Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader has proven to be a hugely successful product for them. It was originally unveiled in November of 2007 – but it was the launch of the upgraded Kindle 2, in February 2009, which saw e-book readers really become established. Amazon followed up with the large display Kindle DX edition in the summer of 2009 and the e-book reader market started to grow very rapidly indeed.

The Kindle rapidly became Amazon’s top selling item. During the festive period of 2009 it became Amazon’s “most gifted” ever product. Predictabl, many other manufacturers either debuted, or updated, e-book readers of their own. Higher levels of competition resulted in lower prices and gave customers additional options - both of these are good things of course.

With a greatly increased selection of hardware to choose from, prospective e-book reader buyers need some method to compare the different options available. It’s possible to find many reviews on the internet which compare the Kindle with Sony’s Daily Edition reader, Barnes and Noble’s Nook reader with the iPad etc. However, an e-book reader comparison focussed solely upon the hardware is missing the point of the e-book reader experience. In general, and as is often the situation with modern electronic devices, the newer models will tend to incorporate some features which are not included in the older models. However, considerations such as ease of use, legibility of the display, the number of available books, the price of books, the ease of buying and downloading books etc. all need to be taken into consideration.

A number of of these are subjective and a matter of personal preference, others lend themselves to analysis more easily, and can be taken into account prior to making a final decision regarding which reader to opt for. The Amazon Kindle certainly has an advantage when it comes to the number of Kindle books on offer. There are over 420,000 books available on Amazon’s website, and the number is increasing each and every day. Regarding the pricing of books, the Kindle also seems to have a clear advantage.

A recent study carried out by the New York Times checked the cost of ten books – chosen from the New York Times 10 Best books of 2009, comprising five non-fiction and five fiction titles - on the 3 most popular e-book readers, the Kindle, the Nook from Barnes and Noble and Sony’s PRS reader. The total cost of 10 books for the Kindle was $ 136.87 – an average of $ 13.69 per book. The same collection of ten books bought from Sony’s store worked out at an average price of $ 15.26 and Barnes and Noble worked out at a significantly higher price per book of $ 19.29.

So it seems that, based on these numbers, anyone who averages a book a week would save $300 a year by choosing the Amazon Kindle as opposed to the Nook. In effect, the Kindle reader would pay for itself and there would still be a few dollars remaining to buy books, in under 12 months. There's a great deal of discussion in process between e-book retailers and the major publishing firms at the moment, so it could be that e-book pricing may be likely to change in the future. However, it appears obvious that anyone thinking about purchasing an e-book reader would be well advised to study both the availability of books and their pricing before making a final selection.