Transbook - Finally a Term For an Ereader that we can all pronounce

[poohbear_nc]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...GHTTopCarousel

In a WSJ article lauding the launch of the international K2 as important as the birth of print and the shift from scrolls to books with bound pages, the writer introduces the term "transbook" to replace "e-reader" -- "So far the new technology has been called the "e-reader," a term obviously picked by engineers, not poets. In literary terms it's a transbook, by which I mean that it is the book which can contain all books."

Although the article focuses solely on the Kindle, the sentiments and predictions can easily be extended to all ereaders, err, transbooks.

In particular: "Why are so many writers so afraid of this staggeringly wonderful possibility? A book is a singular object that can contain many voices, but the transbook has the potential to be a singular object containing all voices. It is not just another kind of media; it is the dream of ultimate text."

This is the first article that reads as if it were written by someone who loves to read, and who truly appreciates the place of transbooks in the future of reading.

[susan_cassidy]

Transbook - I don't think so. What's wrong with e-reader?

[K-Thom]

Transbook - a word indeed so full of poetry only writers could come up with it ...

To paraphrase the Rocky Horror Picture Show:

"I'm just a sweet trans-e-book [chorus: sweet trans-e-book!]
from transliteral Trans-e-readian!

So you got caught with DRM, well, how about them?
Well, readers, don't you panic
which has spoiled your ePub, just you give it a snub
I'll get you a satanic mechanic.

I'm just a ... " [rest to follow ]

[brecklundin]

I like it....I was thinking Hyperbook but that is kinda well, eh...not so much, but I like Transbook...it works for what to call the new class of devices. It implies not just books but other uses...

but watch people will edit it down to t-book(s)...hahaha...

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

After being introduced to Dan Bloom's attempts to create a new word to denote "reading on a screen," ie, "screeding" or whatever word may be devised, I find myself wondering if everyone isn't over-thinking this whole naming thing.

Sure, maybe using "e-reader" for a device is tough because it gets confused with the "e-reader" format... maybe "device" or "e-book hardware" doesn't roll off the tongue the way "Kindle" or "liseuse" does. We haven't even come to a consensus over the spelling of "e-book" vs "ebook."

Maybe Stephen, a self-styled "pop-culture columnist," is too much of a poet, that he himself doesn't fully comprehend the utility of a reading device... hence, "transbook," a name that's actually more clumsy and ultimately inaccurate than "e-reader." E-book readers don't "transcend a book"; they collect and organize libraries. They are personal libraries. Name that.

But are the problems and issues that hover over this new industry going to be solved with a clever word or catch-phrase? If it were that simple, then between "Kindle" and "iPhone," I'd say we'd already be a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Give the naming exercises a rest, and concentrate on creating a healthy industry. The names will come on their own.

[zacheryjensen]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...GHTTopCarousel

In a WSJ article lauding the launch of the international K2 as important as the birth of print and the shift from scrolls to books with bound pages, the writer introduces the term "transbook" to replace "e-reader" -- "So far the new technology has been called the "e-reader," a term obviously picked by engineers, not poets. In literary terms it's a transbook, by which I mean that it is the book which can contain all books."

Although the article focuses solely on the Kindle, the sentiments and predictions can easily be extended to all ereaders, err, transbooks.

In particular: "Why are so many writers so afraid of this staggeringly wonderful possibility? A book is a singular object that can contain many voices, but the transbook has the potential to be a singular object containing all voices. It is not just another kind of media; it is the dream of ultimate text."

This is the first article that reads as if it were written by someone who loves to read, and who truly appreciates the place of transbooks in the future of reading.

I've never met a "real" person who calls them anything besides "kindle" and "that sony one" so I really don't think you're going to get anyone to adopt a ridiculous name like transbook, liseuse, or even ereader. You're going to get people calling them "Kindles" or whatever is popular.

At best you can expect eBook Reader to persist.

However, given the likely short future these dedicated devices even have, it's probably a moot point to worry about what we call them in society.

Of course, people have a really hard time realizing they are operating in an isolated microcosm on sites like this so I'm sure there will be no end to the disagreements on this matter long, long after the general public has forgotten about it. Just like the public forgot that "Kleenex" and "Windex" are brand names.

And finally, why would you call something that is most definitely not a book a "book" anyway? If it deserves any classic physical object applied as part of its name, these should probably be called tablets or slates or something. But, since they are technology meant to perform an operation, I favor sticking with "reader" and I don't see any special reason to capitalize it or further describe it with brands, or "e" or whatever. Especially because just saying "reader," in context it's obvious what you mean even if you are talking about an application on an iPhone or something. Before you jerk that knee, consider that programs meant to view files are usually called "viewers" and even that term is good enough for most of these devices considering how little your average reader device does beyond a regular file viewer. Seems like, for the sake of remembering your last position, and maybe for handling a specific set of file types, it magically gets a new name.

When it boils down to it, though, all these devices are just file viewers.

So let the flamefest begin

[ahi]

We should make up new words for every single thing out there that somebody cannot pronounce. It only makes sense!

- Ahi

[ekaser]

I'm not losing sleep over WHAT you call these things, because "these things" are EXTREMELY transitory. In 5 years (10 tops), people will laugh at the thought of having a device that does NOTHING except READ BOOKS. Once the devices start adding features (and if you don't think they will, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you...), the name will become generic, like tablet, slate, computer, etc.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

After being introduced to Dan Bloom's attempts to create a new word to denote "reading on a screen," ie, "screeding" or whatever word may be devised, I find myself wondering if everyone isn't over-thinking this whole naming thing.

Sure, maybe using "e-reader" for a device is tough because it gets confused with the "e-reader" format... maybe "device" or "e-book hardware" doesn't roll off the tongue the way "Kindle" or "liseuse" does. We haven't even come to a consensus over the spelling of "e-book" vs "ebook."

Maybe Stephen, a self-styled "pop-culture columnist," is too much of a poet, that he himself doesn't fully comprehend the utility of a reading device... hence, "transbook," a name that's actually more clumsy and ultimately inaccurate than "e-reader." E-book readers don't "transcend a book"; they collect and organize libraries. They are personal libraries. Name that.

But are the problems and issues that hover over this new industry going to be solved with a clever word or catch-phrase? If it were that simple, then between "Kindle" and "iPhone," I'd say we'd already be a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Give the naming exercises a rest, and concentrate on creating a healthy industry. The names will come on their own.

Good points and I see the logic...nobody will dictate the name for the devices but would offer that eventually a name will come from some innocent or intentional moniker in an article or whatever...and this term in the OP's post could easily fit that logic...to be dismissive is as counter productive as it might be to insist on it's use...acceptance is the first step.

[LDBoblo]

I'm not always very fond of gimmicky blends (blimmicks) myself, though ebook is already established enough to bypass too strong a judgment. Problem is that it infers limited reading media to just books.

If my 505 were a device I could read a variety of materials on, I'd call it a 數位閱讀器 in Chinese, since that's the only language people ask me about it in. Direct translation is "digital reading device" or "digital reader". Works fine for me, and I don't need the teat of brand identity to suck on, nor do I need to blend like a homeless poet paying by the letter in a classified ad.

My digital piano is a digital piano, not a digipiano. My digital camera is a digital camera, not a digicam (though I've heard that one plenty of times). Digital watch is not a digiwatch, and my digital music player is a DMP because I can pronounce it "dump", which adequately describes my feelings about it.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

I'm not always very fond of gimmicky blends (blimmicks) myself, though ebook is already established enough to bypass too strong a judgment. Problem is that it infers limited reading media to just books.

If my 505 were a device I could read a variety of materials on, I'd call it a 數位閱讀器 in Chinese, since that's the only language people ask me about it in. Direct translation is "digital reading device" or "digital reader". Works fine for me, and I don't need the teat of brand identity to suck on, nor do I need to blend like a homeless poet paying by the letter in a classified ad.

My digital piano is a digital piano, not a digipiano. My digital camera is a digital camera, not a digicam (though I've heard that one plenty of times). Digital watch is not a digiwatch, and my digital music player is a DMP because I can pronounce it "dump", which adequately describes my feelings about it.

Here people just call it 電子書 , electronic book(s). And that stands for both the readers and the books. People read more and more about it in the news these days, they see my Sony and almost everybody immediately recognizes it as a reader. I show them several Chinese books I have on my device and they love it. Though most feel the readers are still too expensive, I guess it is because they just go to the local bookstores and read the books there (sort of like a library without checking the books out). And there don't seem to be any websites for legal new books yet. But I read that will be coming soon.

[Journier]

I call mine an ereader. I read ebooks on it. Simple.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Here people just call it 電子書 , electronic book(s). And that stands for both the readers and the books. People read more and more about it in the news these days, they see my Sony and almost everybody immediately recognizes it as a reader. I show them several Chinese books I have on my device and they love it. Though most feel the readers are still too expensive, I guess it is because they just go to the local bookstores and read the books there (sort of like a library without checking the books out). And there don't seem to be any websites for legal new books yet. But I read that will be coming soon.

I know what people call the ebook devices now. You ignored my qualifier stating a device that is capable of more than just reading low quality books. I was merely willing to challenge the notion of the device as a simulated book...which is not an uncommon tendency at this stage. These things are still pretty poor books, and their saving grace will probably be diversified media.

Most people I show it to feign amazement at first, and then reveal disappointment once I explain it to them and show them the quirks and display problems. The things really aren't that good. Did you go see the proposed reader by 誠品 and 遠傳 some months back? More of the same, really. Still not particularly good, especially for Chinese if you want decent text quality. I always keep some Chinese books and typeface tests on mine just to show people.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

Transbook - I don't think so. What's wrong with e-reader?

+ + + +

I don't get why the existing term is being maligned as it is. Nothing wrong with ebook reader. Jeeze.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

...

Give the naming exercises a rest, and concentrate on creating a healthy industry. The names will come on their own.

Amen!