Does size matter?
Amid much last minute speculation across the web, Amazon has launched a large-screen version of its electronic book reader, called the Kindle DX.
Designed to replicate larger pages in the way the original Kindle does pages of a book, there is widespread speculation that it may revive the fortunes of the newspaper industry, which has been haemorrhaging readers and ad revenue to the Internet for some time now.
The hope is that the convenience of wirelessly downloaded content, paid for by monthly subscription, will prove enticing enough for consumers to sign up. But this will still involve both buying the Kindle DX and shelling out extra for content consumers can mainly get free online, something it's my no means assured people will do.
One market that could well show an interest is academia. Undergraduate text books tend to be bulky and expensive, so it's felt that universities and students are more likely to shell out on such a thing. Let's see.
The press release isn't out yet, but early reports reveal it's 2.5 times the size of the original and has a built in PDF reader. The emphasis seems to be more on text books than newspapers, so maybe the latter will have to look for salvation elsewhere.
You can pre-order the Kindle DX for $289 here. No sign of it on the UK site though.
