Is Amazon providing Kindling for the e-textbook fire?

Ars Technica just posted some news that Amazon is considering a jump into the textbook market via their e-reader device, Kindle, which has been out for almost a year now. It appears Amazon is prepping an upgrade to the device and may introduce additional models, including one targeted for students. Obviously, this is a huge market and one that is poised to undergo some rapid changes. As the article points out, students are tired of the high prices of textbooks and some are scanning books and putting them on BitTorrent sites for downloading, which is illegal. However, as students are faced with mounting educational expenses, this is happening whether publishers like it or not. Some professors are also exploring legal alternatives to BitTorrent textbooks via Web 2.0 tools as Ars further mentions. This is a good example of technology catching up with an industry that has long had a lock and key grip on educational content. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next couple of years as the mobile content devices mature and digital textbook publishing becomes more ubiquitous. With Amazon considering a jump into the fray, the fire could start to get a little hotter. I guess they did not name if Kindle for nothing.

Keene Haywood (University of Texas at Austin - DIIA)