Today is the 10th anniversary of the release of the original 1st generation Amazon Kindle. The original device cost $400 and sold out within hours.

Courtesy of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, here is Jeff Bezos’ letter announcing the device. It dominated the Amazon.com homepage (see the page here). 

In contrast, today’s basic Kindle costs only $79.99. We’ve come a long way in the last 10 years, While the Kindle was not the first e-book reader, the device, along with Amazon’s marketing, has made an indelible impact on the book industry. I know that it has certainly changed the way I read.

Happy Birthday, Kindle!

How about you? Has the Kindle changed the way you read or impacted your life?