[Web4lib] Amazon's Kindle e-book reader

[Andrew]

"If I were the manager of a local public library system, I would read 
these articles about the Kindle device with some alarm, because part of 
what this device will mean is that people don't have to wait in the 
queue to get the book from the library, if that was how they're going to 
read it "

You can tell that this person doesn't actually work in a public library 
system. The people who don't want to wait for titles and can afford the 
cost of buying books already go to Borders or Barnes and Noble (or 
Amazon) and buy the books that they want. Presumably, some subset of 
these readers will do the same with Kindle. But how many people 
currently don't buy books now but will run out and invest in the Kindle 
so that they could buy books for the Kindle so they don't have to wait? 
I can't imagine that's a number that's going to cause any library 
manager any alarm.

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI

B.G. Sloan wrote:
>  
>   Interesting item buried in this piece:
>    
>   "I found it very interesting that I would be able to get a chapter of virtually any book that Amazon currently provides, available in my hands now, at no charge, for sampling."
>    
>   I hadn't heard of the "free sample chapter" thing before...
>    
>   Also a little bit on the impact on libraries (don't know that I agree):
>    
>   "If I were the manager of a local public library system, I would read these articles about the Kindle device with some alarm, because part of what this device will mean is that people don't have to wait in the queue to get the book from the library, if that was how they're going to read it "
>    
>   Full text of article:
>    
>   http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1851
>    
>   Bernie Sloan
>
>        
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