MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - There ain't no Harry Potter magic in e-books

nekokami · 02-08-2007, 05:08 PM

Interesting, if old, article here: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...7367_114192957

According to this, publishers don't think kid's ebooks will sell the way adult ebooks do. (Never mind for the moment that the Harry Potter series is so popular with adults that they publish a separate edition with more subdued covers in the UK and Canada, so adults won't embarrass themselves on the train, I guess.) The overall consensus seems to be that kids don't have devices worth reading books on. Yes, I know e ink is wonderful, but the devices are still very expensive considering functionality offered compared to, say, a Nintendo DS for $129 or an iPod Nano for $149. (Yes, I'd rather have an ebook reader than a DS, too. But we're talking about how kids spend their money, not us die-hard book fans.) And the devices haven't been marketed to kids, either. They've been marketed to "serious readers" and tech geeks. They don't come in multiple colors. They don't have many sorts of custom accessories. The text just sits there, when everything else in their ADD-inflicting lives moves at lightspeed.

I personally think the best chance eBooks have with kids is if they could be viewed on a Video iPod or a Nintendo DS or similar. Maybe certain kinds of phones. Not because these offer the best reading experiences, but because these are the devices the kids have. For an e ink reader to be successful, someone needs to come up with an application that is fascinating to kids and works with e ink, in addition to reading books, e.g. email or textmessaging or choose-your-own-adventure stories or (more likely) something I've never thought of. And the prices need to be slashed by about half.

I know it was a joke, but the custom Hogwarts e-reader pre-loaded with the whole series, in one of the four school House colors could actually help the situation, if Rowling would do it. Maybe a good way to convince her would be to bundle a whole bunch of other literature along with it, so she'd know that not only would the kids be reading her books, but they'd be exposed to tons of other material that she thinks would be good for them to read.

If anyone does decide to send her (or Jessica) a reader, let's make a custom sleeve for it with the Gryffindor colors and logo.

02-08-2007, 05:08 PM	#37
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Interesting, if old, article here: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...7367_114192957 According to this, publishers don't think kid's ebooks will sell the way adult ebooks do. (Never mind for the moment that the Harry Potter series is so popular with adults that they publish a separate edition with more subdued covers in the UK and Canada, so adults won't embarrass themselves on the train, I guess.) The overall consensus seems to be that kids don't have devices worth reading books on. Yes, I know e ink is wonderful, but the devices are still very expensive considering functionality offered compared to, say, a Nintendo DS for $129 or an iPod Nano for $149. (Yes, I'd rather have an ebook reader than a DS, too. But we're talking about how kids spend their money, not us die-hard book fans.) And the devices haven't been marketed to kids, either. They've been marketed to "serious readers" and tech geeks. They don't come in multiple colors. They don't have many sorts of custom accessories. The text just sits there, when everything else in their ADD-inflicting lives moves at lightspeed. I personally think the best chance eBooks have with kids is if they could be viewed on a Video iPod or a Nintendo DS or similar. Maybe certain kinds of phones. Not because these offer the best reading experiences, but because these are the devices the kids have. For an e ink reader to be successful, someone needs to come up with an application that is fascinating to kids and works with e ink, in addition to reading books, e.g. email or textmessaging or choose-your-own-adventure stories or (more likely) something I've never thought of. And the prices need to be slashed by about half. I know it was a joke, but the custom Hogwarts e-reader pre-loaded with the whole series, in one of the four school House colors could actually help the situation, if Rowling would do it. Maybe a good way to convince her would be to bundle a whole bunch of other literature along with it, so she'd know that not only would the kids be reading her books, but they'd be exposed to tons of other material that she thinks would be good for them to read. If anyone does decide to send her (or Jessica) a reader, let's make a custom sleeve for it with the Gryffindor colors and logo.