MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - E-books are "bound to fail"

Lucien21 · 04-29-2007, 05:54 PM

To be honest I do think the guy is probably at least partially correct.

In general people do prefer the feel and smell of a book and if you go to forums about books that is the single biggest complaint about e-books.

However I think that is a generational thing. I mean when I was young Vinyl was all the rage now look at the explosion of MP3 players etc. Most people wouldn't touch vinyl today.

For the same thing to happen to books is just a matter of time.

I think the Sony Reader etc are a step in the right direction, but they are no where near the ideal solution. IMO.

Things I see holding back the market.

* Lack of content and price (Songs sell on Itunes for cents)
* DRM - I don't want to be worrying that the books I buy will not play on future devices. PB doesn't have that problem.
* Price of units - $350 is way too high for mass market appeal. I break a PB i'm out a couple of quid. Break a Sony Reader i'm slightly more annoyed.
* Black and white - Needs to be high resolution colour to host comics/magazines etc
* battery life - The perception with the mass market is that why should they need to power something up and risk running out of power in the middle of reading when PB never need charging.

Personally my perfect E-Reader would be

* About the size of a Paperback or DVD hardcase.
* Dual High Def reflective (not LCD) Colour screens that fold out like a book. (And maybe even one on the front that would display cover art.) (Instant refresh rate)
* Touch screen that would allow use of finger to flip pages or use of a pen/stylus for note taking (esp for text books highlighting and notes)
* When flipped open you could hold it portrait style for newpapers etc
* Battery lasts for weeks
* Latest books and all the back catelogue could be bought and downloaded wirelessly
* NO Drm
* Displays everything from Manga and comic books to text books and novels.

I know I'm dreaming, but maybe in 10 years the tech might meet my dreams.

P.s on Text books - Apple did a good bit of PR with giving away Ipods to a lot of Students maybe thats the way to push e-books. Free Sony Reader with preinstalled textbooks for the new year.

04-29-2007, 05:54 PM	#19
Lucien21 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Scotland Device: Sony Reader	To be honest I do think the guy is probably at least partially correct. In general people do prefer the feel and smell of a book and if you go to forums about books that is the single biggest complaint about e-books. However I think that is a generational thing. I mean when I was young Vinyl was all the rage now look at the explosion of MP3 players etc. Most people wouldn't touch vinyl today. For the same thing to happen to books is just a matter of time. I think the Sony Reader etc are a step in the right direction, but they are no where near the ideal solution. IMO. Things I see holding back the market. * Lack of content and price (Songs sell on Itunes for cents) * DRM - I don't want to be worrying that the books I buy will not play on future devices. PB doesn't have that problem. * Price of units - $350 is way too high for mass market appeal. I break a PB i'm out a couple of quid. Break a Sony Reader i'm slightly more annoyed. * Black and white - Needs to be high resolution colour to host comics/magazines etc * battery life - The perception with the mass market is that why should they need to power something up and risk running out of power in the middle of reading when PB never need charging. Personally my perfect E-Reader would be * About the size of a Paperback or DVD hardcase. * Dual High Def reflective (not LCD) Colour screens that fold out like a book. (And maybe even one on the front that would display cover art.) (Instant refresh rate) * Touch screen that would allow use of finger to flip pages or use of a pen/stylus for note taking (esp for text books highlighting and notes) * When flipped open you could hold it portrait style for newpapers etc * Battery lasts for weeks * Latest books and all the back catelogue could be bought and downloaded wirelessly * NO Drm * Displays everything from Manga and comic books to text books and novels. I know I'm dreaming, but maybe in 10 years the tech might meet my dreams. P.s on Text books - Apple did a good bit of PR with giving away Ipods to a lot of Students maybe thats the way to push e-books. Free Sony Reader with preinstalled textbooks for the new year.