E-book industry counts on cell phones

[TadW]

Small recap of where e-books came from and where we stand today:

Cell phones are great for saying hello, dashing off short messages and snapping paparazzi pictures.

Soon, you could be reading "War and Peace" on them, too.

At least that's the hope of the electronic-book industry, which is struggling to justify years of hype.

More: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twinci...incities_books

[Bob Russell]

And from the article

Audible, a company that pioneered downloads of audio books more than a decade ago, said it is devising more ways to marry text with audio. Imagine listening to an audio book on the road, then sitting in your den to resume reading where the audio left off.

But clicking through a novel, three paragraphs per click, can prove tedious, as a reporter discovered a few years ago when "Timeline" came out. IDPF president Steve Potash said the experience has improved, even on cell phones.

"I can assure you, if you started reading a novel now, in two minutes you would forget it's a handheld, and you'd be reading it," Potash said.

Great quote there from Steve Potash about forgetting it's a handheld. That's the way I feel about reading on a Treo... it's a great experience and even helps my eyes out compared to reading a paperback. But on a cell phone, I hope we see "real" books and not "made-for-cell" books of dubious quality. Audiobooks might be the bigger boom for cell phones. Seems like a perfect fit. On the other hand, cell phones are going to get better and better screens, so maybe the ebook thing really will work there.