If you’re a book and literature enthusiast living in a fast-paced and tech-driven world, you’re probably someone who is amazingly grateful to the Kindle- an e-reader device that enables you to read from a huge collection of books. With its eclectic mix of offerings and seamless reading experience, the Kindle is every evolving reader’s dream- portable, easy on the eye and takes up much less space. Have you wondered, Does Amazon Own Kindle? to know read further!
Does Amazon Own Kindle?
The Kindle was created and is owned by Amazon. It was introduced in 2007 as the silent answer to Apple’s music streaming service- iTunes- the same but with books, for a parallel market that was just as big. But what’s the story behind this revolutionary device?
The Birth of Kindle and The Initial Stages
With Amazon’s humble start as an e-bookstore, it is no shock that the Kindle has gone on to become one of its flagship products- but the process leading to it, was nothing short of rocky and arduous. With the advent of companies launching tablet devices that acted as a substitute for phones for those who preferred a bigger screen- the exclusivity of its offering may have just been what made Kindle a longstanding product.
The creators were keen on making it a device that catered to one and only one objective alone- to bring people books with nothing to distract them from their reading. With a lot of focus and plan going into making Kindle the perfect companion for book-lovers and with nothing diluting the experience that the device offered, the Kindle was always destined for greatness. When the Amazon Kindle was launched in November 2007 on the e-commerce giant’s website, it couldn’t have been a bigger hit- the first edition of the Kindle, sold out in as little as 5 hours.
It offered 90,000 books as part of collections for its audience and at that point, didn’t have the touchpad facility that we see today. It featured a keypad with all the letters of the English alphabet and navigation keys, along with a speaker, a headphone socket and an expandable memory-friendly SD card slot. It sold at 399 USD. And after the launch of the Amazon Kindle, Amazon has grown to great heights- the company never looked back and was never the same ever again.
The Evolution of the Kindle
The fourth-generation Kindle is what marked the biggest breakthrough in this line of devices- the introduction of the touch facility. With that, the Kindle had started to provide a huge level of convenience that surpassed all its earlier editions- and with it, expanded its customer base as well. It also provided higher storage space.
The Kindle Paperwhite had given the device its second breakthrough- manual visual comfort adjustment options: this meant that customers could read in the dark with this edition of the device, and also adjust brightness as and how they require! Later on, the launch of the Kindle Oasis took the world by storm- with this, the producers’ aim to produce a high-quality one-handed reading device had been achieved. It was lighter, thinner, convenient and had more battery life to offer. It was also quite expensive, but not without justification towards its price tag. Many other editions of the Kindle followed too, to great reception.
The Kindle, As you Know It Today
The latest version from 2019, was part of the Oasis lineup- it is a 7-inch device with a display that dominates the front screen- this meant, more screen for the pages! It also included waterproofing, improved brightness- it also featured six weeks’ worth of battery life. The latest addition to the Kindle space was the Amazon Kindle Kids edition- an e-reader aimed specifically at little ones with an active penchant for reading, or to foster the reading habit amongst kids who didn’t take to it as easily as some others did. This is an easy way to get kids to read- giving it to them in a device- and it worked wonders for the company as well!
Finally…
There is no doubt in the general belief that the Kindle has changed the way in which people view reading- people who refused to buy books for fear of space have now joined this bandwagon and made the most of it; people who have been reading since time immortal have also been so taken by the device!
While there is still a section of the book-reading audience that refuses to be swayed by the allure of this shiny portable e-reader, it would be peculiar to say they’re not inclined towards it in the slightest- if not to own one, then for sure to at least see what the hype is about. In the future, it is widely expected that Amazon would drop an e-reader that feels just like paper, but with the collective benefit of the electric device- and with that, they will have truly uncovered the maximum potential for this game-changing device.
