Kindle 2 heralds the end of paper?

I just got my hands on the Kindle 2, and it is much improved over the original. I will actually use the Kindle 2, unlike the original one, which I really didn't like. (Bad key placement, limited advantage over a notebook computer, and the aesthetic appeal of a Pontiac Aztek were the killers.)

But this isn't a review of the Kindle. It's a reluctant acceptance that the technology has finally progressed to the point where we are saying goodbye to paper publication.

In case you hadn't noticed, newspapers are in trouble. Craigslist decimated their revenue model, and blogging killed the "scoop." Now, Business Week writes that the New York Times could save $300 million a year if they stopped printing paper copies and instead bought every subscriber a Kindle.

I doubt the New York Times would do that, because many (most?) of those readers probably don't like reading electronically, or the would already be reading it on the computer. However, the fact that the business model not only exists, but it compelling, for a newspaper to publish only electronically, means that our economies are finally changing.

How did we get to this point? Well, millions in R&D for starters. E Ink spent around $150 million to develop the Kindle 2's screen. Add to that the proliferation of cellular coverage (which delivers content to the Kindle via "Whispernet"), and the whole web-based purchasing method that Amazon has developed, and you have the basis for the electronic delivery model.

I think we'll see this change speed up now that we've reached the "Kindle 2 tipping point." Technology has gotten to the point where I don't mind reading on E-ink. If it helps businesses make more profit, I'm sure we'll be pushed that way. This has already happened as paper copies of bank statements, cashed checks and utility bills now cost extra to receive over electronic versions. Some banks now charge you extra to talk to a real live person instead of using an ATM.

If electronic delivery is less expensive than paper, and not overly complex, it seems inevitable. Add to that the obvious benefits of a Kindle, including an exponential savings of space and the ability to retrieve new content instantly wherever you are, and the only barrier is the initial purchase cost. As we've seen with computers, that will decrease, too.

Now we just need to find something else to line the bottom of our pets' cages.