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.

Anticipating the wireless reader

Taking college journalism classes years ago, I remember a “special guest speaker” talking about a magical device that would someday change the way people read newspapers. That special guest went on to describe what is now the Kindle.

So far, special guest is right. This wireless reading device, which has a screen that looks a lot like real paper, exists. But is special guest right about his prediction that this will bring in more business for newspapers?

Bye bye subscription sales

According to Amazon, “People who swore they would never read books on computers are reading books on Kindle in numbers far greater than we ever expected.” So perhaps people who currently read hard-copy newspapers will switch to Kindle to save trees. And cancel their subscriptions.

People might be more willing to read a Kindle DX screen, but that does not mean they will be more willing to pay for an online subscription. I am afraid the day when it was possible to convince people that paying for an online newspaper subscription is worth it has passed. There is already way too much free news online.

If Kindle DX does draw more newspaper readers, the papers could potentially pull in more advertising revenue. Newspapers should focus on this as they rewrite their business plans.