Research on E-books and user's opinions

[RWood]

Originally Posted by vince_on_fire

Hello,

Welcome to MobileRead vince.

Originally Posted by vince_on_fire

I'm currently writing my dissertation on E-books and the level of acceptance of consumers on this technology. I would like to ask you users of E-books some questions, and hope you are willing to help me out.

Not a problem, first question.

Originally Posted by vince_on_fire

What do you, as user of E-books and E-readers, see as the biggest issue when using these technologies? What problems do you run into and what would you like to see changed?

As the others have mentioned there are several:

1. multiple formats - it seems that everyone has their own DRM scheme and every current device supports only one DRM scheme.
2. incompatible hardware - each time you change hardware devices you run the risk that your entire investment in ebooks may be rendered obsolete.
3. lack of back catalog material - there is an abundance of current material and a deep well of classic material (read out of copyright books or "classic" books such as Dickens and Voltaire. What is missing are the older books that are still copyright but have not been published since their first run. Books that I want but that the publisher does not feel have enough public interest to justify either reprinting or converting to ebook format.
4. price of dedicated ebook readers - the high price keeps it a small market. As production techniques and volume both improve the price will come down. Currently the eBookwise (LCD screen) is nearing $100 while the Sony Reader, CyBook Gen3, and the Amazon Kindle (all utilizing e-ink screens) are still in the $299+ region. The true early adopters read their ebooks on a PDA like the Psion or on a cell phone such as the Palm equipped ones. These early shared devices suffered from very small screens with low resolution that made reading uncomfortable for many of us, self included.

Originally Posted by vince_on_fire

What made you buy an E-reader, for what purpose and 'where do you use it for?

I bought an ebook reader to read classic fiction and a lot of material that I already had in standard files from my clients. I read about the Sony Reader and saw one at Boarder's. It took longer to ring up the sale than it did to make the buying decision. One look at it and my wife told me that I had better just get it then rather than waiting.

I use it almost everywhere -- at home, in the office, on trips (it is great on airplanes or trains), waiting at the doctor's office. In fact, the only two places I do not use it are in the bathroom or in the bath.

Originally Posted by vince_on_fire

What's your opinion on content supplies? Do you find it easy to get content for your device? What are the biggest problems concerning content?

Other than the absence of back catalog material that is not yet in the public domain there are few problems with content supplies. While the Sony Bookstore is lacking depth, many other suppliers have filled part of the void. For example Fictionwise offers over 15,000 titles in the Sony format including several magazine subscriptions such as Analog. My classics habit has been abated a bit by the posting of almost 5,000 free ebooks here at MobileRead in multiple formats. You can pick up for free the complete works of Charles Dickens, the full Sherlock Holmes collection, or even the 49 volume set of the Harvard Classics. If I want something that is not offered but is in the public domain and I can find a source I will convert it myself.

The biggest problem with content is sometimes the book I want is not offered in a format for the Sony but is available for another reader. At the ~$300 price point for another reader I think about conversion from another DRM format rather than purchasing another reader.

Originally Posted by vince_on_fire

Why do you think people will not try using E-books or E-reader and what would you change to make it more interesting for non-users?

This is an interesting question and one that Sony and Amazon are asking themselves at every marketing meeting. First, as noted above, the price alone puts it beyond what most people spend on books in an entire year. It therefore appeals to only a small niche of gadget freaks and dedicated readers -- in short, the main membership here at MobileRead. Secondly is the cost of ebooks themselves. While publishers make a habit of telling us how much less an ebook is compared to the MSRP of a hardback, the truth is that Amazon can deliver a hardback to me for less than the Sony store wants to sell me the electronic edition for. Amazon has made great strides in reducing this problem with their aggressive pricing of ebooks. I would also like to see more back catalog items available. Film studios have made a great deal of money releasing stuff that has sat in their vaults for years that is so old even the third tier cable networks won't touch it. Third I would like to see more care taken in the production and release of ebooks. Even for a current book the ebook often contains many induced errors that were not in the original release. It is as if they scanned the book, used an OCR program on the images, and never bothered to clean up the resultant text before release. Additionally, many of the "professionally" prepared ebooks have large "white space as far as the eye can see" margins and very small type that no amount of use of the font size button can correct. Many contain photographs that may look fine in the original printed version but reproduce poorly when rendered on the readers in black and white.

I hope that these answers helped you.

[ePossum]

biggest issue when using these technologies? What problems do you run into and what would you like to see changed?

- I'm study at postgraduate level. I read a lot of content in academic texts that I've borrowed from various libraries. Most of this content is not available in electronic format, and when it is, the cost of purchase is prohibitive (that's why I borrow from the libraries...)

What made you buy an E-reader, for what purpose and 'where do you use it for?

- I have an iLiad - I mainly read pdf articles & documents on it (for study and work) - it simplifies my 'paper management' issues, saves me from lugging reams of paper around

What's your opinion on content supplies? Do you find it easy to get content for your device? What are the biggest problems concerning content?

- apart from actually getting the content I want (see above) - the various DRM technologies that are currently in use are stone age compared to the flexibility of print (ie, you can lend/loan a print book, and on-sell it without drama!)

Why do you think people will not try using E-books or E-reader and what would you change to make it more interesting for non-users?

- price

- limitations of current DRM systems (see above)

- e-reading (e-ink) devices need to be lighter, larger (but still highly portable) & more physically robust, and be able to reproduce colour reasonably well (like print newspapers and magazines....)

- solar powered devices would be nice (yanno, like calculators)!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i agree with what many other people have already said. which makes me wonder ; if these problems are so obvious as to elicit a quasi-consensus amongst the population most concerned by them, why *exactly* have publishers not caught on yet ?

Simply put, because it doesn't add up on their ledgers. Unless they see the profit in making the effort to produce and sell e-books, they won't move. In addition, it is too far outside of their production "comfort zone," meaning extra effort (and money) to invest in speculation and new business models, which they'd rather not do. This is why it is the newbies that are making the e-book publishing progress, and the established pubs that are picking up others' methods, or buying the newbies and taking over their methods.

[vince_on_fire]

Wow! Sorry for the late reply and feedback on the discussion, have been having some free days and did not have the time to check the thread.

Thanks for you awesome extensive feedback! You're all a great pool of hands-on user experiences which provides me with a lot of information to address the issues still troubling the e-book industry.

Feel free to add more opinions or join into this discussion. I'll continue working on my dissertation and will post my final results of my research here on the site.

Again, thanks heaps! You guys are awesome!