It was back in 2006 at the Frankfurt Book Fair, at the world’s largest trade fair for books, that a lot of Indian publishers first heard about an e-reader, picking up on the buzz around the newly-launched Sony E-Reader, one of the first to use the famous E-Ink technology. It seemed like reading was at the brink of changing at a very fundamental level.
A year later, and exactly ten years ago, Amazon’s Kindle launched in the US, both beginning, and spearheading the ebook movement. Soon, other e-readers like Barnes & Nobles’ Nook and the Kobo eReader would follow, launching in 2009 and 2010 respectively (the iPad was launched at the start of 2010 as well).
To celebrate, Amazon is giving discounts in the $30 range, with a deeper discount on different bundles. The Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Voyage, and Kindle for Kids bundle are all included. There is also an updated model of Kindle Oasis and a special edition of Kindle Unlimited.
As with most new technology, the e-reader had its share of critics, and not everyone was quite as impressed. And yet, the idea caught on, and before long, India had launched its own set of e-readers. Infibeam’s Pi hit the market in the early 2010 and EC Media’s Wink was launched later that same year. Neither could really make their mark though, and with the gradual rise of smartphones and tablets, both exited the market before 2012 rolled around.
And then, in the August of 2012, Amazon first made the Kindle available in India, at the starting price of Rs 6,999. By new year 2013 Flipkart too started selling its own ebooks. Now publishers like Juggernaut and their books on the smartphone platform are doing brik business just as Newshunt and several others, all read on the hundred kinds of smartphones. With 15 per cent growth predicted for this sector, the self-publishing market has also grown as budding authors can now easily upload their works on platforms like Scribd, Wattpad, Smashwords and Amazon’s Digital Text Platform.