Happy July everyone! On the way in to work this morning, I heard that the Kindle was going to be making its way to Princeton’s bookstores and that many textbooks were heading into ebook format. Rather than paraphrase, I figured you guys could see for yourselves. Enjoy this goodness from C|Net.com:
Princeton University to publish Kindle textbooks
Posted by Greg Sandoval
Another prestigious school is embracing Amazon’s Kindle e-reader.
Princeton University has announced that it will start printing Kindle-edition textbooks this fall, according to a story in The Christian Science Monitor.
Princeton follows Yale, Oxford, and UC Berkeley in creating textbooks for the Kindle. In the United States, there are about 2,500 four-year universities, so Amazon still has a long way to go.
But the Kindle should appeal to university students better than other demographics.
I wrote this week that I was putting off buying a Kindle until I learn whether I can read digital books on the iPhone 3G, which goes on sale July 11. If the handheld enables me to read e-books well enough, I’ll probably pass on the Kindle. The reason is simple: the iPhone gives me much more for my money.
Students, on the other hand, do so much reading that they may be thankful for a device that can help save their backs. Instead of schlepping 10 pounds of textbooks, the Kindle can hold about 200 titles and it weighs only 10 ounces.
Instead of having to thumb through pages, students can find text instantly with Kindle’s search feature. It also allows a user to highlight text and make notes.
It’s been a long time since I was in school, but I remember those long lines to buy books in September and January. Contrast that with Kindle’s wireless service and the ability to download books off the Web from almost anyplace.
Back then, I would have been glad to buy a Kindle.
Tip: At Amazon, Kindles are advertised now for $359, but it might pay to check out eBay. Ina Fried, my colleague here at CNET News.com, paid $329 at the auction site this week and used Microsoft’s Live Search cashback offer to get an additional 20 percent off. Total cost: $264.
Update 12:45 p.m.: I’ve learned that there’s a strong bond between Princeton and Amazon. The company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, is an alumnus of the university, class of 1986. I obtained the information from co-worker and former Tiger Caroline McCarthy (2006).
Aaron,
Thanks for including the update. I have to say that the information you provided in the update should have been part of The Christian Science Monitor’s report.
Not to go off on a tangent, but we can’t trust the integrity of what we read nowadays. We have to be more diligent than ever.
Whatever happened to good reporting?
I realize my frustration with the media as a whole is tainting my POV here, but thank you for allowing me to vent.
Venting is part of what makes great writing. I have no issues with it. I figure the update that Greg Sandoval added was part of the story and if I reprinted it, that needed to come with it. I think that the relationship is important but also good. Kind of like Pixar and Apple are related. It makes for good business.
I guess my issue is that the public should know when two companies/people that have strong ties develop an affiliation.
The general public may be swayed by Princeton’s involvement, believing it was an independent decision made without bias. Then they will go out and buy the Kindle based on that pretense.
In the end, Princeton may not have been swayed by the personal relationship. After all, I hear great things about the Kindle. It’s just that I’m tired of reading half-truths and/or half-*ss reporting. And the poor Kindle is getting a taste of my wrath. 🙂
This seems really cool, but I’d prefer to read it on the Iphone. It just is so much better, like the article says more for your money. With an Iphone you can do tons of things, but I’d have to see the quality of what you can do with an ebook on the iphone. The Kindle sounds great but I’d still prefer the Iphone over it for ebooks.
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D.F. Rucci
http://www.dfrucci.wordpress.com/