On Nov. 19, 2007, Amazon released the Kindle in hopes of revolutionizing the book industry as we know it. Now, almost three years after its initial release, the Kindle is still under heavy scrutiny by industry elites and avid book-readers alike.

According to a recent article, “Publish or Perish” from The New Yorker, e-books are booming. Although they account for only an estimated 3 to 5 percent of the book market, their sales increased 177 percent in 2009, and it was projected that they would eventually account for between 25 and 50 percent of all books sold. The front-runner for these statistics is the Kindle, which offers more than 500,000 titles to choose from, including many out-of-copyright pre-1923 books.

At first glance, the Kindle is certainly a sight to behold — the sleek design is lightweight at 10.2 ounces and compact at one-third of an inch thick. It allows you to carry a library of up to 1,500 books, taking no more than a minute for one to be delivered wirelessly to your reader.

Alyssa Canter, a sophomore majoring in human development, explains how the Kindle makes juggling different books easier for her.

“I often find myself reading more than one book at a time, and the Kindle makes it more efficient for me. Instead of having to carry around several paper books, making by bag heavier, the Kindle allows me to store all of them in one place,” Canter said.

With our society very much accustomed to receiving instant results, skeptics will be happy to know that the most recent model of the electronic reader, the Kindle 2, is 3G-capable. This makes it possible to download books no matter where you are, without having to pay a fee or search for wireless “hotspots.” Another bonus to the newest edition of the Kindle is that the cost has dropped significantly from its debut at $399 to its current price of $259. Potential Kindle owners looking to save even more money on the e-reader can buy used ones from Amazon.com starting at $214.

Even with all its appealing features, the Kindle hasn’t managed to completely win over American readers. Many people feel that there is something nostalgic about being able to hold a book and hear the crinkling of its pages as they turn them.

Sam Green, a sophomore majoring in financial engineering, explains how he will not be persuaded to read via Kindle.

“My parents wanted to get me the Kindle DX [an edition with a much larger screen] so I could keep all my school textbooks on there. I tested one out, but didn’t like how it felt. I’m more comfortable reading a physical book where I can turn the actual pages and absorb more of what I’m reading,” Green said.

Another downside to ditching real books for a Kindle is that you can’t resell or share your e-books. One of the features of paper books that readers have been enjoying for centuries is the ability to sell them back once they’re done, so that other people who can’t afford new books can enjoy them as well. On top of that, Kindle owners can only buy books from Amazon, essentially allowing the company to form a monopoly on e-books.

Although it may not be perfect, Amazon continues its attempts to work out the kinks of the Kindle.

The Kindle 2 boasts several new features, including six different font sizes and a text-to-speech option that can read out loud to you. The New York Times’ best sellers and new releases are now offered through Amazon starting at only $9.99 to help reduce costs for readers. Additionally, Amazon created the “Kindle for PC” and “Kindle for iPhone” apps, which allow you to access your e-book purchases on your computer, iPhone and iPod Touch even if you don’t have your Kindle with you.

If you aren’t yet a Kindle convert, after seeing these new features you might find that regular paper books leave something to be desired.