Over the course of the last two years the e-reader industry have been embracing waterproof e-readers. Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Pocketbook, Tolino and a myriad of other companies have engaged in marketing campaigns where users can read e-books anywhere. There is something compelling about not worrying about dumping coffee on your e-reader and ruining it or reading your favorite new book in the bathtub. Amazon is the only mainstream company that has not issued a waterproof Kindle, are they missing the boat?
The first waterproof e-reader was issued by Kobo in 2014 and it was called the H20. It was waterproof and dustproof and during the promotional launch Kobo hired a synchronized swimming team to demonstrate it could be used in the water. The success of the H20 prompted Tolino to issue the Vision 2 in Germany, Pocketbook released the Aqua in Europe and Barnes and Noble released the Nook Glowlight Plus in the United States.
Amazon has never developed a waterproof Kindle and this has created a void in the marketplace where 3rd party resellers are making serious cash. WaterFI has created an aftermarket solution for the Kindle Paperwhite where they waterproof the e-reader internally and sell it them directly to the customer. Other companies are selling waterproof Kindle cases.
The only thing holding Amazon back from issuing a waterproof Kindle is allocating the task to their secretive research and development division, Lab126.
I think Amazon should release a waterproof Kindle, it would give people a reason to upgrade their older devices to the latest and greatest. It would also provide a reason for people who have older waterproof e-readers to switch to the Kindle.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
