The Amazon Kindle ebook reader family has made a huge impact on the book scene in a very short space of time. The original Kindle started shipping in November 2007. The Kindle 2 was released in February of 2009 and the bigger DX, aimed at readers of magazines, newspapers, and academic textbooks followed hard on its heels in June of 2009.

Even although the Kindle 2 and the DX were released during a fairly gloomy economic downturn, they still sold well. There has been some criticism of the high ticket price for both the Kindle 2 and the DX, but it does look as if Amazon’s target market are quite happy to pay $359 and $489 for the Kindle 2 and the DX respectively.

One of the big plus points of the Kindle series is the fact that no monthly fee is required for the ability to download ebooks. Amazon utilises a 3G connection – dubbed “Whispernet” – which means Kindle owners can download books from the Amazon store in less than sixty seconds – without the need for a computer or a WiFi connection.

Another perceived benefit is the possibility to get cheaper books. As the usual printing, paper and distribution charges associated with traditional publishing methods don’t exist, the electronic book can be offered at a lower price than the equivalent hardback.

Not only that, it’s even possible to get free kindle books directly from the Amazon store. All you need to do is visit the Amazon site, open up their Kindle store and search for books for the Kindle. If you then select the option “order by price – lowest to highest” you’ll be presented with a list of books starting at $0.

There is a selection of classics available – Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Sherlock Holmes etc. – but there are also quite a few more modern books available for selection. A lot of these are from publishers wanting to showcase authors and the list is updated quite often, so it’s worth checking back every now and again.

As well as completely free books, there is a good selection of volumes which are available for very small fees, $0.01 for example.

If you enjoy classics – or any book which has now entered the public domain due to its published date – you could very quickly recoup the price of your Kindle.

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