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The online bookseller Amazon has created a digital bookreader - The Kindle- which can store up to 200 books.

Amazon’s aim was to create a devicethat could provide its consumers with a wider variety of entertainment, like the Ipod does with music.

The device is about about the same size as a standard paperback, weighs around 290g, and offers access to about 90,000 books and 11 daily newspapers.

“We’ve been working on Kindle for more than three years,” said Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. “Our top design objective was for Kindle to disappear in your hands -to get out of the way so you can enjoy your reading.”

Once you have bought a Kindle, however, (which is £195) that doesn’t mean you get to read these books for free. Costs range from 75 cents to download a national newspaper and classic books cost around $1.99 each. Best sellers are naturally pricier, and can be downloaded for $9.99, but it is still cheaper than books bought in a store.

The device also offers access to online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, and about 300 blogs. It can also play MP3 music files and has a slot so it can store a memory card which enables it to hold hundreds of books.

“We want to make sure everything anyone wants to read is on the Kindle,” said Laura Porco, Amazon’s director of digital text. “We won’t stop until we can offer millions of books.”

Although I think this is a good invention, and is good for book lovers, I myself will not be buying one. Why buy a device that costs almost £200 when you can read the books for free online on your laptop?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Technology, Gadgets, Internet, Lifestyle, Current Affairs, Business, Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.