Definition: Kindle

(1) For Amazon's Android tablets, see Fire tablet.

(2) An e-book system from Amazon.com that includes a family of portable e-readers and a vast library of e-books. Introduced in 2007 with 88,000 titles and more than a hundred best sellers, the Kindle has defined the e-book industry. By 2024, there were more than four million e-books available, and Kindle devices have become thinner, lighter and brighter.

Featuring models with 6" and 10" screens, Web access and music playback on earlier models was later dropped but are available on Amazon's tablets (see Fire tablet). The Kindle's monochrome E Ink display enables the battery to last up to a month (see E Ink).

WhisperNet Cellular Is No Longer
Titles are searched, purchased and downloded onto the Kindle via Wi-Fi. Amazon's original WhisperNet service, which offered cellular connectivity, has been retired. Newspapers and magazines were sent overnight for morning reading, but this service was also ended in 2023.

Send-to-Kindle
Users are assigned a kindle.com email address, which lets them email Amazon their own Word, PDF, text and image files as attachments for downloading to their Kindles. PRC and MOBI files can also be sent to the device (see Kindle e-book formats).

Whispersync for Other Devices
In 2009 and 2010, Amazon introduced Kindle apps for the PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices, and the Kindle Whispersync service synchronizes them. Users pick up in one device where they last stopped in another.

Whispersync for Voice provides synchronization between an e-book and its Audible spoken-word counterpart, also from Amazon. See e-book, Audible and Mobipocket.

First Generation

Although nearly an inch thick, the first Kindle was an overnight success and out of stock for months. This shows The New York Times downloaded on the device. (Image courtesy of Amazon.com.)

Third Generation Kindle

In 2010, at less than nine ounces and a third of an inch thick, the smaller, lighter Kindle could hold 3,500 e-books.

The Kindle Paperwhite

In 2012, Amazon introduced the Paperwhite e-reader with a greatly enhanced display (left). See Kindle Paperwhite.

At the Beach

In bright sunlight, where LCD screens become almost invisible, the Kindle's E Ink display is easily read. See E Ink.