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

Abstract

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.

Citation

Clark, D.T., Goodwin, S.P., Samuelson, T. and Coker, C. (2008), "A qualitative assessment of the Kindle e‐book reader: results from initial focus groups", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 118-129. https://doi.org/10.1108/14678040810906826