Kindle Crumbling?

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Predicting the future is always hazardous; that's doubly true in the area of technology. What kinds of devices will we see in the future? And which of the ones we use today will fall by the wayside? This article takes a close look at one device that has been around for a couple of years, the Kindle, and a more general look at ebooks. Will we be reading ebooks five years from now, or will paper win out?

Technology is always changing and advancing our way of life. Going from vinyl records to CDs was a huge leap, and then going from CDs to MP3s was another big jump. Cameras went from 35mm to digital. These technological evolutions have made this world a more connect place and made everything more portable.

Then there are things that just refuse to die, such as the floppy drive. They are still putting floppy drives in computers. Some technologies really just don't catch on, such as minidisc and zip disks. Things such as touchscreen computers have been tried and tried again and are finally starting to slowly catch on.

One of the oldest technologies that is still around is the newspaper. Printed on a daily basis, it is essential to some people. More people now are booting up their PCs instead of grabbing the morning newspapers. Now newspaper publishers are in the need for something new.

Amazon addressed this concern a couple of years ago with the Kindle, an eBook, or electronic book. You can download nearly every kind of printed media onto the device and read them on the screen. A big hit? Another device that is great, but few would use? It looked like it would start out on the right foot, but is it dying off?  

What is an eBook?

First we need to step back and understand the technology behind the eBook. eBooks are typically oversized handheld computers, roughly about the size of a netbook screen. They consist mainly of just the screen with some hardware behind it to run it. The screen can vary, but typically is monochrome in shades of gray, without color, because this kind of display is more conducive to reading for long periods, producing less eye strain.

From there it varies, depending on the eBook. Some have internal memory on which to store books; some use flash cards. Some have wireless cards that run on 802.11 wifi or even cell signals to connect to bookstores and let you download books wherever you are. Batteries power the device, and battery life varies per machine. This is pretty much the whole device; they are fairly simple gadgets.

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