When Heather Reisman, the founder of Indigo Books and Music, began selling e-books in 2009, she made a choice that seemed self-sabotaging. Kobo, her e-book web store, allows purchased books to be downloaded onto a variety of smart phones, tablets and e-readers (not just Kobo’s own wireless reading device). The open platform policy is a philosophical divide from the original Kindle e-books, which had limited compatibility. Reisman, it turns out, was ahead of the curve: the easy accessibility of Kobo gave it an advantage over other e-book web stores. There are now three million Kobo users in 200 countries, with access to two million e-book titles. It seems that giving book lovers a choice simply increases their appetite to read.
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I’ve had my Kobo for a year and I LOVE it. Bought my oldest daughter one for her birthday in April and she is looking forward to taking it to Spain with her this month. I buy books from Kobo and borrow from the Toronto Public Library. I still have all my wonderful paper books, but I love my Kobo too.
June 9, 2011 at 5:30 pm | by Elvina