Poll Says a Low-Priced Tablet Will Turn the Masses on to E-Reading

[Jaime_Astorga]

From Daily Finance:

What's it going to take to reach the tipping point so that e-reading is a mass-market pursuit?

The answer, according to a recent survey of over 13,000 people in 14 countries by the Boston Consulting Group, is a low-priced tablet. Preferably under $200, and one that, like Apple's (AAPL) iPad, offers a variety of different functions from reading books to playing games, checking email and watching videos.

[stargazertony]

I don't suspect that will happen. I'm an avid reader. Have been all my life and the last thing I want is "a variety of different functions from reading books to playing games, checking email and watching videos" on my reader. I get enough of all that crap on my laptop and TV and when I read, I don't want it. The only thing you can do with a book is to read it, and that's what I want from my reader.

[Crowl]

Those criteria seem like they would help tablets in general rather than specifically ereading, the biggest boost to ereading is likely to happen when prices of the basic ereaders drop low enough for them to be impulse buys or even for them to end up being bundled so that you get one free when you buy x amount of books.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by stargazertony

The only thing you can do with a book is to read it, and that's what I want from my reader.

Right me too for the most part kinda, but there are a lot more casual readers out there who don't read enough to want to invest in a dedicated reader, but might go for ebooks for the books they do read if they had a multi function device they were using for email, browsing, movies, etc.

There's definitely a place for both, but a multi function device has a much broader potential market and will almost certainly expand ebook reading to casual readers.

[dadioflex]

Edit.

[L.J. Sellers]

Digital books are becoming an interactive experience, which appeals to people who grew up with computers. I can't wait for a low-priced tablet with a variety of functions. It will definitely expand the number of people who read.

L.J.
[Promotional link deleted - MODERATOR]

[Maggie Leung]

Interactive e-books might be used for all kinds of entertainment, as well as learning. Imagine an e-book that shows anatomy to medical students, with various suturing techniques, for instance.

Actually, I'm guessing that textbooks and other instructional books will be the first to go interactive in significant numbers. They have the best chance at return on investment right off. Kids will grow up with 'em. They'll interact with books differently than we do; they already do with any technology, as we fogeys can see. Not that some of us fogeys can't adapt, lol.

Personally, I'd like interactive e-books in foreign languages, biographies, history books, various other nonfiction. For instance, if I'm reading a biography about Martin Luther King Jr., I could could read about him, see his speeches, hear what others said about him in historic context, see snippets of protests and arrests, and so on. Clickable parts of the book could take me to other figures of his time, if I were interested in reading further, and so on.

There are lots of possibilities in books about art, architecture, astronomy, investments and so on, which are also my among my interests. If I read about investments, I could click on comparisons and further delve into specific sectors, methods of investment; I could build a profile of my investment style and filter parts of a book to my preferences. If I read about Frank Sinatra, it would be great to hear and see him and the rest of the Rat Pack, and so on. I could look at a travel book with multimedia that included history, photos and video, maps and so on, and interactively filter to my tastes when visiting a city. And I could take all such books on the go with my hundreds of other e-books.

[gastan]

Originally Posted by stargazertony

I don't suspect that will happen. I'm an avid reader. Have been all my life and the last thing I want is "a variety of different functions from reading books to playing games, checking email and watching videos" on my reader. I get enough of all that crap on my laptop and TV and when I read, I don't want it. The only thing you can do with a book is to read it, and that's what I want from my reader.

Did you read the article? The survey shows 66% wanting a multi-function device and only 24% wanting a single-function device. You have a valid point -- for a small group of people -- but it hardly translates into a bold statement like yours.

[ardeegee]

Given a cheap, ubiquitous multifunction tablet-- the majority of the public that doesn't read will continue to not read.

[Dopedangel]

Well I think most of you are wrong when you say people these days read less.
They read a lot more the content might be different but they do read a lot more.
Twitter, facebook, sms blogs and most other internet use is still mostly textbased so the amount of reading is more not less.
You have authors that are making millions of dollars and their main target audience is a generation that from what I gather does not read anymore now thats amazing.

So any cheap device that can support all these diffrent media will result in more readers.
Not of books maybe but the media that is of today.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

So any cheap device that can support all these diffrent media will result in more readers. Not of books maybe but the media that is of today.

We're talking about reading books, though. That's kind of the whole point of MobileRead. We have devices to read blogs already -- they're called computers.

As for the authors making millions of dollars: There are some, yes, but they're the ones with bestselling, high-priced hardcovers. People who read only one or two books a year read those books, and no others. Those bestsellers rake in money at the expense of the midlist. Imagine if people stopped eating out much, but on the few occasions when they did, they went to fancy, expensive restaurants. People who used to eat out twice a week at some cheap place would be eating out twice a year at some expensive place. So if you looked at the sales figures for the Michelin-starred restaurants, they'd be doing great ... but everything from TGI Friday to McDonald's might be circling the drain.

Maggie, your books already exist. Here's one: http://www.amazon.com/DK-Chronicle-E...4116213&sr=1-2

The only problem is, people don't seem to want to buy them. Maybe I'm one of those old fogies, but when I read a book, I want to sink into that book and read it. If I'm reading a biography, I want to read what that author had to say about his subject. While I'm reading it, I don't want to be distracted by what other people had to say, what's in the encyclopedia, audio clips, none of that. I want that author's book, not a hodgepodge of related matter. The author put a lot of work into deciding exactly the best way to present his material, organizing it to build conclusions, and so on. Go haring off in all directions and you lose the benefit of that author's skill. A good book functions as a whole entity, not a mere framework to tie other things together. That's how a book on MLK differs from a Google search for MLK.

Right now, ebooks are second-rate books. The publishers need to make them into first-rate books, not second-rate websites.

[stargazertony]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Right me too for the most part kinda, but there are a lot more casual readers out there who don't read enough to want to invest in a dedicated reader, but might go for ebooks for the books they do read if they had a multi function device they were using for email, browsing, movies, etc.

There's definitely a place for both, but a multi function device has a much broader potential market and will almost certainly expand ebook reading to casual readers.

I agree with you. That's why there is a Ford and a Chevy and is no such thing as a Kindle killer except in the minds of some of the press who are trying to create a news story where there is none.

[stargazertony]

Originally Posted by dadioflex

Oh really...

http://www.funforever.net/archives/d...-this-at-home/

Well, OK if that's what you like, however personally, I think the mutilation of books is offensive and not art. I'm sure though some will find it otherwise.

If that's really your response then you miss my point and if that's your attempt at humor then I miss yours.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

Well I think most of you are wrong when you say people these days read less.
They read a lot more the content might be different but they do read a lot more.
Twitter, facebook, sms blogs and most other internet use is still mostly textbased so the amount of reading is more not less.

Oh, come on! You know that when we are saying "reading", we mean novels (or short stories) and non-fiction books, not facebook entries, tweets, and the backs of cereal boxes.

http://www.nea.gov/news/news07/TRNR.html

http://www.humorwriters.org/startlingstats.html

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Oh, come on! You know that when we are saying "reading", we mean novels (or short stories) and non-fiction books, not facebook entries, tweets, and the backs of cereal boxes.

Hey, the back of a box of Frosted Flakes is a must read.