Kindle and College

When I was in college, I once bought a textbook that cost me $130. That hurt. The real pain, though, came when I tried to lug the thing around in my book bag. The final pain probably came when I got my grade report for the class. I bring up the college story to explain the revolutionizing concept that Amazon’s Kindle is introducing to the college campus.

The current 6-inch version of the Kindle is about to give some space to the new 9.7 inch Kindle. The big screen version of the new Kindle got its design inspiration from newspapers and magazines, which favor a larger reading area. However, the new Kindle DX is also an ideal platform for textbooks—at least that is how Amazon is marketing the device.

The advantages are obvious. First of all, the weight/space concern is a big enough issue to cause anyone some relief. A svelte ten-inch electronic device is a far more welcome burden than an eighteen pound marketing textbook. Beyond that, the Kindle DX’s big screen can handle graphs, diagrams, illustrations, and charts that are common in college textbooks.

What may not be as obvious are some of the potential downsides. Before you get too excited about the radical cost-savings, keep in mind that publisher’s aren’t out to lose money. They may view the novelty of an electronic reading device enough to gain sales, rather than go directly to a price-reduction marketing schema. What’s more, not all publishers may catch on to the attraction of the Kindle, meaning that you may still have to do some lugging.

All things considered, I would have enjoyed the opportunity to read my history text on a Kindle. That is precisely what future students may do. Already, publishers are working on Kindle-ready books, and schools are preparing as well. So far, Pace University, Case Western Reserve University, Reed College, Arizona State, Princeton, and Darden School will give some of their freshman the device which will be preloaded with several key academic texts.