Amazon Never Meant to Replace Books With Kindle But Almost Did

Amazon Kindle was first unveiled in 2007 with a physical keyboard, but now the e-book reader is durable as well.

Amazon Kindle Oasis e-reader.

(Photo: The Quint)

Amazon has tried its hands on almost everything that we can think of, but before they launched the e-shopping service, Amazon was selling e-books. But Jeff Bezos and team actually nailed the service by launching an e-book reader, the Kindle, in 2007.

It’s staggering how the Kindle has come a long way – from being a digital reader to a bookworm’s powerhouse device. You can spend up to Rs 20,000 in 2017 and get a Kindle that is not only fast and easy to use, but durable as well.

So, how did the Kindle come about and what prompted Bezos to make something before anyone else could?

The first generation Kindle launched in 2007 did exceedingly well for a product of its kind. So much so that Amazon had to make people wait in queue before they could manufacture and ship the next iteration.

Mind you, e-books weren’t a rage back in 2007, but their popularity was slowly building momentum.

Hard-bound book fanatics couldn’t relate to a digital device like the Kindle, who cited the lack of touch-and-feel experience as a deal breaker.

But that didn’t deter Bezos or Amazon to shelve the product. Instead, we’ve seen Kindle become better by the year, and in its 8th generation now, it feels nothing like its bulky and ugly self of 2007.

The earlier versions of the Kindle were in-sync with the time, which is why, even though it was an e-reader, Amazon felt the need to offer physical buttons, just like the phones that were out there back then (Nokia and BlackBerry, to name a few).

Amazon Kindle White. (Photo Courtesy: Amazon)

Once the Kindle 2 came out, Amazon realised its true potential. And it finally gave them the license to sell it globally.

This opened up the gates for Amazon to think commercially, and by merely partnering with renowned authors, Amazon had the clout to pick up names like Stephen King and sign him up for an exclusive e-book deal for Kindle.

When Kindles Flew off the Rack

The product, still not catching the fancy of bookworms, was making enough progress to mint money, which in return resulted in Kindle evolving into a bigger product for Jeff Bezos and Co.

Quickly, Amazon managed to push out e-book titles globally, without any fuss.

The fact that Amazon already had built-in internet centric Kindles, it came as no surprise that the device had its own ecosystem for e-books that can be used anywhere, anytime. 

Jeff Bezos announcing Kindle at an event. (Photo: Reuters)

But it wasn’t until the fourth generation in 2011 that the Kindle finally came out with a touchscreen. This is also the time when the Kindle was experimented with WiFi enabled web-browsing features.

You also got access to Kindle and its content by managing an Amazon account, as most of the stuff was stored on cloud (Amazon Web services coming to the fore).

Again, Amazon never meant to change the dynamics of reading for mankind, but their discovery and our intent for convenience contributed by access of technology, did bring a paradigm shift.

Books Were Never the Same

I might be ridiculed and trolled for saying this, but my first-hand experience with the Kindle replacing hard-bound books has come from my personal corners. My father had been stocking up books for ages, and my decision to gift him a Kindle was just to make sure that our living room doesn’t turn into a public library.

As expected, he initially laughed at the suggestion that he needed to start using the Kindle and forget buying books (the physical ones at least) anymore. I even got him signed up with my Amazon ID so that he could store all the book titles he purchased from the online book store.

My father did manage to replace bulky books with Kindle and e-books. (Photo: The Quint)

I still regret doing that, especially with my debit card attached to the account, which has unleashed a bookworm monster who has gone digital.

After his initial induction into the Kindle lifestyle, my father is now fully acclimatised to how one purchases e-books, saves them on the Kindle, and operate a device (got him the Kindle Paperwhite 3G that has made him replace books, once and for all).

Again, i’ll reiterate this, Amazon might not have launched the Kindle to replace books, but from what I’ve seen closely, they’ve come really close to doing that, which has become evident now that the Kindle celebrates its 10th birthday.

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