If the Kindle were to become the standard for eBooks , online newspaper advertising would have another hurdle to overcome. Fortunately, rumors about Apple's e-book development give some hope.
Amazon's e-reader, called the Kindle, electronically reproduces the reading experience of a printed text fairly faithfully, but adds the advantages of an electronic terminal. The screen displays dark grey text on band data a light grey background, instead of black and white, and it does not tire the eyes. It also hardly consumes any energy. But also, with the built-in mobile internet connection, the contract for which is agreed upon when purchasing the Kindle, it allows you to download almost instantly any text you want to read, from books to newspapers and magazines. The Kindle memory can store up to 1,500 books or electronic publications.
Currently, all major US newspapers have versions for Amazon e-books, according to the online version of Spiegel . But the content for Kindle is mostly text-based, and almost every second article includes an image. What is never included is the advertising on the pages. And this could be a small problem for the sustainability of these electronic editions, unless text-based advertising models are developed.
But this could change when Apple's e-book is unveiled , which is expected to be released later this year. As with everything Apple does, even though it will be launched later than its competitors, it can be guaranteed that the design and usability will be well thought out, as has already happened with the iPhone and iPod. Apple's e-book would not be as limited as the Kindle's two-colour screen and would also allow access to colour images and videos. In addition, it would be perpetually connected to the Internet via a UMTS connection, according to Spiegel .
Apple 's e-reader would have a touchscreen, no keyboard and be nine times larger and smarter than the iPhone. These features would make Amazon 's Kindle look pale in comparison and open up promising advertising possibilities.