When Jeff Bezos, chief executive of Amazon, announced the large screen Kindle DX e-book reader earlier this year, he chose Pace University in New York City as the launch venue.
The choice was no accident. Pace is one of six US colleges that are participating in a pilot programme to test the e-book reader, the latest in a steady stream of technology gizmos that are finding their way into the classroom and lecture hall.
Seattle-based Amazon, best known as an online book seller, is providing several hundred discounted Kindle DX's to Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University, Reed College, and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia as part of the pilot scheme. The colleges in turn are making them available to students free of charge.