Comments on: E-books to go ’straight to the deadpool’ if Amazon Kindle fails?

By: Mike Cane

Mike Cane — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:44:16 +0000

>>>There’s little, if any, value in simply porting the paper product to an e-device.

The value to me is no weight. I had to abandon reading a library-borrowed copy of Warren Zevon’s bio because it was killing my shoulder toting it around in my shoulder bag. 1.5″ thick, about two frikkin pounds (that’s 2lbs on top of everything else shoved in that bag).

>>>For fiction, may people just want to read straight through without socializing.

Yes. I’m not interested in commentary from other readers. If I want that, I can go to an author’s blog and peer into their message board. (Which, let me tell you, is something you really don’t want to do!)

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:30:32 +0000

Joe W.: You’re probably enjoying the findings that many people like their e-books on laptops. They’re better for interactivity than small dedicated devices with either no keyboard or small ones (no brand names need be mentioned). Of course, it’s a matter of app. For fiction, may people just want to read straight through without socializing. And E can increase the number of titles and drive down costs. Thanks. David

By: Bill Monks

Bill Monks — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:48:41 +0000

It may be the death of COMMERCIAL ebooks but it would no more mean the death of ebooks than the death of iTunes would mean the death of downloaded music.

On that eyestrain thing - I think you’ll find that for years books have been blamed for people needing glasses and I don’t personally feel any difference between reading on my TX than on a paper book. (black background, gray text FTW, IMO.)

By: Joe Wikert

Joe Wikert — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 01:40:07 +0000

I agree with the pricing and other issues raised here but I think another another important issue is often ignored in this debate: There’s little, if any, value in simply porting the paper product to an e-device. Where e-content can shine is when it truly takes advantage of being digital. A printed book is a static, albeit effective, product. An e-device opens things up to a much more dynamic experience. Let’s tap into that and create some really exciting products!

Btw, sure, you *can* read on an iPhone, but would you really *want* to, especially for hours and hours at a time?! If so you can bet optometrists everywhere will cheer all the extra business, new glasses, contacts, etc., they’ll sell as we straining our eyes like never before!

Joe Wikert
Publishing 2020 Blog
http://www.joewikert.com

By: Mike Cane

Mike Cane — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:09:20 +0000

>>>The dedicated reader I’ll spend money on will be able to handle open formats, but will also have to be able to handle Adobe, MobiPocket, and EReader, all three with or without DRM (and of those three I for one would be willing to do without Adobe). If my Palm Zire 31 can do that,

Yes, your Zire can do that, but with separate programs, right? All formats must come under *one* UI. I’d hate to have to launch a different reader *program* on a dedicated reading *device*. What a waste of storage or program space (even if in ROM — bigger ROM = more $).

By: Tony Rabig

Tony Rabig — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:36:00 +0000

Ebooks seem to have survived for some years without the presence of the Kindle or the Sony or the other dedicated devices, and done well enough to keep a number of online vendors going. So a Kindle failure may set ebooks back, but it won’t kill them. And it will set ebooks back only with people who confuse the ebook with the device on which it’s read.

You’re absolutely right about format. The F word is more important here than even the D word (or rather, the D acronym — DRM). I’m not sure that syncing or the use of the memory card is going to be that much of an issue for a general public that has embraced the digital camera and music downloads. But eBabel is bad news for the dedicated devices.

It’d be interesting to know how many dedicated readers had been sold to people who were taking their first plunge into ebooks and weren’t already reading them on PCs, PDAs, laptops, and smartphones. Unless you do all your ebook reading from Project Gutenberg and other free sites like Manybooks or Munsey’s, chances are you’ve bought a number of DRM titles. If you have, chances are you’ve purchased some secured Adobe, MobiPocket, and EReader. Unless I’ve missed the news, there isn’t a dedicated reader that handles all three of those formats (with or without DRM). Is that enough to damage a dedicated reader irreparably in the market? Maybe not, but I can’t imagine it not doing some damage. After all, the initial buyers for these things are probably people who are already reading ebooks — how fast will they be to purchase devices that try to restrict them to one format when they’ve probably got a substantial number of DRM titles in multiple formats?

The dedicated reader I’ll spend money on will be able to handle open formats, but will also have to be able to handle Adobe, MobiPocket, and EReader, all three with or without DRM (and of those three I for one would be willing to do without Adobe). If my Palm Zire 31 can do that, I don’t see any reason why somebody can’t come up with a good dedicated reader that does the same. Unless maybe the folks creating the devices have overlearned the Gillette lesson and figure that nobody should be able to buy razor blades from any other seller.

Bests to all,

–tr