Pace of Ereader/Ebook change

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Waylander

For example, I bet that from 2009 to late 2012, when the change in publishing and ereader technology was going at hyper-speed and no-one knew what would happen in 6 months time, this forum would have been buzzing so loud it would make computer screens vibrate.

Your timescale is off. The BIG change in ebooks and ereaders happened between 2004 and 2007, from the launch of the first E-Ink based ereader, the Sony Librie and to the launch of the first Kindle

Before E-Ink screens, ebook reading was done on desktop, laptop, PDAs and a few specialist ereaders with LCD screens. For mobile devices, battery life was measured in hours or at very best days. Mobile devices had tiny screens (PDAs) or were bulky and heavy (specialist readers) Contrast on mobile devices was poor, or a backlight wiped the battery life down to low single digits hours.

With the E-Ink based readers, contrast was good, excellent in bright light, and battery life was measured in weeks. The readers had a screen comparable to a paperback book text area, and the readers would easily fit in a pocket.

All the innovation since then - faster refresh, touch, front lights, higher resolution - has just been icing on the cake.

We're all now waiting for the next big screen tech to launch that will spur another round of innovation in ereaders. I had hoped it would be here by this time, but I still expect to see high quality reflective colour screens 'soon'.

[Waylander]

Thanks for the replies, all interesting and once again show how much knowledge people have on here. In response to pdurrant, I suppose I used that timescale because I wasn't on here at the time, wasn't even aware of this site so wasn't aware of the changes described, and only really became aware of what Kindles were when I got one for Christmas in 2010. That was the breakthrough year in the UK, because the store launched here in the summer followed by a new device just in time for Christmas. I literally had no idea that Kindles existed before then, and look back now with wry astonishment.

Also, as I was only really a general pbook consumer who took more than a usual close interest, the years between 2010-2012 looked like book armageddon, with tales of falling sales, closing shops (Borders in USA and indies in UK) and publishers apparently on their uppers. However, now the book world is in quite a good place. There's room for all types of books, readers and writers, whether ebook/pbook, self-published/traditional/hybrid writers and so on.

Of course change happens, but from the vantage point described above, maybe it's easier to see why I posed the question? Anyway, thanks again for all the responses.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

For me the big step-change was the successful front-lighting of e-ink, that is what made me take the leap from paper to ebooks. All the other improvements in pixel density, contrast ratio, processor speed, etc. have been minor in comparison to that.

But the area that I see as having the biggest room for improvement is on the publishing side. If publishers could manage to work out how to consistently produce ebooks without spelling and punctuation mistakes, and without glaring formatting errors, then that would do more to improve my reading experience than any hardware or software innovations ever could.

Geoff,
It is not publishers that are putting out error laden books. It is people that don't read, or don't care about errors in the books they read, that are publishing no one but me will see this book until it is published. They do no proofreading. No other eyes but their own. And they refuse to spend anything to make their "book" better.
They will say in a public forum (not this one) that readers don't care about errors, readers just want something to read. Yes, they are getting validation there.
Note I still refuse to give any lip service to that forum. I will name it privately.

Sorry I cannot call those people authors. My personal term is money grabbers.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Waylander

Thanks for the replies, all interesting and once again show how much knowledge people have on here. In response to pdurrant, I suppose I used that timescale because I wasn't on here at the time, wasn't even aware of this site so wasn't aware of the changes described, and only really became aware of what Kindles were when I got one for Christmas in 2010. That was the breakthrough year in the UK, because the store launched here in the summer followed by a new device just in time for Christmas. I literally had no idea that Kindles existed before then, and look back now with wry astonishment.

Also, as I was only really a general pbook consumer who took more than a usual close interest, the years between 2010-2012 looked like book armageddon, with tales of falling sales, closing shops (Borders in USA and indies in UK) and publishers apparently on their uppers. However, now the book world is in quite a good place. There's room for all types of books, readers and writers, whether ebook/pbook, self-published/traditional/hybrid writers and so on.

Of course change happens, but from the vantage point described above, maybe it's easier to see why I posed the question? Anyway, thanks again for all the responses.

I enjoyed the question.

[Waylander]

I wish the internet was more like this sometimes. It just makes it so much easier to have a productive conversation when one remains civil.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Waylander

I wish the internet was more like this sometimes. It just makes it so much easier to have a productive conversation when one remains civil.

Come down to the lounge for drinks and games.
And yes this is one of the more civilized forums.

[pdurrant]

For changes in ebooks sales, rather than the reading technology, this rather dated page is interesting

http://idpf.org/about-us/industry-statistics

It's clear (ignoring the dodgy curve fitting!) that ebook sale rose fairly steadly but slowly (apart from a dip in second half of 2005) until 2008, and then went up lots.

If the graph continued to 2014, judging by AAP's number for 2014, it would be showing quarterly sales of around $500 million (wholesale).

And so yes, your perception that the big change in ebook sales happened between 2008 and 2013 is probably true. That's when ebook sales went from being an insignificant part of the total market to a major part, if not quite yet the majority of book sales.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

It is not publishers that are putting out error laden books. It is people that don't read, or don't care about errors in the books they read, that are publishing no one but me will see this book until it is published. They do no proofreading. No other eyes but their own. And they refuse to spend anything to make their "book" better.

I wish that was true, because I hardly read any self-published books. But unfortunately the big publishers, who publish the vast majority of the books I want to read, are often not much better.

I just finished reading The Faded Sun Trilogy by C. J. Cherryh, published as an ebook in 2015 by Penguin US. Big publisher; well-known author; fantastic story; but well over 200 separate errors including misspelt words, missing words and punctuation, extra words and punctuation, and missing scene breaks.

Sadly it is far from the worst example that I have come across this year. I would gladly pay a few extra dollars if they would proofread the books before they publish them.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I wish that was true, because I hardly read any self-published books. But unfortunately the big publishers, who publish the vast majority of the books I want to read, are often not much better.

I just finished reading The Faded Sun Trilogy by C. J. Cherryh, published as an ebook in 2015 by Penguin US. Big publisher; well-known author; fantastic story; but well over 200 separate errors including misspelt words, missing words and punctuation, extra words and punctuation, and missing scene breaks.

Sadly it is far from the worst example that I have come across this year. I would gladly pay a few extra dollars if they would proofread the books before they publish them.

I have never found more than one or two errors in a BPH.
Hey silly question. I noticed you are in New Zealand. Do you use more British or American spellings?
I asked because to an American reader, you misspelled misspelt in your post.
Also note that B&A sometimes use different punctuation.

[cvkemp]

I love my Kindle Voyage, and I love my IPad. But when I want to read one of my many ebooks I do it on my Kindle. The reason why is just that my eyes are getting old and I have a lot more issues reading on a back light device, and I do reading on and e-ink device with a front light. I also like the size of the Kindle for reading.
Now with that said. If I have to read or look at PDFs then it is my IPad ever time. But normally I am only spending a very few minutes with the PDF as compared to the hours that I spend reading an ebook.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I have never found more than one or two errors in a BPH.
Hey silly question. I noticed you are in New Zealand. Do you use more British or American spellings?
I asked because to an American reader, you misspelled misspelt in your post.
Also note that B&A sometimes use different punctuation.

New Zealand English is very close to British English, 'misspelt' is one of the correct ways to spell the word. I wouldn't count American spellings in the books I read as errors. (I am not claiming to be particularly good at spelling myself, but then I am not a professional publisher charging money for what I publish, so I don't need to be.)

I just noticed that on the publisher's website for the book I mentioned there is even a spelling mistake in the book's synopsis (creatures of the herb: it should be 'herd'.) It is hard to believe that they do this for a living. It is like visiting a company that makes elevators and finding that I have to use the stairs because their elevator doesn't work properly.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

New Zealand English is very close to British English, 'misspelt' is one of the correct ways to spell the word. I wouldn't count American spellings in the books I read as errors. (I am not claiming to be particularly good at spelling myself, but then I am not a professional publisher charging money for what I publish, so I don't need to be.)

I just noticed that on the publisher's website for the book I mentioned there is even a spelling mistake in the book's synopsis (creatures of the herb: it should be 'herd'.) It is hard to believe that they do this for a living. It is like visiting a company that makes elevators and finding that I have to use the stairs because their elevator doesn't work properly.

Well now you do know plumbers usually have leaks lol.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I have never found more than one or two errors in a BPH.
Hey silly question. I noticed you are in New Zealand. Do you use more British or American spellings?
I asked because to an American reader, you misspelled misspelt in your post.
Also note that B&A sometimes use different punctuation.

I expect the major factor for BPH books would be if it is a current or backlist book. I've seen a number of reissued books which read as if they had been scanned in and converted by OCR software with only the most cursory proofreading but the new ebooks issued by traditional publishers that I've seen have been just as error free as their pbooks.

Self/small publisher books will vary widely. I've ordered quite a few books, both print and electronic, from tiny, tiny publishers (one person or family run) which have had proper proofreading and editing but I've also run across some stinkers. Fortunately, the preview/sample options normally given tend to provide enough material for bad spelling and grammar problems to show up.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ekbell

I expect the major factor for BPH books would be if it is a current or backlist book. I've seen a number of reissued books which read as if they had been scanned in and converted by OCR software with only the most cursory proofreading but the new ebooks issued by traditional publishers that I've seen have been just as error free as their pbooks.

Self/small publisher books will vary widely. I've ordered quite a few books, both print and electronic, from tiny, tiny publishers (one person or family run) which have had proper proofreading and editing but I've also run across some stinkers. Fortunately, the preview/sample options normally given tend to provide enough material for bad spelling and grammar problems to show up.

Oh I know many self-published authors that have very high quality books.
Unfortunately, I have seen just as many stinkers.

[danskmacabre]

I'm very happy with the Kobo (glo) ereaders we have that we bought a few years ago.
They do everything I want for the purpose I bought them for.
That and I DO use a tablet to read as well.

I expect I will buy a new ereader when these eventually die, but that could be years.

I would grab a flexible screen or a roll up type screen ereader in a flash though, if it was comparable to my current ereaders in other ways.