A qualitative assessment of the Kindle e-book reader: results from initial focus groups

• Published in: Performance measurement and metrics Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 118 - 129
• Main Authors: Clark, Dennis T, Goodwin, Susan P, Samuelson, Todd, Coker, Catherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 01-01-2008
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Blogs; Digital libraries; E-books; Electronic publishing; User interfaces; Electronic books; Focus groups; Online operations; Academic libraries
• ISSN: 1467-8047; 1758-6925
• DOI: 10.1108/14678040810906826

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess initial user perceptions and use of Amazon's Kindle e-book reader.Design methodology approach - Thirty-six participants were provided with a Kindle e-book reader and $100 to spend at Amazon. After one month of use focus groups were conducted to elicit user feedback about their experiences and overall first impressions.Findings - Analysis of the discussions indicates overall interest in the Kindle as a basic reading device for fiction. However, its use in an academic setting is limited due to content availability and licensing issues, graphic display capabilities, organizational issues, and its prohibitive cost.Originality value - This is the first research paper of its kind to report on qualitative research conducted on user perceptions of the Kindle e-book reader.