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the immediacy of print and the snatched few paragraphs or a quick revision of basic facts are all lost in the digital world. Even so, anyone who uses this device for pleasure rather than work will quickly become immersed in the story rather than the technology.
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This is a point that I constantly try to make with potential e-book readers, and I wish the article had said a bit more on that. Still, this article was more of an Iliad review than a declaration about e-books, wasn't it?
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For those concerned with next-generation users, this device could herald as big a change as the internet did. The next generation of readers place little value on tactile objects – just like modern music consumers have no interest in record and CD sleeves. They just want the content, and whether it comes from a blog or MySpace site matters little. MP3 music adoption has already reached this stage; e-book readers like the iLiad could do the same for the written word.
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Another point I make with
older readers who insist e-books will never take off: "It's the content, stupid." Here, Chillingworth seems to say that the e-book will be as big as the MP3 player, and as big as the internet... which I would argue is a lot bigger than the MP3 player!
But if you can imagine people carrying tons of
knowledge, not just entertainment, in an e-book reader... then I can see e-books becoming much bigger than the entertainment-centric MP3 player, and rivalling the internet...