience of reading an actual book. The Kindle can hold about 3,500 titles, and weighs less than 10 ounces. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single book that weighs that, much less a stack of books.
