subject: E-books On A Kindle [print this page] Students like their textbooks on the KindleStudents like their textbooks on the Kindle. Kindles parent company knows this, as do textbook publishers. This is the start of a growing market as sizable as the expansion of general books on Kindle.
A couple factors slow the market for Kindle: First, publishers have profited for years selling lucrative textbooks to a market with little choice. You can buy new or used. So why mess with success? Because the marketplace is informing companies to do this. So this first factor is going away fast as more publishers get onto the Kindle. The second factor that inhibits the growth of Kindle e-books is the present standing of Kindle tech. Its somewhat cumbersome for textbook use. This second factor should no longer be a concern in the near future (months?).
Are textbooks hard to view on Kindle? Reader experiences are very different from each other but right now, about reading a book on Kindle. Its a bit more cumbersome than using a paper book, somewhat. From time to time you want to shift to the table of contents. If you want to check the index, its somewhat more difficult, but the search feature is available. If you want to look at a footnote citation, you float your cursor over the citation number, select, and youre brought to the reference. If its an endnote, the Kindle overwhelms paper since you dont need to go to the back of the book and wade through until getting to what youre looking for.
Save a student having an immense vocabulary, the Kindle in general topples paper. When you look up a word you havent seen before, quickly move the cursor to the digitally typed word and the definition appears. This beats looking up the word in a dictionary, especially given you dont need to carry a dictionary around with you.
Editing a paper always entails citing sources. When quoting from a Kindle-based text you simply copy and paste the reference onto the paper youd be writing. This is an amazing time-saver. Dont forget to cite your sources!
The cost of these books on a Kindle is, as of this writing, isnt as convenient as the pricing of novels. Wests Business Law, as an example, goes for over $200 in its hardcover edition, but falls to a still expensive $175 on the Kindle. This should change as competitors decrease prices.
Amazon estimates that the second-generation Kindle can save around 1500 text-based books. This is welcome news for law and medical school attendees who can be seen walking bent over under the pressure of textbooks in their backpacks. That many books in a single instrument is a blessing.
