Ebooks and naysayers.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Reading isn't waning, it's changing... specifically, to smaller snippets of info. While lit sales might be flat or down, magazine sales are huge.

Perhaps when the readers are designed to accommodate color and short articles, as well as lit, they will become necessities, and $3-400 for a device you'll use for years, constantly, won't be out of the question for many.

[Dr. Drib]

I don't believe we have a limited future with dedicated ebook Readers. I feel the entire future prospects for ebook reading is happening right now and growing...

I feel very strongly that ebook Readers will become as entrenched in one's reading habits as books have become, even though statistics indicate that reading is less important in one's national psyche.

Once ebook Readers can really be separated from computers, the the first step toward real acceptance will occur.

I feel it is already happening.


Don

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

While lit sales might be flat or down, magazine sales are huge.

Although magazine sales in the aggregate are huge, sales and subscriptions, as well as advertising, are, for the most part, down. There are a few bright spots, but even such fantasy mainstays as Architectural Digest are down, and down significantly. Niche magazines are tending to do better than general interest magazines, but not by much. Every news-oriented magazine is down except for The Economist and The Week, which are up. US News & World Report has changed its focus to consumer issues and has become a monthly; Newsweek plans to change its focus and become either a biweekly or monthly. Conde Nast has closed several magazines.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

No argument there. All of that suggests that magazines could use a rethink, too... for example, to an online subscription model that allows subscribers to download and save parts, or all, of their magazines as desired. A device that allows people to keep and carry their saved articles, magazines, literature, and other media (including music and movies) could be bigger than the iPod. (Yes, I said it.)

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

I really don't think paper books and magazines will become a "niche market" because I think there will always be a large enough consumer market for them. There are advantages to having a paper book or magazine that can't be replicated in ebooks.

And there are advantages to analog audio (many liked the sound), but everything is going digital.

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

I'm thinking specifically of skimming purposes. It's so much easier to flip through a book or magazine than it is to go through an ebook. Ebook search functions are useful but only if you know exactly what you're looking for.

With decent hardware and decent interface, ebook searching will always be faster than skimming. Once the screen technology is fast enough, you will have the same page flipping speed, but the advantage of hyperlinks and text search.

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

Being cheap and disposable is another useful feature, whether you think so personally or not. Fifteen to twenty dollars might not seem particularly cheap but it is when compared to a dedicated reading device. People with as much disposable income as Americans are willing to purchase books on a whim to just read and toss aside. The clearest evidence of this is probably bookstores at airports, where many customers are just looking for something to distract them for a few hours during the flight. This last bit may be a non issue when dedicated device get cheaper, though.

A digital file is the most disposable thing in the world! It takes up almost no space, and costs nothing to get rid of.

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

Also, think of doctor's offices and other waiting rooms around the country. They're probably not going to be setting out an expensive, fragile piece of hardware for anyone to come in and pick up. Magazines will have have their place in waiting rooms until reading on cellphones is so ubiquitous that people stop picking up the magazines. Even then, I have a hard time imagining walking into a waiting room devoid of any free reading material.

The only reason that offices provide magazines is because those magazines are too much of a hassle everyone to carry around themselves. What if you could have your whole movie, music and book library with you in one relatively small device? What if you could instantly buy anything else as well?

As Phogg said, offices will just start offering free Wifi, or perhaps not, but will probably stop subscribing to magazines. Though I think that this will happen more around the time that ebook and emagazine reading really saturates the market.

People need to stop thinking that what we do "now" is how it should always be done. Instead, we need to think about why we do what we do, and what would change that.

[fugazied]

There are still Vinyl records around though (they sound better than mp3 or CDs because the encoding is poor), just as books will remain despite the success of ebooks. Traditional books will just become a niche area, with small companies printing books on demand.
As soon as the readers develop a 'bit' more and the price settles, they will become the standard issue for all school kids and university students. As that generation grows up with the reading device (ultra thin and light tablet) in their hand they will rarely use books. It's just a matter of time and improvement of the technology (screens need to be VERY easy to read, as books are).

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

I would drool over such a partnership... especially when Plastic Logic's screens go color. Having a lack of (practical) portability with my Zinio subscriptions is its biggest flaw.

Steve, did you see the following thread ?
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38385

The parnership has been announced.
That is a first step in the right direction, anyway.
Then we'll have to see if it bears fruit.

Don't forget to protect your keyboard if you drool too much

EDIT : didn't finish reading the thread yet, but I had to post this before leaving for lunch.
Sorry if it's already been posted here.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

Steve, did you see the following thread ?
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38385

I remember something about it, now that you bring it up. Funny... the PL rep I spoke to at TOC09 mentioned online newspaper partnerships being worked on, but not Zinio. (He did not want to provide details or suggest other partnerships beyond what has already been announced.) However, I still think they need to crack the color issue before most of the Zinio magazines will be a good sell on their device.

And I'd rather an on-screen keyboard, allowing a larger color screen (at least letter/A4 size) and less casing around it.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

The only reason that offices provide magazines is because those magazines are too much of a hassle everyone to carry around themselves. What if you could have your whole movie, music and book library with you in one relatively small device? What if you could instantly buy anything else as well?

As Phogg said, offices will just start offering free Wifi, or perhaps not, but will probably stop subscribing to magazines. Though I think that this will happen more around the time that ebook and emagazine reading really saturates the market.

I agree. Doctor's offices only provide those magazines to keep people occupied while they wait. If customers start bringing their own material, those magazines lying around will disappear. (I rarely see one I want to read, anyway.)

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

People need to stop thinking that what we do "now" is how it should always be done. Instead, we need to think about why we do what we do, and what would change that.

That's a key observation, something that applies to a great deal of our modern lifestyles. The ability to stay in contact, wherever you are, has already begun a major transformation of our lifestyles. In this case, the ability to carry all of your information and your entertainment with you, and possibly to allow people to stop trying to remember facts and concentrate on communication and knowledge-application skills, will touch off the next major transformation.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Reading isn't waning, it's changing... specifically, to smaller snippets of info. While lit sales might be flat or down, magazine sales are huge.

I think that might well be something specific to the US. On public transport here in the UK I see far more people reading books than newspapers or magazines.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I don't believe we have a limited future with dedicated ebook Readers. I feel the entire future prospects for ebook reading is happening right now and growing...

I feel very strongly that ebook Readers will become as entrenched in one's reading habits as books have become, even though statistics indicate that reading is less important in one's national psyche.

Once ebook Readers can really be separated from computers, the the first step toward real acceptance will occur.

I feel it is already happening.


Don

So do you feel that once we have a screen that is as readable and efficient as e-ink but fast enough for other applications that people will still choose to have a separate device for reading when they could have a multifunction tablet that handled many of the things most of us currently do with computers and PDAs? This device would still be just as good at presenting books. It's not like it would be a huge price savings to dumb down the tablet and I'm not seeing a large market for a reduced functionality device unless the price savings was substantial. While I'm sure there would still be people who would prefer not to have the distractions of other functions, I doubt these people would present a sizeable market.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I see you have an Australian email address. I understand that Dymocks sells the Cybook Gen3 reader at much less than $600Au so I suggest that you have a look at it. I bought mine from the US, before Dymocks started selling them, and have been very happy with it.

In fact apart from technical books and a book my wife bought me for my birthday I haven't read a print book for months.

Regards, Alex

Alex

I wish that was the case, but they are not much less at $599. I can get a good netbook for that price. My PDA cost me less than $380.

Still the Iliad is the reader I am looking at seriously. It really is a case of ebook readers coming down to a reasonably price (sub $400) for them to become viable "gadgets" rather than niche market devices.

Cheers and thanks

Mike

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Alisa

So do you feel that once we have a screen that is as readable and efficient as e-ink but fast enough for other applications that people will still choose to have a separate device for reading when they could have a multifunction tablet that handled many of the things most of us currently do with computers and PDAs?

The two big advantages of dedicated readers (as opposed to computers) are superior text-reading screen and superior battery life. People buy dedicated devices to get that superiority. But I believe that there is still room for improvement with PC displays and batteries, so I think eventually portable PCs will be as easy to read and long-lasting as dedicated readers.

At that point, I'd expect the market for dedicated readers to wane, as most people will prefer single devices that do more for them for the money than dedicated devices. It probably won't go completely away, though, since different people may want different form factors... say, a large portable PC for most uses, and a smaller reader when traveling light.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

The two big advantages of dedicated readers (as opposed to computers) are superior text-reading screen and superior battery life. People buy dedicated devices to get that superiority. But I believe that there is still room for improvement with PC displays and batteries, so I think eventually portable PCs will be as easy to read and long-lasting as dedicated readers.

Actually I would add ergonomics as a major factor - lightness, verticality, button/touch page turning... ; Mr. Bezos was right that with the Kindle (or the PRS) you forget you read from a device, and you can attain the same focus, immersion as in a print book

Trying to read from a tablet that has a spinning hard drive, weighs 2 lbs and heats fast is not that much fun even though it offers vertical reading

[Lemurion]

I've been reading on PDAs for years - nothing beats the portability of my Palm T|X - but I still plan on getting an E-Ink device.

Everyone in our household reads - some more than others but we all read - even the eighteen year old male. Yes he likes manga more than anything else - but get him into a bookstore and he's guaranteed to find something he wants to read.