MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why aren't e-books more successful?

wgrimm · 11-10-2006, 01:08 PM

I have some opinions about "why e-books aren't more successful" and much experience with various readers. First of all, to date, the best e-book readers I have owned are PalmPilots and the RocketBook/Reb1150. Palmpilots because of ereader.com, RocketBook because of the screen and ease of getting html into the reader. I recently bought a Sony reader, and am very disappointed in the "PDF support." Very difficult to take a commercial pdf (for example, one I download from a publisher's site after buying the hardcopy book) and read it. The most readable pdf's are the ones distilled with 18pt or larger fonts and for 5.24 X 6.69 page size.

Anyways, here is why e-books aren't as "successful" as the sellers wish-

1. Greed. If I can go to Borders and buy a new hardcover for $20, I should be able to buy the ebook for less than half price. Printing and transport costs account for over 40% of the price of a book. My guess is, the publishers could probably revamp their model and sell the $20 hardback for $5 in ebook form and make it work.

2. Problems with readers. For ease of use and comfort, the Rebs beat everything to date. I am amazed that Sony could make their readers so "un-ergonomic." Lovely screen and great battery life, but crappy design.

3. Crappy reader software/proprietary formats. Many users want to put their OWN content on their readers. As long as stores- like Gemstar and Sony Connect stay with their unrealistic pricing, their business model will fail. Make it hard for readers to put their own content on a device, you will fail. Why is it so hard for the manufacturers to realize this?

4. Crappy e-book stores. The best e-book store is ereader.com, for Palm readers. Nice selection, but they could lower prices. If someone could offer the list that ereader.com does, at lower prices, they would corner this market.

5. Book publishers with their collective heads up their rear ends. These are the people that won't embrace this technology, not the user. Do we have to let China pave the way with low-cost textbooks deployed on ebook readers? Greed rears its ugly head here again. Greed and fear of change.

Here is how Sony could make their reader a big hit, the "ipod" of the ebook world-

1. Redesign the unit to make reading as easy on it as it is on the Rocketbook. maybe add a backlight.
2. Do something in firmware or software (conversion program) to REALLLY support PDF format. If I download a book from Manning, for example, it oughta work- njo changes needed- on the reader.
3. Give away good conversion software- html, chm, etc. to Sony format so that people can put their own content on the device.
4. Release specs on the OS for developers and on the file formats used.
5. Work with publishers to offer a wide selection of ebooks online, and to price these fairly.

I'm getting very tired of all the disappointments that ebooks and readers have to offer. And of all the work it requires to put non-purchased content on these devices.

11-10-2006, 01:08 PM	#83
wgrimm Addict Posts: 230 Karma: 334908 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: multiple	I have some opinions about "why e-books aren't more successful" and much experience with various readers. First of all, to date, the best e-book readers I have owned are PalmPilots and the RocketBook/Reb1150. Palmpilots because of ereader.com, RocketBook because of the screen and ease of getting html into the reader. I recently bought a Sony reader, and am very disappointed in the "PDF support." Very difficult to take a commercial pdf (for example, one I download from a publisher's site after buying the hardcopy book) and read it. The most readable pdf's are the ones distilled with 18pt or larger fonts and for 5.24 X 6.69 page size. Anyways, here is why e-books aren't as "successful" as the sellers wish- 1. Greed. If I can go to Borders and buy a new hardcover for $20, I should be able to buy the ebook for less than half price. Printing and transport costs account for over 40% of the price of a book. My guess is, the publishers could probably revamp their model and sell the $20 hardback for $5 in ebook form and make it work. 2. Problems with readers. For ease of use and comfort, the Rebs beat everything to date. I am amazed that Sony could make their readers so "un-ergonomic." Lovely screen and great battery life, but crappy design. 3. Crappy reader software/proprietary formats. Many users want to put their OWN content on their readers. As long as stores- like Gemstar and Sony Connect stay with their unrealistic pricing, their business model will fail. Make it hard for readers to put their own content on a device, you will fail. Why is it so hard for the manufacturers to realize this? 4. Crappy e-book stores. The best e-book store is ereader.com, for Palm readers. Nice selection, but they could lower prices. If someone could offer the list that ereader.com does, at lower prices, they would corner this market. 5. Book publishers with their collective heads up their rear ends. These are the people that won't embrace this technology, not the user. Do we have to let China pave the way with low-cost textbooks deployed on ebook readers? Greed rears its ugly head here again. Greed and fear of change. Here is how Sony could make their reader a big hit, the "ipod" of the ebook world- 1. Redesign the unit to make reading as easy on it as it is on the Rocketbook. maybe add a backlight. 2. Do something in firmware or software (conversion program) to REALLLY support PDF format. If I download a book from Manning, for example, it oughta work- njo changes needed- on the reader. 3. Give away good conversion software- html, chm, etc. to Sony format so that people can put their own content on the device. 4. Release specs on the OS for developers and on the file formats used. 5. Work with publishers to offer a wide selection of ebooks online, and to price these fairly. I'm getting very tired of all the disappointments that ebooks and readers have to offer. And of all the work it requires to put non-purchased content on these devices.