2009 has been a good year for Amazon, and a lot of their success has been due to the Kindle ebook reader. The original Kindle was launched in November 2007. It sold out in five and a half hours and new stock wasn’t available for months.

The Kindle 2 was released in February of 2009 and it incorporated a number of improvements over the first model. Amazon followed up with the large display Kindle DX just a few months later in June. Amazon now had a Kindle “family” and, assisted by a huge amount of free publicity from bestselling authors such as Stephen King, partnerships with educational establishments and open discussion by political entities, the Kindle very rapidly became almost synonymous with e-book readers.

Unsurprisingly, a number of other manufacturers were casting their eyes over the developing e-book reader market and considering how best to get their share. Right now, the list of manufacturers who have their own e-book readers under development is impressive and includes such names as Microsoft, Apple, Asus, Barnes and Noble, Sony and Plastic Logic.

Any e-book reader that shows potential is immediately given the title of “Kindle Killer”. The various technical features of each reader are pored over and reported upon, especially when, as in the case of Sony’s Daily Edition reader for example, it has a new feature (touch screen control) which the current Kindle lacks.

As important as the technical spec of e-book readers is, it is only one part of the equation. The large choice of books available on the Amazon website, the ability to wirelessly download books – with no monthly fees and no internet connection and Amazon’s highly trusted brand name were all critically important to the success of the Kindle.

Many of the new readers will have wireless connectivity, and Barnes and Noble’s Nook will offer users a choice of over 1,000,000 titles. However, the single unifying theme that seems to be developing is the emergence of a standard e-book format.

Most of the new readers seem to be lining up behind the ePub format. The Kindle, on the other hand, uses a proprietary format which effectively means that Kindle books can only be read on the Kindle reader.

At the moment, bearing in mind that the Kindle is pretty much the only game in town, that’s not a big problem. However, in the future, readers may want the ability to transfer e-books from one reader to another and to lend books to family and friends.

The Kindle has, in a very short space of time, become Amazon’s number one selling product. They won’t be giving up their number one position without a fight. It could be that 2010 will see the release of the Kindle 4, which will almost certainly feature a number of technical enhancements. Could it be that Amazon may also adopt the ePub format – or provide some translation service?

Read more about the Amazon Kindle reader and learn how you can save money by getting free Kindle ebooks direct from Amazon’s website.