As the operating system is a customized version of Android, you might expect the Kindle Fire to have access to the Android Market, but in fact Amazon has its own app store which it uses as a library of additional software, apps and games for the Kindle Fire.

The problem with this is that the Amazon App Store doesn’t work outside the USA, resulting in travellers, those with non-US credit cards and anyone overseas who received one of these tablets as a gift being unable to install new apps via either of these methods. Fortunately there are alternatives…

Using The Amazon App Store (If You’re In The US)

Amazon has made its app store extremely easy to use and doubles the pressure on the official Android Market by giving away a free app every day.

A shortcut on the Kindle Fire will display the goodies on offer in the Amazon App Store and all you need to do to download an app is open its description page and use the Buy now with 1-Click button (or Get now with 1-Click for free apps) and the software will be installed – although of course you shouldn’t do this without reading the reviews and recommendations and checking screenshots first! Note that you must have 1-Click purchasing available on your Amazon account for this to work.

A few moments later you should be able to use the app in question. Of course, if you’re not in the United States then you won’t be able to access the Amazon App Store.

Why You Shouldn’t Install The Android Market On The Kindle Fire

The most obvious solution to overcoming app installations by international users of the Kindle Fire is to find some way of installing the Android Market. In fact, you can do this but the results at present aren’t entirely stable. For instance, after spending money on movies to download and watch on your Kindle Fire you might be pretty angry to find that they can no longer be enjoyed in the same way.

Installing the Android Market requires rooting your Kindle Fire, a process that allows access to system files for particular apps. Sadly doing this and installing the Android Market results in some conflicts that cause choppy movie playback among other odd quirks that wouldn’t have occurred previously. Additionally, the Market doesn’t offer all of the apps that you might expect to find as the device doesn’t meet all of the hardware specifications required by Android.

The best option here is to steer clear of the Android Market until a version that supports the Kindle Fire becomes available.

Third Party Solutions: Opera, SlideMe & GetJar

Fortunately there are other solutions that are not region-specific.

Probably the first place you should head to is the Opera App Store, which you can open by visiting apps.opera.com in your Kindle Fire browser. You will then be able to browse for and install useful and popular apps such as Skype and Angry Birds.

Other places you might try include andappstore.com, slideme.org and m.getjar.com. Note however that for safety and anti-virus reasons you shouldn’t attempt to download any app that isn’t already available in the Amazon App Store or the official Android Market (market.android.com).

Once the download has completed, expand the Status Bar, tap the downloaded .apk file and wait for the software to install.

Conclusion

Clearly using a Kindle Fire internationally isn’t easy, but as this is such a popular and easy to use tablet in all other respects it isn’t hard to see why people are happy to persist.

While the procedures described here are intended to help anyone desperate to use a particular app on their Kindle Fire, going forward, you should keep your eye on the Amazon App Store. Although it is ostensibly for North American users, reports recently have indicated that international or European access is about to be granted following a short period whereby users in the UK were able to download apps.

For now, this new store is only available in the United States. They have items from many of the major sports organizations like the NHL, NFL, MLB, NBA and International Federation of Association Football (IFAF). For any fan of the major sports organizations, you will be able to find something that tickles your fancy on this new Amazon service.

Everything purchased on the collectible store comes with Amazon’s AtoZ guarantee, so you will always receive the same level of customer satisfaction you expect when purchasing an item from Amazon.

In addition to searching for an item in the store, you can also browse based on the sport, year, type, team and price. This allows you to find what you are looking for, even if you don’t know exactly what that is.

Source: The Next Web

I scoured the Kindle Store in search of worthy books to recommend, and came up with a list of nine titles that all seem worthy. It’s an eclectic mix, so be sure to scroll all the way through even if the first one or two don’t catch your eye. These books are all offered for free at the time of this writing. Pricing on the Kindle store can change at any time.

Wild Mustang Man

To start things off, let’s look at Wild Mustang Man. This isn’t a long book (about 181 pages), but it’s one for the girls. Wild Mustang Man is a Western romance story about a single dad, Josh Gentry, who also happens to be a farmer. One day, a lovely lady by the name of Bridget McCloud comes into his farm, takes a look at him, and decides he’s going to be perfect for her ad campaign… and for other things, too.

The books comes from Carol Grace, who authored over 35 novels and has a definite following. Again, this one may not be for everyone, but some of the ladies in the audience might find it to be an enjoyable read.

The Jackpot

The Jackpot is a legal thriller by David Kazzie, who also created the (NSFW) video So You Want to Write a Novel. The video isn’t directly related to the book (thankfully), and is a blatant parody of people who just randomly decide to write a book one day, without realizing what it entails. The book itself received 17 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars, which is fairly impressive for a work in the long tail.

The book’s hero (a lady, by the way) goes through all sorts of trouble trying to return a winning lottery ticket which her boss stole from a client. The whole thing is more complicated, of course, but that’s the main premise.

The Nemesis Worm

Gory cover aside, The Nemesis Worm is our first sci-fi entry. It’s a 60-page novella, not a full-length book, featuring the heroes from author Guy Haley’s book Reality 36. It revolves around a high stakes investigation undertaken by those same heroes (Richards and Klein) to clear Richards’s name from murder.

The Ghosts Of Varner Creek

With 36 reviews and a 4.5-star average, The Ghosts of Varner Creek is aimed at readers 18 and above. It is a Nook sci-fi/fantasy Bestseller, and tells of Solomon Mayfield, whose mother and sister disappear one day in 1909. He goes through life not knowing what happened to them, haunted by lies, speculations, and secrets. He finds out the truth only after he dies. Once again, be warned – this one contains adult content.

Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many

Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many is another foray into romance. Madeleine-Cora Spencer is single, and after being shunned by a friend’s new wife because “you can’t trust desperate single women”, she is finally driven to participate in a “Find Your Prince” reality TV show – only to find herself dumped on an island with seven ex-boyfriends. With 40 reviews and a 4.5-star average, this looks like one entertaining read.

Bright Of The Sky (Book 1 Of The Entire & The Rose)

Bright Of The Sky is one of the few books on this list that have also seen light in dead-tree format. It’s the first part of a four-book sci-fi cycle, and the other three parts do cost money. This reflects a growing trend in the Kindle store, where authors offer the first book of several for free, in the hopes that readers will be hooked and buy the rest of the series. With 109 reviews and a 4-star average, Bright Of The Sky is an epic tale of the far future.

To wrap things up, I would like to share three interesting classics. These are not Kindle exclusives, but are worth a read all the same.

Pride & Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen’s timeless classic, needs little introduction. It is one of only two books on this list who have their own Wikipedia page. In a nutshell (and in Wikipedia’s words), “The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England.” 

This is exactly the type of timeless classic we all have access to in this digital day and age.

Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

This one’s for the kids – Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know. It is an anthology containing such classics as Sleeping Beauty, The Ugly Duckling, Beauty and the Beast, and more. It’s entirely devoid of illustrations, though – just the text. Still, if you are looking for some classic bedtime reading for your little ones, this is a free book that could go a long way towards educating them in the classics.

A Tale Of Two Cities

A Tale Of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens’s greatest classics, set in the late 18th century against the backdrop of the French revolution. It may not be light reading, but it’s supposed to be exceptional. If you do read it, tell me how it was.

Final Thoughts

Free books for the Kindle are a mixed blessing. Sure, there are some lovely finds, but there is also an incredible amount of drivel, trash, and empty words. I wish Amazon would make it easier to filter books by price and minimum reviews. They let you sort by price and filter by “four stars or more”, but not by how many reviewers there are… and many, many books have a single five-star review.

Did I miss important free Kindle novels at Amazon? Let me know in the comments.

But as mentioned above, more and more people are switching over to the eBook side, whether it’s using a designated eReader, a tablet, a smartphone, or even a regular computer. If you love eBooks, it does not mean you have to forego your library habits! On the contrary, checking out eBooks is much easier than checking out actual books. This guide will show you how to merge eBooks with your love for the library, where available.

Finding A Local Library That Lends Kindle Books

The easiest way to lend out library eBooks on Kindle is by using Amazon’s Kindle public library books. While only available in local libraries in the US, Kindle books are a great choice since you don’t have to own an actual Kindle to read them. The free Kindle app is available for iOS and Android devices, and you can even read those books on your computer using Kindle Cloud Reader. But how can you find a library that lends Kindle books?

To start, head over here. This is a database of libraries and bookstores around the world which hold downloadable media.

Choose the “Library Search” tab to search for libraries. You can also use this site to search for titles or bookstores. In the search box, type in the name of your library, your city or a zip code. Note that you don’t need to include the state, the search does not support that.

You will now get a list of all the libraries which match your query. All these libraries (the US ones, anyway) also have Kindle books to lend.

Click on the library that’s closest to you, or one you already have a library card for, to access the downloadable media section of this library. If the name itself is not sufficient for you to recognize the specific library, the next page also contains the library’s complete address.

On this page you can also see what kinds of media are available in this library (audiobooks, eBooks, music, video). Click on the bottom link, as shown, to enter this section in the library.

Checking Out A Kindle Book

To actually check out a Kindle book from a library, you would need to have a library card and a PIN number with that library. Browse the eBooks the library offers, and when you’ve found the one you’d like to take out, find the Kindle version of it and add it to your cart. This part can look slightly different for each library.

You can now check out, using your library card ID and PIN number. Once you’ve checked it out, choose Get for Kindle. This will redirect you to Amazon’s Public Library Loan page for that title. After logging into Amazon, click on the “Deliver to” menu and choose your device (a Kindle, a tablet, a phone, etc.). Choose “Get library book” to send the book to your device.

Note that this option will only work if the device is connected to Wi-Fi. If you don’t have an available connection, you can simply download the file and upload it manually onto your device. The book will expire at the end of the loan period, which depends on your library. You will get an e-mail notification 3 days earlier, but no need to worry about heading to the library to return it!

And What If I’m Not From The US?

Although Amazon may have forgotten, we don’t all live in the US. Should this small fact exclude us from lending out eBooks? Not necessarily. While eBook lending outside the US is not supported by Amazon, it’s still possible to download eBooks from many libraries around the world, and read them on different devices.

To find local libraries that lend eBooks, head over here again and look for your library, same as above. You can also use the interactive map to browse for your library.

If your country is on the list, you can browse for libraries. After you’ve found a local library, access the downloadable media section, as seen above, and choose your book. You will now have the option to check it out in the ePub or PDF formats. You can read these eBook formats on multiple devices using apps such as iBooks for iOS, Aldiko for Android, or a PDF reader of your choosing for PDFs.

This may not be as convenient as lending out a Kindle book, but it is still a great way to enjoy library books without even having to leave your chair, and without having to worry about returning the book on time.

Where do you get your books? Do you prefer buying them or lending from a library? Do you have any experience with taking out Kindle books or other eBooks? Share in the comments!

Image credit: Shutterstock

Send to Kindle adds new ways for you to send any personal document from your PC to your Kindle device or Kindle app. From Windows Explorer, you can right-click a document and choose “Send to Kindle” from the context menu. This can be done on several documents at once, without opening them. From any Windows application that can print, choose Print and then choose “Send to Kindle” from the print dialogue.

When you first install Send to Kindle, it will prompt you for your Amazon credentials. After logging in, you can start sending documents to your devices. When you choose to send some documents, you will get to choose which device you want to send the documents to. This can be your Kindle device or any other device on which you have installed the free Kindle app. You can also choose to archive documents in your Kindle library, and re-download them again whenever you wish.

Surprisingly, it seems that you can send almost any text file to your Kindle. Every file you send gets automatically converted to PDF, and is then able to display correctly on your Kindle. This enables you to send all sorts of documents to your Kindle, or back them up in your Kindle library as a form of cloud backup.

What do you think of the new app? Are you going to be using this new functionality?

Source: Kindle Daily Post

If you’re familiar with the Android system then setting up your Kindle Fire should be pretty straightforward. However if this is all new to you or you have received a Kindle Fire as a gift and it has the sender’s Amazon details (the company adds these details when they dispatch their eBook reader devices) then you’ll need to know how to get started with this great tablet device.

Connecting To Wireless Networks

When you first switch on a new Amazon Kindle Fire, the device will attempt to get you connected to a local wireless network. This is to enable you to connect to your Amazon account and start using the Kindle store.

Any wireless networks in the vicinity will be displayed, so all you will need to do is tap the preferred hotspot and add the password or key string. You can use the Show password box to check what you’re entering is correct, useful for those complicated encrypted strings. Click Connect when you’re done.

Adding Your Amazon Account

You will then be prompted to enter your Amazon password, just below where your username is displayed. If the Kindle was bought by a friend or relative as a gift you will find that the device is registered to them, so you will need to deregister the device before you can add your own credentials.

As there is no cancel button you will need to tap the Settings icon in the top-right corner. From here, tap More… > My Account > Deregister and wait while the device clears the previous account.

A few moments later you will be able to add your own Amazon account and password. If you don’t already have these you can sign up online in just a few moments.

Syncing Your Kindle Library

With your Kindle Fire connected to the Internet and your Amazon account added to the device, you’re ready to start buying books to download to your device (although note that thousands of out-of-copyright classic titles are also available for free such as Project Gutenberg).

On the main screen on your Kindle (accessed via the Home button in the lower-left corner) you will see a largely empty set of shelves waiting to be filled with regularly-accessed apps and of course books that you’re reading. If you already have an Amazon account and have purchased Kindle titles previously, tap the Settings icon and then Sync to prompt the WhisperSync software to download your books to the device.

If you are yet to buy a book, simply hit the Amazon icon to gain instant access to the store and start browsing!

Configuring The Kindle Fire For Multimedia & The Internet

Your e-reader tablet is capable of so much more than reading books. With a Kindle Prime account you can download videos and music to the Kindle Fire, while a browser, email client and access to the Amazon app store are all available.

However unlike the original Kindle devices, the Kindle Fire doesn’t use the eye-friendly e-ink display. As a result there is a greater chance of eye strain when reading books on the LCD display. Fortunately there is a brightness control available via Settings > Display.

Similarly you may wish to alter the volume; this is something you can do via Settings > Volume. Extended options for both settings are available via Settings > More…

With your Kindle Fire now set up you will be ready to start downloading books, apps and games and checking your email.

Let us know if you managed to get everything working or not.  If you have just got a Kindle Fire for the first time, what do you think about it?  Love it or hate it?

But now Amazon’s iPad-optimized Kindle Store app, officially called Kindle Cloud Reader (see below), provides a better browsing experience than if you link to the regular version of the Kindle website.

This iPad-optimized version is not an app you download it from the iTunes App Store. Instead you get it by going here on your iPad and then adding it as a bookmark on your device’s home screen.

The iPad web version also links you to your downloaded Kindle books – the same ones that appear in your Kindle Reader app. To access your Kindle books, tap the Cloud Reader button in the top-right side of the page. Likewise, your Cloud Reader can be accessed from any computer-based web browser as well.

Interestingly, however, while you cannot make annotations to books in the Cloud Reader, you do get a better view of listed links to highlighted passages and bookmarks you make in the Kindle Reader.

It’s unfortunate that Amazon can’t provide all of these features in one mobile app, but for dedicated Kindle and iPad users, the Web-based version is a useful resource.

Source: Macworld

While the Kindle app still falls short in many areas, the recent updates do provide better functionality for e-book reading.

Personal Documents

Perhaps the best update for Kindle 2.9 app is a feature that allows Amazon members to e-mail personal documents to their Kindle app-supported device using a new Send-to-Kindle email address ([assigned name]@kindle.com.)

You can attach documents and other files, including PDFs, Word files, JPEGs and PNGs, on your computer or in your mobile device to the address associated with your Amazon account. Amazon says that “A subject is not necessary in the e-mail, unless you’d prefer to have the document converted to the Kindle format. To have a document converted to Kindle format (.azw), the subject line should be ‘convert’ when e-mailing the personal document to a Send-to-Kindle address.”

In order to use the Kindle annotation features, text documents must be converted to the Kindle format. However, in my tests some parts of say a PDF document—the table of contents for example—may not format correctly in the .azw conversion.

Other people can also send documents to your device after you approve their e-mail address. You will need to log into your Manage Your Kindle account, and select Personal Document Settings to add and improve e-mail addresses. This authorization, of course, keeps your account from being spammed.

There are some restrictions to this personal documents feature, such as submitted e-mails to your Amazon account cannot contain more than 25 attached personal documents, and it must target less than 15 distinct Send-to-Kindle addresses.

This personal documents feature enables users to do less printing, and it is also convenient for keeping your documents archived in the cloud.

Magazines and Newspapers

This Kindle update version for the iPad now also allows Amazon customers to select from over 400 magazines and newspapers in the Kindle Store. You can buy single issues or subscribe to magazines like, Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times, and Popular Science.

Some Kindle customers however have commented that the digital versions of publications may not be as good production wise as the printed versions, so be sure to check the customer feedback section before making a purchase.

The User Interface

The Kindle app also includes an updated user interface, so that now downloaded content is categorized by All Items, Books, Newsstand, Docs. Kindle books and personal documents can also be archived to your account in order to reduce the amount of space taken up on your mobile device.

It would be great, however, if there were a section for purchased Kindle books separate from sample copies of Kindle e-books.

Social Network Sharing

The prior update to the Kindle app includes a feature for sharing selected texts to your Twitter or Facebook timeline, via a link to the highlighted passage which appears on your Kindle profile page.

I’m not sure how useful this feature is for sharing with online contacts, but I find it handy for my own reading and review purposes. You can actually access and read your highlights and notes in your Kindle account. You can also follow and network with other Kindle readers .

As an avid Kindle book reader, I welcome the new app updates, but I still long for improvements with the annotation tools. Accessing and reviewing notes, highlights, and bookmarks is not a productive experience, especially for students and scholars, in the Kindle e-reader.

Let us know what you think of the new updates. Have you started reading more ebooks on your Kindle? And what additional features would you like to see.

For other articles about the Kindle app, start with these:

• How To Use The Amazon Kindle Reader For The iPhone & iPod Touch
• iBooks Vs. Kindle – Which Is Better? [iPad]
• Reading Ebooks on The iPad with iBooks & Amazon Kindle

One of these missing apps is Kindle. While you will easily find Amazon’s eBook reading app on the HP TouchPad in the USA, outside of the country (in places such as Europe and Australia) Kindle isn’t listed in the HP App Catalog. As tablets are popularly used for reading, this is clearly disappointing. Thankfully, however, there is a way of installing the webOS Kindle app on HP TouchPads in territories where the app is unavailable.

So Why Is the HP TouchPad Kindle App US-only?

Well, to begin with it depends on your definition of “US-only”. For many TouchPad users in North America, the Kindle app is an easy to use and enjoyable eBook reading experience. But these are the lucky ones. Thanks to some initial confusion or a problem with the app (the reason has never been made clear) the Amazon Kindle app was shipped with some first wave TouchPads but then removed from later devices, replaced with a placeholder “coming soon” app.

Fortunately, if your US-based TouchPad doesn’t have a working Kindle app, you can now find it via the HP App Catalog.

Preparing Your HP TouchPad

Before proceeding to install the Kindle app on your HP TouchPad, you will need to download a few tools (this method can be used on Windows and Mac OS X). The first thing you should do is head to this link and download the Kindle .ipk file. An .ipk is the installer file format used on webOS.

After doing this, download the webOS Quick Install software from here. This is a tool that allows the testing of unapproved applications on webOS devices such as the HP TouchPad, and requires you to have Java installed on your computer (available from here).

Next, connect your HP TouchPad to your computer using the supplied USB cable. The Connected dialogue box will appear, but you can select Close to continue – the USB Drive mode cannot be used for this process. You will then need to find Developer Mode, revealed by typing the following string into the search box: webos20090606

Tap the Developer Mode icon to proceed and then slide the switch in the top-right corner to activate; you may be prompted for a password, but click Submit to bypass this.

The next stage is to run the downloaded webOSQuickInstall-4.3.1.jar (you might have a different version) file and follow any prompts to download additional software (such as the Novacom driver for creating a stable connection between your computer and the tablet).

Installing The Kindle App

With all of the above installed and running, adding the Kindle app – which is in beta so might be slightly unreliable at times – is a simple task.

The webOS Quick Install application on your desktop computer will display a largely empty screen with a handful of buttons, including + and – on the right-hand side. Click the + button to browse for the previously downloaded Kindle .ipk, which will have a filename in the form of com.palm.app.kindle_0.11.499820_all.ipk (although the version number at the end may differ). Select this file and then click the Install button and wait a few moments.

When the process is complete the .ipk file will no longer be listed in the Files to Install section of the webOS Quick Install application, so you will be free to close the software (it can be relaunched by running webOSQuickInstall-4.3.1.jar).

Next, double-tap the menu button on your HP TouchPad and go to the Downloads tab where you will find the Amazon Kindle app listed. Tap to launch and enter your credentials (or register) to continue.

A few moments later, the main screen of the app will appear. If you have used Kindle in the past,  your books will be listed; otherwise you will be prompted to visit the Amazon Kindle store, where you will find free and paid-for titles to download direct to your TouchPad.

Reading Books On Your TouchPad

Amazon’s Kindle app provides similar functionality to tablets and mobile phones as can be found on the popular dedicated eBook reader. Utilizing an Amazon account and providing access to the Kindle store, the app allows the user to download free out-of-copyright titles (such as the works of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens) as well as find the latest titles to download and read on their device.

With versions available for Mac, iOS, Android, Windows and Windows Phone, Kindle apps extend the functionality of the dedicated device to users of other hardware, often those for whom an Amazon Kindle app would be desirable if it didn’t mean carrying multiple devices. The HP TouchPad version of Kindle is just as good as the others and will allow you to download and enjoy books on your tablet wherever you are.

If you are a HP Touchpad owner, and you tried to download the Kindle app using this method, let us know if you were successful.  Or maybe you know of another way to install the Kindle app on the Touchpad?

Is the report justified? Are online retailers like Amazon responsible for this, and why? What can revitalise the high-street?

Is it that bad?

First off, referring to it as a ‘crisis’ is perhaps a little dramatic and mostly just a headline grabber. Even Amazon admits that it needs brick and mortar stores to drive sales for devices like it’s new Kindle Fire. Though many will be sold online, the majority of consumers will heading out to the shops to get a little hands-on time when deciding on a tablet purchase this Christmas – and that’s where Amazon needs to reel them in.

Though we don’t have the new Fire in the UK yet, the Kindle line has a strong presence even in supermarket retailers such as Tesco – alongside the iPad – while other tablet devices remain noticeably absent.

We also need to bear in mind that a large proportion of the population is still very far from what most of us would define as “tech savvy”, and many remain distrustful of online retailers in general. There is simply too large of a “digital divide” for the high street to be in that much trouble in the foreseeable future.

If my own purchasing habits can be considered a good indicator though, I can tell you now that I’ve placed an average of three orders a month with Amazon, whilst only visiting the high street only once a month. My spend on Amazon is 100 times what I’ve spent on the high street. So why is Amazon winning out – for me at least?

Cost

It’s fair to say that in the majority of cases Amazon has a product for cheaper. The Amazon app makes it ridiculously easy to do a price check while looking at a physical product, allowing you to quickly compare and add it straight to your online basket. They’ve even gone so far as to undercut high street retailers by offering a discount if you walk into a high street store and scan an item, then purchase through Amazon instead. While most of us will agree this is pretty despicable business practice, I’m sure we secretly all appreciate the savings – especially at this time of year.

Service

I hate to say it England, but I’m sick of the level of service – is this really the best you can do? The typical attitude of retail staff seems to be “for god’s sake, why are you buying this? Just hurry up and bugger off so I can get back to sitting here”. If you want to know how to do good service, go to Japan. They even bow to you. And yes, I have worked in retail before – over the Christmas period no less – so don’t think I don’t know how crappy it can be.

Excuse me if I don’t feel the need to put myself through that. Amazon has always been polite to me, and even makes suggestions for other things I might like. Service – as one of the few things physical retail stores should be able to one-up an internet site – is miserably pathetic for the most part.

Convenience

Parking charges, crowds, queuing – it all adds up to an inconvenient day out. If I can buy the same item online – saving money and time – that’s more time I can spend at home, with my family, enjoying the rest of my life.

The Solution?

The one thing that online retailers cannot offer is an experience, yet most high street retailers are failing miserably there too. One example of a technology retailer that got this spot on is Apple – whose retail stores continue to outshine any others in terms of revenue per square meter. Why is that? Well, not only are the Apple stores a thing of physical beauty – awe inspiring architectural structures – but they also play host to the genius bar, as well as tutorial sessions and events focused around the creative ethos. In short, they create an experience – not just a sale.

Personally, I think the solution is not to try simply try and restore the status quo of the traditional high street filled with retailers, but instead to turn the high street into a more social gathering. That’s something which online retailers simply cannot offer.

As an example from the 8 years I spent living in Kyoto, the biggest thing that drew me into town was not the shopping, but the entertainment centers. A popular high street destination there is called Round One, and for want of a better word – it’s a play center for adults open 24 hours a day. Paying by the hour – the multi-storey building are filled with arcade amusements, billiards, karaoke, bowling, even outdoor sports on the roof – all free play once you’ve paid your entrance fee.

These places make the center of town… a destination rather than a simple shopping trip. Markets and places of historical or cultural interest could do the same job, yet we continue to see the high street as primarily a retail location.

In conclusion, Amazon have played some pretty underhanded tactics to deliberately undercut high street stores, but in these times of cutbacks more than ever I appreciate any savings. I doubt retail shops will ever completely die out, just as books won’t be replaced by eBooks either – yet is certainly a disturbing trend. More high street retailers are disappearing, and online spending continues to grow – that part is no lie. As the next generation of consumers grow up in a world where online transactions are no longer feared – the digital divide will be broken down further. One thing is for certain – the high street in 10 years time will look quite different to how it is today.

How about you? Do you do most of your shopping online? What do you think the high street can offer that Amazon doesn’t? Are US high streets facing the same ‘crisis’ as the UK? Let us know in the comments!