BBC: Is it time to embrace the e-book?

[TadW]

BBC acknowledges that e-books are finally about to take off. But the following article also points out some of the current difficulties:

While in the US there are an increasing number of new books available online, publishers in the UK have been slow to release their books in an electronic format.

E-book readers are still expensive and there is no agreement in the industry over a single format for downloads.

"It is not an iPod moment for books," says Julie Howkins [head of e-commerce at Borders].

"The devices are coming on the market, but there still isn't a great deal of content.

"It will be a considerable time before e-books compete with the paper book."

[Source]

[JSWolf]

Another iPod comment. When will people learn that electroni readers are NOT iPods. And why use a photo of a 500 when the 500 is no longer a current model? The article itself really had nothing new to say.

[HarryT]

The iPod was referred to metaphorically in this article - nobody's saying that "electronic readers are iPods".

[GeoffC]

Gosh,

quote :

".... i'd rather have the real thing in my hands, makes you look more intellectual as well."

[Gianfranco]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Gosh,

quote :

".... i'd rather have the real thing in my hands, makes you look more intellectual as well."

I agree, that is a nasty piece of quote
If someone reads books to get a certain fashion style, they could just grab a bunch of A4's and just walk around with them.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Gianfranco

I agree, that is a nasty piece of quote
If someone reads books to get a certain fashion style, they could just grab a bunch of A4's and just walk around with them.

managers?

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

managers?

LOL, too true!

[MMascaro]

Blank A4s

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk imply?'

[Greg Anos]

Senior Manager????

[slayda]

As a co-worker once said to me, "Managers are the masters of the 'Single entendre'."

My answer was, "Yeah, on a good day."

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

The whole "tactile pleasure" thing is getting old. Most of them have an example of the unimportance of tactile pleasure right in front of them... their computer keyboard, which looks and feels nothing like the keyboard of a good ol' manual typewriter. Anyone who believes the experience of holding a bound book and turning pages will somehow "save" the paper book from being replaced is being intentionally obtuse.

The article hits on a key issue:

"The younger generation have spent their formative years reading from screens. We don't really know how they are going to react," says Goss.

That should be obvious, by anyone who's seen a kid play a handheld gaming device the size of a deck of cards. Making excuses and ignoring the obvious is only making publishers look silly, and delaying the inevitable.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

The whole "tactile pleasure" thing is getting old. Most of them have an example of the unimportance of tactile pleasure right in front of them... their computer keyboard, which looks and feels nothing like the keyboard of a good ol' manual typewriter. Anyone who believes the experience of holding a bound book and turning pages will somehow "save" the paper book from being replaced is being intentionally obtuse.

They also forget all the times when it's a PITA to read from paper. Some books are beautiful (most are not) but they are also often heavy and unwieldy. Anything more than a few hundred pages can really tire your hands out after a few hours, especially when you're at the beginning or end of a book and it's lopsided. With larger books, I often had to prop them on a pillow on my lap if I was reading for a long time, much to the consternation of the cat. Sitting in one position too long can get my back hurting, so I'd often had to choose between which part of me was comfortable, my hands or my back. That's not a problem now.

Plus, I'm mostly a recreational reader now. Back when I was in school and had to lug around a bunch of books everyday, I would've killed for a small, light reading device. I never could carry them all so I'd try to figure out which ones I wanted that day but often I'd end up wanting one that was at home. I was pretty much reading all the time to keep up with my schedule. If I had a couple minutes, I'd pull a book out. We referred to the 5th food group: Things you can eat one-handed while reading. When you have to read that much, utility quickly trumps tradition.

Nostalgia only goes so far. I'm not longing to return to the days before email or mobile phones, either. Some people seem to like to reminisce about how much quieter and more peaceful it was back then when in fact it would drive them nuts if they tried to go back to it. I bet if most of these folks tried a good reading device for a few books, they'd see the light.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Back when I was in school and had to lug around a bunch of books everyday, I would've killed for a small, light reading device.

Ah, those were the days. And every time I see a kid walking to school with a backpack half his size (and probably equal to his weight in textbooks and binders), I know there's a parent or two that have been to the kid's doctor, and have been told how bad it is for him to lug those books around on his back all day, and what kind of future medical bills they can expect from it.

How those parents have NOT driven the e-book revolution single-handedly, is often beyond me.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Ah, those were the days. And every time I see a kid walking to school with a backpack half his size (and probably equal to his weight in textbooks and binders), I know there's a parent or two that have been to the kid's doctor, and have been told how bad it is for him to lug those books around on his back all day, and what kind of future medical bills they can expect from it.

How those parents have NOT driven the e-book revolution single-handedly, is often beyond me.

Because designers (and companies) don't listen to what people want, but to what they (or their bosses) think people want, which is usually not the same.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Because designers (and companies) don't listen to what people want, but to what they (or their bosses) think people want, which is usually not the same.

Think about this: If every parent in the country had signed petitions demanding e-book versions of textbooks, or they would not be purchased by their school systems (thanks to appropriate lobbying of their PTA branches), I think the text publishers would have taken significant steps to provide e-books (and probably the readers) by now.