[charlesatan]

More at http://www.informationweek.com/news/...bile/240001963

The State Department plans to award a contract to Amazon to purchase thousands of Kindle e-readers for use in its offices around the world.

Valued at up to $16.5 million over five years, the contract calls for an initial order of 2,500 Kindles, to be distributed to libraries, cultural centers, reading rooms, and other "American spaces" operated by the State Department, according to department spokeswoman. There are such locations around the globe. "These are kind of like little American information centers, where they can look at copies of magazines, U.S. reference books, books on the American political system, history," and other topics, she said.

...

In its justification for the sole-source contract, the State Department pointed to the Kindle's text-to-speech capability, as well as its extended battery life and international power adapters, as required features that weren't available with other e-readers. The department said it "identified the Amazon Kindle as the only e-Reader on the market that meets the government's needs, and Amazon as the only company possessing the essential capabilities required by the government."