The newspaper industry can’t say it didn’t see its demise coming. As early as 1981 they were experimenting with Internet technology. That’s a lot of time to “modernize” and all the chatter about Amazon’s new Jumbo Kindle isn’t going to save them either. (Maybe they shouldn’t have agreed to lifetime job guarantee clauses.)

I think Amazon’s smart enough to see this and that the new Kindle is actually a first step aimed at the lucrative textbook market. There’s a lot of money to be made in selling textbooks to students and if Amazon can do it cheaper while reducing the weight of a backpack, they’re going to find success.