10-17-2006, 03:11 AM | #1 | |
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Why aren't e-books more successful? - by Walt Crawford
This is the 2nd piece we've posted from Walt Crawford recently. This time the topic of discussion is one which is probably on the lips of serveral Sony execs.
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Oh and for all those who wonder 'Why Arent Ebooks More Successful?' it's because these folks haven't released an e-ink device yet. (biased naaaah) |
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10-17-2006, 09:16 AM | #2 |
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I agree. An Apple e-ink would be so Cooooool!
When they get it out it will be color fer shure! Has anybody seen legalese movements for text acquisition by Apple ? |
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10-17-2006, 09:24 AM | #3 |
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I think Apple getting into e-books is like the mythical Mac Tablet or the iPhone.
Maybe I will be proven wrong on the iPhone at some point, but I just don't see Apple getting into a market they would have so little control of. I think it more likely that Apple would just add electronic texts to the iPod so they have another bullet point of features, but even then I can't see how they'd make the user interface attractive in that instance. |
10-17-2006, 09:32 AM | #4 |
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I wasnt intending this to be an Apple'esque thread. Ipods or any portable media player great. But I do like some devices to remain unique.. e.g. I love the idea of a dedicated ebook reader like the PRS-500. - I must be getting old or something.
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10-17-2006, 09:56 AM | #5 | |
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Take cars for instance, if you need a truck to carry stuff, you use a truck, not a car. To get from point a to point b you use a car because fuel is wasted with a truck. To me the mix of both like SUVs is total waste because it does not do both adequately. I like my gadgets dedicated. |
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10-17-2006, 10:56 AM | #6 |
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Amen to that - not to dis' other members who are passionate about reading on multi-functional PDA's etc. but since getting a Sony Reader I honestly can say I would never go back. For me it is night and day. Despite some shortcomings, the 'dedicated reader' features - screen, size, bookmarks, battery life etc. really win out. Reading this morning over coffee at a local place, I realized it's almost like a totallly different personalized reading experience. From a marketing standpoint, the hard part (I imagine) is most probably coaxing an increasingly non-literate public to try e-books.
I recently spoke with a young man (college educated etc.) who actually believes that books in general are absolutely un-necessary. He gets all the information he needs (so he thinks) from other media (internet, video, audio etc.). He is not unintelligent and had well-thought out (and utterly wrong of course ) reasoning for his views. Some days I think he might be representative of his generation and others I think and hope not. I certainly do not believe that e-books alone will entice non-readers back into the reading fold. How sad though, if 20 years from now, absolutely perfect, low-cost digital books and readers appear and no-one around who cares to read anymore. A whole generation lost to video screens. ah well... |
10-17-2006, 11:07 AM | #7 |
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Probably a kid stuck in the "Dick and Jane" saga. I often wonder what happened to them?
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10-17-2006, 11:44 AM | #8 |
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I think eBooks will succeed because the industry wants it to happen. Yes, it may take several generations of devices and content developers, but ultimately this is what they want to happen. Rarely does a company come out with a revolutionary idea that catches on immediately (the original Palm Pilot would be an exception). For the rest, it takes a long, long time. Very few people actually envisioned back in the late 1940s and early 1950s that I'd have a need or a want for a MacBook. Nor did they envision people running entire daily lives in Terminal Services sessions from their homes.
Ebooks will happen. |
10-17-2006, 12:07 PM | #9 |
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I think you are all missing the point that Crawford (and others) make: the printed book works, so why switch? Over and over I keep hearing from the computer crowd that ereaders are terrific because they allow us to carry several (80, I think, on the Sony reader) books at once. So what! Virtually everyone I know who reads (my wife, my daughter and I are long-time readers) reads ONE BOOK at a time, ok maybe two. So what difference does it make that I can carry many? Absolutely none. Nor do most people care about changing fonts, darkening type, etc... It is this contentment with what exists that stands in the way of success for ebooks, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
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10-17-2006, 12:15 PM | #10 | |
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Quote:
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10-17-2006, 12:20 PM | #11 |
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Yah, jęd, but radleyp's point is that we're not exactly typical.
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10-17-2006, 12:22 PM | #12 |
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You can not change from paper to e-books (I hate the p-book word ) completely. Paper is the back-up. Never forget it. E-books are only a practical, temporary state of the book. I favor having both.
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10-17-2006, 01:14 PM | #13 |
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"So what difference does it make that I can carry many?" Simple answer: ever finish a book whan you're not at home?
"Nor do most people care about changing fonts, darkening type, etc... ". Just wait until you're 60. You'll care a lot! |
10-17-2006, 01:31 PM | #14 | |
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10-17-2006, 01:36 PM | #15 |
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I think book storage is big issue for many of us. I like paper books, but I don't have room for them all. Plus, I like instant gratification of being able to download a book and not have to order it or go to the store. I think they have a point, though; MP3 players worked for the above reasons, for sure, but also because people actually want a lot of choice of what music to listen to when they're out and about. That will never be exactly the same for books. Maybe what we're really waiting for is an e-reader/web browser/PC that has the amazing e-ink-like screen technology, but in color and without the weird redraw issues. When that convergence happens, I think ebooks will take off.
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