Kindle support is being added to Blackboard, a leading Course Management System (CMS). They’re an important ally for Amazon to have, since Blackboard software is widely used by schools at all levels of education as the primary means of supplying course materials online. Even at the university level, Blackboard (along with their competitors) is used to distribute notes, quizzes, lectures, etc. online.
Kindle support is being added by the release of a new “building block” for Blackboard. All that a school’s web developer needs to do is add the block to their Blackboard server and presto, Kindle owners can now download their class materials directly to the device. Little work for the school, and no effect for students that don’t own Kindles, but a small, nice benefit for the Kindle users. This is the type of educational use that has the potential to be, at least for now, the most successful on the Kindle and will avoid any potential legal troubles.
It looks like Amazon is rallying business partners (another example being Microstrategy support for Kindle) to create an eco-system around Kindle as it’s starting to face increasing competition.
I’m a bit scared that the next step will be automated conversion of PDF into proprietary kindle formats with expiration and DRM so you don’t keep readings beyond the class ending, can’t save them, etc. The Academic Copyright cartels have been relatively quiet so far, but the wider availability of a DRM-infected device might make them think that they can curb the fair use of PDF copies.
I guess that DRM obesssion and fear thereof are part of coming of age of any digital media industry.
MP3s used to be DRMed as hell and now the market is gravitating towards subscription based models and DRM-free music downloads.
Digital books are just younger than MP3s but they’ll get there too perhaps
Most e books from college textbook publishers are 180 day rentals for a web or PDF version. Then poof it’s gone.