Move Over Bookstores, it’s Kindle Time!

Everyone knows that technology seems to be developing something new everyday, trying to make things more convenient and interactive for people all around the world. It looks like, however, that it will be changing our current system of books as well, altering the way we educate and learn.

Back in 2007, Amazon launched one of the first popular portable electronic reading devices that are commonly referred to as the “Kindle.” Since then, new versions of the software have been produced, along with other manufacturers’ creations, such as the “Nook” by Barnes. Along with the new models come new gadgets, offering tools such as highlighting, annotating, and more memory to store more books.

This invention has been shown to be revolutionary. At the end of the year 2010, Amazon announced that Kindle sales had surpassed those of paperback books, and this continues to be the case. Since November of 2011, customers around the world have been buying over one million Kindles per week, as Amazon has been proven superior, gaining the title of being the company with the most populated e-book.

But is the world’s favorite reading device being diverted from its intentional purpose? The original software was designed just for reading; however, as more models become available, features such as Wi-Fi for Internet and flash memory for videos and music are transforming it more into a tablet, rather than a reading device. The purpose of reading has always been to focus on a subject, retain the knowledge and message, and reflect on what is being read, not to read a couple of sentences and then jump onto the web to play a game of Angry Birds.

In the process of competing with their fellow manufacturers, electronic reader producers are forgetting the true meaning of reading. It is essential to keep the concept of reading in place. Sure, highlighting and note-taking electronically does no harm, however, going beyond that makes the actual concept questionable.