The answer to that question is certainly uncertain, that is, if one were to read but just a portion of the opinions offered since the introduction of the Kindle Reader in November, 2007.

One thing for certain though, is that Jeff Bezos did his marketing homework before development of this "electronic gadget", as termed by some, was begun at his "Skonkwerks" known as Lab 126 in Cupertino, CA.

It seems that the pundits are split at least into four camps. There are those who favor the nostalgia of the traditional ink on paper or rags or papyrus or...

Another camp embraces new technology, for whatever vaulted reasoning.

Within this camp are found the two subsets of followers, those who like the Kindle Reader and those who don't. That seems simple enough, but a reading of web content reveals quite a list of reasons which, either support or oppose the Kindle.

But that is as it should be in a free-market environment.

A few of the "facts", at least as well as they can be constructed, would lead to the acknowledgement that the Kindle Reader has been a success thus far, and its future is still under development, both at Lab 126 and within its user base. A couple of the "facts" are...

Approximately 90,000 books were available for download onto the Kindle when it was first introduced. That number has steadily increased since then to a figure recently quoted, of about 145,000 book titles. This doesn't take into account the inventory which will become available from the reported acquisition of Abebooks, the Canadian-based rare book retailer.

And this just in...

From a "source close to Amazon with direct knowledge of the numbers" (TechCrunch), Amazon's Kindle sales, since its introduction, are about 240,000 units. Even taking into account the price reduction this year, "doing the math" gives a convincing argument as to the near-term success of the Kindle. That "near $100 million dollar" total doesn't include book, newspaper, magazine and blog sales or subscriptions.

Like it or not, the Kindle Reader has to be viewed as a success, at least to this point in its evolution.

Makes one wonder what's ahead.

Since its introduction last November, the Amazon Kindle has “suffered through” review after review and testimonial after testimonial from people “all over the place”.

Some have said it’s too clumsy to use – citing hitting one page turn button or the other unintentionally, or the “thing won’t fit in its holder properly”, or “it needs a light to read by in bed so I won’t wake up my wife”, or it’s just plain too expensive.

Others have stood by it, citing its generous book holding capacity, it’s completely computer free, wireless connection to the “nether-world” of the internet and being able to download various forms of reading material, even if it is from Amazon’s proprietary e-inventory found in its own Kindle Store. Even the several-days time between battery recharging has been a plus, and it really is when compared with other ereaders.

Some have reviewed it from the standpoint of “saving trees” and others, the more “nerdy ones” apparently, have dug down into the depths of its “electronic innards” reporting on its file format compatibilities, and throwing around such terms as “pdf”, “txt”, “prc”.

The comments have raged on ad-infinitum, for almost nine months now.

Will it, Amazon’s Kindle, survive all this and continue to grow in acceptance within the marketplace?

Yes, probably so.

I remember a few decades ago, while studying at an engineering school, almost all students were required to take a introductory computer course, which was a study in Fortran IV.

I can’t say I learned all that was intended from that course, but one thing I’ll never forget was the physical size of the computer. It was ‘housed” in a room that probably measured forty feet by twenty feet, and the temperature inside that room would have kept milk cold.

That class almost wore me out with all the late night trips to the computer building, getting my cards re-punched and run through the card reader one more time, trying to get the bugs all out of my Fortran IV programs.

My, that computer seemed so slow, but now look at what we have for computers. So I think it would be a stretch of one’s imagination to argue that the Kindle Reader will not continue to be a success.

But, that’s just my opinion...