God goes digital: UK hotel replaces Bibles with Kindles

By Trevor Mogg
Provided by

A hotel in Newcastle, England has decided to do away with the paper version of the bible placed in each of its 148 rooms and replace it with a Kindle e-reader pre-loaded with the religious text.

But if cosying up with the Scriptures of an evening isn't your idea of a riveting night-time read, you're also welcome to download any other religious-based book for free, as long as its value doesn't exceed £5 (just under $8).

And if you're still struggling for something engaging, you can delve into Amazon's online store and simply download any book you like, with the full cost of the publication being added to your bill.

Hotel Indigo's manager, Adam Munday, told the Telegraph that the idea to go digital with the Bible was inspired by Newcastle's literary heritage – in the 1700s the northern city was one of the most important print centers in the UK, and is also home to the country's biggest independent library outside of London – the Literary and Philosophical Society – which holds more than 150,000 books.

"We wanted to reflect this literary history in a very contemporary way, so are offering guests the use of cutting-edge Kindles pre-loaded with the Bible, instead of the more traditional hardcopy Gideons Bible that they would expect to find in a hotel," Munday said.

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This article was originally posted on Digital Trends