Books or eBooks – which saves you money?
For financially savvy readers, here is a comparison of prices on a selection from the Top 10 bestsellers on Amazon.co.uk on Sunday June 28th 2009.
Title |
Author |
Amazon UK |
Kindle store |
Waterstones eBook |
| Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) | Stephenie Meyer | £6.49 |
£6.89 |
£10.17 |
| Eclipse (Twilight Saga) |
Stephenie Meyer | £3.84 |
£6.05 |
£5.47 |
| D-Day: The Battle for Normandy | Antony Beevor | £12.47 |
Not available |
Not available |
| The Lost Symbol | Dan Brown | £9.49 |
Not available |
Not available |
Conversion rate on Sunday June 28th 2009: $1.00 = £0.60527 (courtesy of xe.com/ucc)
This selection does not include all of The Top 10 Amazon bestsellers due to the overall dominance of books by Stephanie Meyer and uncertainty about whether certain books are available in the USA. Some books included above are on pre-order and as a result have not yet been released in eBook format.
Is Kindle coming to Europe?
Although the Kindle has yet to be released outside the US, it has been discussed by tech bloggers, has appeared on BBC and Sky News as well as in newspapers including the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times, The Sun, The Daily Star and The Financial Times. The Amazon.co.uk press office did not return calls enquiring about a possible release date for the Kindle in the UK. However, as some of the larger eReader providers including Sony, Cool-er and iLiad are all available worldwide and an Apple media pad is expected later this year, commentators including journalists at BBC News expect Amazon to release the Kindle in Europe in late 2009 or early 2010.
Watch a demo of the Sony eReader
What do eReaders mean for libraries?
What's a Kindle?
Andrew Nusca from technology website ZDNet has tried many of the main eReaders available in the US.
Click here to read his Q & A on the significance of the Kindle and how the eReader market is growing.