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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. Kindle devices have become thinner, lighter and brighter, and the book selection continually increases (more than one million by 2015). Titles are searched and purchased on the Kindle and immediately downloaded via Amazon's WhisperNet via Wi-Fi or cellular, depending on model and geographic area. Newspapers and magazines are sent overnight for morning reading.
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 all of them. Pages are automatically bookmarked, and users pick up in one device where they last stopped in the other. See e-book and Mobipocket.
First Generation
Third Generation Kindle
The Kindle Paperwhite
At the Beach
(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. Kindle devices have become thinner, lighter and brighter, and the book selection continually increases (more than one million by 2015). Titles are searched and purchased on the Kindle and immediately downloaded via Amazon's WhisperNet via Wi-Fi or cellular, depending on model and geographic area. Newspapers and magazines are sent overnight for morning reading.
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 all of them. Pages are automatically bookmarked, and users pick up in one device where they last stopped in the other. See e-book and Mobipocket.
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.)
In 2010, at less than nine ounces and a third of an inch thick, the smaller, lighter Kindle could hold 3,500 e-books.
In 2012, Amazon introduced the Paperwhite e-reader with a greatly enhanced display (left). See Kindle Paperwhite.
In bright sunlight, where LCD screens become almost invisible, the Kindle's E Ink display is easily read. See E Ink.