Kindle FIRE Tablet Computer / e-Reader

KindleFire Tablet / e-Reader

 

Amazon.com introduced its eagerly awaited tablet computer / e-Reader on Wednesday with a price tag that could make it the first strong competitor in a tablet market that has been dominated by Apple Inc’s iPad.  Apple dominated the North American tablet market so far, with 80 per cent of the 7.5 million units shipped during the second quarter of 2011. The new Amazon device, priced at only US$199, may have the biggest impact on other makers of tablets and e-readers – and also on the overall success of e-books.

The Kindle Fire tablet has a seven-inch screen, free data storage over the Internet and a new browser called Amazon Silk. Amazon expects shipments to start on Nov. 15.  Amazon also introduced the Kindle Touch, an e-reader with no buttons and a touch screen starting at $99.  And it also cut the price of its basic Kindle e-reader to $79 from $99.

Amazon’s cloud computing service, known as EC2, supports Internet browsing on the Kindle Fire, a feature that will speed loading of websites and isn’t available with rival tablets.  Although, the Fire has only one button and no volume controls, which may be “a bit annoying” for consumers.

Analysts had expected Amazon’s tablet to be priced around $250  – roughly half the price of Apple’s dominant iPad, which starts at $499. The Nook Color e-reader costs $249.  Amazon is expected to sell at least three million Kindle Fires over the U.S. holiday season – the company is willing to sell hardware at a loss to boost sales of their e-books, news magazines, music, games, video and TV.

 

 

 

Are e-Books Really More Environmental-friendly?

Book and Kindle

More than 40% of all books ordered by book stores, big and small, are returned if they are not sold within weeks or a few months – an anachronistic, outdated sales model. These books go either to rummage tables at book sales and might find a buyer or they go directly to landfills. Same with magazines.  Not environmental-friendly? Read on:

“One eReader requires the extraction of 33 pounds of minerals. That includes trace amounts of exotic metals like columbite-tantalite, often mined in war-torn regions of Africa. But it’s mostly sand and gravel to build landfills; they hold all the waste from manufacturing wafer boards for the integrated circuits. An eReader also requires 79 gallons of water to produce its batteries and printed wiring boards, and in refining metals like the gold used in trace quantities in the circuits. A book made with recycled paper consumes about two-thirds of a pound of minerals. And it requires just 2 gallons of water to make the pulp slurry that is then pressed and heat-dried (lots of electricity) to make paper.”

Then there are other issues to compare: fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, health concerns, toxic impacts, reading costs, disposal etc.  See an article by Daniel Goleman and Gregory Norris, http://danielgoleman.info/2010/04/04/e-reader-versus-book-the-eco-math/

Conclusion:
After reading 40 to 50 books on your eReader, e-book reading is starting to become more environmental-friendly than book reading. But the most ecological way to read a book starts by WALKING to your local library.