Amazon's Kindle For PC Opens Up New Horizons

With the new Kindle for PC, users can now read the same eBook on a PC, laptop, and Kindle eReader, and switch between them with the last-read page bookmarked so that picking up that eBook on another device will take the reader to the same page where he or she left off.

And that brings some interesting new business models for publishers to consider, especially if other e-reader devices such as the Barnes & Noble Nook or the Sony Reader come out with similar offerings.

E-readers for the most part still cater primarily to the casual book reader, and for them the ability to access eBooks from multiple devices is a convenience.

However, for others, that capability opens a wide range of new business possibilities.

Students, for instance, instead of lugging textbooks or being limited by the small screen size of e-reader devices, would find the ability to shift electronic versions of their textbooks from device to device a major plus. For instance, they can read their textbooks on larger screens from home or the dorm room PCs, and have portable versions for reading in the library or cafeteria or classroom or wherever they read from.

For technicians, the ability to have up-to-date technical manuals and related materials on multiple devices could change the nature of their business. They might want to study that material at the office or home, and then take the same material to a remote site.

By signing deals with media companies, either general news or specific types of news, such as for business or financial users, Amazon or other e-reader device makers could market their material to a wider range of business executives who could read their news at the office, grab the Kindle or other device, and keep reading on the plane or while waiting for a meeting.

These and other areas offer new opportunities to publishers, integrators, and software developers to expand on the increasing power of the e-reader now that Amazon has shown the way to expand the basic e-reader architecture.