A decade after Jeff Bezos launched a revolution in reading – and a $1bn money-spinner – much has changed in the book trade. But how has it affected readers?George W Bush was in the White House,Chris Brown was topping the Billboard chart and Jeff Bezos … well, on 19 November 2007, and Jeff Bezos was doing “the most primary thing we’ve ever done” and launching the Amazon Kindle.
The first Kindles were chunky things approximately the same size as a paperback,weighing a smidgeon less than 300g. They had wonky little keyboards and a little wheel for scrolling up and down a grey and black screen. But Bezos was never aiming for a flashy design. Speaking at the launch in New York, he said that all he wanted was a device that could “disappear”.
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Source: guardian.co.uk