What Effect Will Kindle DX Have on Newspaper Industry?

Reserve Kindle DX on Amazon

A new version of the Kindle, Amazon’s “wireless reading device,” will be available for sale this summer, but you can reserve one starting today. It’s called the Kindle DX, and it’s bigger — size-wise and storage space-wise — than the original Kindle.

Kindle DX has a viewing screen the same size as a standard piece of paper. It targets readers who want to see newspapers and magazines on their screens as well as life-size versions of other documents.

Pretty pricey

Though you won’t have a Kindle DX in your hands for a couple of months, if you reserve one you have to pay for it now. So unless you have $489 at your disposal at the moment, you might need a cash advance to pay for it. Of course, my advice is to start saving your money and get one when you can afford it. I doubt Amazon.com will run out before then.

So what does Kindle DX mean for the newspaper industry? As is always the case with predicting the future, it’s tough to say.

Newspapers on shaky ground

The homepage at Amazon.com currently displays a photo of the Kindle DX with a copy of the New York Times displayed on the screen. This further proves the theory, mostly present among print journalists, that Kindle DX aims to help keep newspapers alive.

The newspaper industry, I think it’s safe to say, is teetering on the edge of financial ruin. Already several newspapers across the country have gone out of business, and the ones that survived have completed massive layoffs. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "What Effect Will Kindle DX Have on Newspaper Industry?"