Questions have come up regarding "magnets" or magnetic closures and eReaders. Will they harm your device? Simple answer is....no.
Technology has come a L-O-N-G way in the last 10 years when people were warned about keeping their electronic devices, floppy discs and the like away from magnets. You can certainly form your own opinions but by all I have read regarding the matter magnetic closures on a eReader cover will do NO harm. In fact when the first Kindle came out it actually had a MAGNET that helped "hold" it to the leather cover that was an accessory item.
Here are some of the comments I found while doing research on the issue, some more "scientific" than others, others more "humorous".
Quotes taken from Kindle Boards
"There are no magnetic drives in the Kindle that would be affected by anything that is somewhat magnetic."
"Kindle exposure to magnets waves in non-commercial usages are absolutely no problem."
"The electromagnet pulse from a nuclear bomb will destroy unshielded electronics. Therefore, I would avoid exploding a nuclear bomb within, say, a five-mile radius of your Kindle. The actual radius will vary with the strength of the bomb."
From Yahoo "Answers":
"My Amazon Kindle cover uses magnets to snap closed. I have a small room with numerous electronic devices (LCD monitors, a laptop, an external hard drive, a cell phone, a watch); also, I like to carry both my Kindle and my laptop in my bookbag. What I'm wondering is, are these magnets in the Kindle cover strong enough to damage anything, or should I quit worrying about being careful? (Obviously, they do no harm to the Kindle itself....)"
Answer:
"Your question is valid although I believe your concern is not. It's true magnets can effect digital storage and many other electronic devices. The strength of the magnet you describe is not enough to do any damage."
Google has literally pages of questions and answers regarding magnetic closures and eReaders....none of them "warn" or say they will harm an eReader. As always, you must form your own opinions on the matter, but I am convinced that they do no harm.
3 comments:
that's nice to know. Thanks for taking the time to research this! Love your Kindle carriers - though I don't have a Kindle yet... {:-Deb
Thanks for the information!
Yes, flash and solid state memory are 'immune' to magnets. And even if they weren't the magnet in the closure is probably not enough to hurt. But magnets do affect electromagnet fields.
While I know all of this (as I answer questions like this every day as a help desk analyst), why take the chance that it might?
From another point of view, magnets do have a bad reputation when it comes to electronic devices. The very fact that you're posting this shows that. So why use it? Yeah, they're neat and all, but there are other neat ways of holding things closed that don't have a bad reputation. That's going to drive off potential customers regardless of the truth. So simply from a marketing angle, it doesn't make sense to use them.
That's my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary.
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