Yesterday those who visited the Amazon UK website did not see a long list of books, but instead were met on the homepage by a letter from Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos. In the letter he talked about the power of reading and announced the official launch of the newest version of the Kindle and the first Kindle to come to the UK, the e-reading device that has dominated the US e-reader market over the past two years.
The British book industry will now see if its consumers will devour digital books with the same fervour as its American counterpoints potentially transforming the way that Britons choose to read as well as digital books in America outsell traditional books on Amazon by three to two.
The only other e-reader to be released in the UK was made by Sony with digital books for the device offered to the public by Waterstones. However, over the year of 2009 digital sales only reached up to five million pounds which accounted for under 1% of the book market. An October survey reported that only about four percent of those surveyed had read a digital book at all.
The launch of the iBookstore for the iPad may also help fuel the digital book assimilation in the UK but the size, weight, and high cost of the device has prohibited many consumers who otherwise may have been game to try it out.
On the other hand, the Kindle is substantially lighter and its lower end model only costs £109 compared to the iPad’s large £429 price tag. The Kindle also offers a great battery life with a high contrast screen that creates a true to life book surface.
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