(1) “Price of devices,” (2) “price of e-books,” (3) “Smartphones,” (4) “Apple’s rumored tablet computer,” (5) popular authors’ ambiguity over e-books, (6) digital rights complexities, (7) standards issues and (8) librarians’ fears about their jobs.

So, gang, what’s your take? I myself don’t think in terms of either one kind of e-gizmo or another—or even P vs. E. For a long time, there’ll be many choices, even in the latter area. Cellphones aren’t going to kill the Kindle, or vice versa.

Related: eWeek piece arguing against e-readers and other single-use devices.

“I don’t have any info on the new store plans. This was very recently announced at a management meeting and I think it’s safe to say that it is not imminent. In the Reader group, we’re focusing very much on the near term—getting the Daily Edition out and flipping the store over to ePub. I know you are aware of our offer to update all the PRS-500s in the field. We’re working on this as well in anticipation of the store changeover in just a few short weeks. All that said, I really couldn’t say anything about what the store Sir Howard refers to will look like.”

Thanks, Val, and keep us posted—especially on hardware matters and DRM issues involving the current and planned stores.

But now comes word from BusinessWeek that Sony will also sell e-books elsewhere—in the new Sony Online Store, the current name.

This one will sell music, movies and downloadable apps, too. The feeling among Sony watchers is that the new Sony store will use an iTune-ish approach.No startup date has been announced. 

I’m curious if or how the new Sony store may works with the existing eBook Library software. What’s more, might the current eBookStore vanish? I don’t think so, but who knows?

Is Sony in time going to do the e-book-capable multimedia table that Apple is supposed to offer us? That certainly would jibe well with Sony’s history as a hardware company and the store’s multimedia approach. I’m just extrapolating and guessing. But if you work for a publisher and need to anticipate future possibilities, add this one to the brew.

Also, what e-book format will the new Sony store use? ePub? And what about the DRM situation? Will Adobe-DRMed ePub be the norm? And what if publishers don’t want DRM? Will Sony in fact offer publishers a choice, as I believe it’s indicated?

Apple has backed off from DRM in the real iTunes Store, at least when it comes to music (it is selling “protected” books in the ScrollMotion format). Sony should do the same with e-books.

Perhaps social DRM could be a compromise. I’ll query Sony to see if it has any word on the DRM and format issues and other book-specific details.

Related: Techmeme roundup and Google News roundup.

A prep school in Massachusetts created an uproar by saying e-books would replace paper books in its library.

Now a private high school in Toronto says it is tossing out p-textbooks in favor of Sony e-book readers. The school has deployed at least 110 readers already and is ordering hundreds more.

“Our student survey shows that they are twice as likely to read a book available in an e-book format as in hard copy form," says Sam Blyth, chair at Blyth Academy.

Catnip for students raised on tech

There has been a growing emphasis among schools to engage student interest through technology, and this initiative appears to be, in part, a response to that. A comment from Sam Blyth is of special interest:

"When they were told they would be able to download books free, we asked them ‘Would you be more likely to read outside of school?’ they came back with a yes, and that clinched it."

As a teacher, I have long agreed with the growing chorus of e-book fans who say that the problem is not print versus e-book versus whatever, but that fewer people read for pleasure. Might not e-book readers help popularize recreational reading among the growing number of young people raised on technology?

Textbook access is just one benefit. Schools are using the readers to download other documents such as schedules to keep with them at all times

A back-saver

Meanwhile children are spared the burden of carrying traditionally bulky textbooks to and from school with them. In my work, I have seen students struggle with rolling backpacks full of binders, lunch items, school supplies and books on top of that. A slim little e-book reader would certainly remove a dozen pounds or more from the typical student load.

Granted, e-book readers might not be a perfect solution. Pearson Educational Media is providing content, and I wrote in the summer about my not very positive university-level experience with Pearson. I hope the company is offering more junior users a better vetted and more useful experience. And a future user community seems to not be available yet.

Netbooks a possibility, too—for both reading and writing

School board members in the public school system appear to be waiting for integrated virtual assessment tools and other trimmings. But some already are tech-boosters. One trustee quoted by parentcentral.ca visited a school in Littleton, Colorado, using netbooks with great success. “It was amazing to watch how involved every single kid was in what they were doing.” See a related blog item from the Littleton on the success students have achieved in writing with netbooks—which might also be used in reading.

While we don’t yet have the tools for a perfect system, Blyth is still to be praised for trying to innovate—and for taking advantage of the opportunity to try and hook students into pleasure reading while they are at it, too. There is great potential in the e-market, both for pleasure reading and for environments such as a school. I just wish publishers would realize that there are so many great things which can happen, and that the best way for them to survive and thrive in the digital age is to embrace it, rather than fight to keep the status quo forever.

Editor’s note For a different perspective, read about disabled student Robert Kingett’s reservations about the Kindle and also E-textbooks not ready for college students yet? Likewise of interest would be the New York Times series on the future of reading, including the issue of whether the Internet has helped or hurt—in addition to various viewpoints on e-books and the brain. For research findings and other observations on e-books in K-12, check out our past items on the work of Dr. Richard Bellever at Ball State University. In addition, see—from the Huffington Post—the latest version of my proposal for a well-stocked national digital library system for K-12 users and others. – D.R.

Update, 12:55 p.m.: New links: E-books go to college, but books still rule the campus, not Kindle in AOL Daily Finance and Sony Reader follows Kindle to the Great White North in Engadget. Also see Google news roundup.

“The big shift over from analog to digital is happening in the reading space,” Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading unit, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

While this may be true, we reported yesterday that more people still use smartphones, PDAs, and other multi-purpose devices to read e-books at the moment.

Will this affect your own plans? One more Nook or Kindle sale? Or are you not interested in the Daily Edition Reader in the first place? And what do you think might be the reasons for delays?

The wireless reader is now available for preorders at least.

“Eventually we moved our pricing there. It was the market reality that we needed to be competitive on the pricing … It’s not profitable, quite frankly, at that price, but consumers don’t know what our profit margins are. They know what the pricing is.”

Go here, and let us know if there’s a problem preordering the PRS-900.

Nov. 18 had been mentioned earlier as the starting preorder date by TechFlash in Eric Engleman’s Q&A with Steve Haber, president of the Sony digital reading division.

The Daily Edition will actually begin shipping on or around December 18 if information from a TeleRead community member is correct (thanks, eBook Reader!).

December is also the month when Sony is to reveal the newspapers and magazines that will be available for the device. I just hope the presentation of news content is more efficient than the Kindle’s. I can’t get to the stories lickety-split the way I can reading the New York Times mobile edition on my little iPod Touch.

So who’s carrying Sony Readers right now, or about to? “Wal-mart, Best Buy, Target, Staples, Borders,” Haber has told TechFlash. “Last season was about 3,500 outlets. This year it’s 9,000. Best Buy, this is the first time they have it in stores. It was just online last year. This is a significant push for them. Wal-mart will be more stores than last year. And Staples is all new. Toys R Us.”

Meanwhile, if you own the original Sony PRS-500, you can either update your firmware or trade in the 500 for a new ePub-capable model and get a $50-$75 discount (via MobileRead). You’ll have to send in the 500 for an update—your can’t do it at home.

(Updated at 9:30 a.m.)

Related: Sony, B&N better on DRM than Amazon—but still a long way from perfection.

Without doubt, Sony’s Steve Haber and Adobe’s Bill McCoy have been more sensible on DRM than Amazon, with more flexible approaches. I applaud their efforts. But we’re a long way from nirvana. Gang, what do you think of this snippet from Boing Boing?

I recently talked to Sony’s Steve Haber, President of Digital Reading, about its flagship ebook reader. Named the "Daily Edition," it hits stores next month. Notwithstanding differences between each manufacturer’s respective libraries, it offers all the best features of its main rival, the Kindle. But Sony says it offers one thing that Amazon won’t: actual ownership of your books.

"Our commitment is that you bought it, you own it," Haber said. "Our hope is to see this as ubiquitous. Buy on any device, read on any device. … We’re obligated to have DRM but we don’t pull content back."

Um, as long as there’s DRM, Sony isn’t offering  genuine ownership of your “protected” books, a category that unfortunately includes most bestsellers. And remember, “Buy on any device, read on any device” is just a hope—and can really be achieved only without DRM or with social DRM (which could embed your name into an ePub file without destroying the ability for it to be read any ePub-capable machine). Operating systems and apps come and go. It is inherently impossible for the e-book industry to come up instantly with up-to-date, DRM-capable apps for every gizmo.

What’s more, genuine ownership means you can sell your books. Is Sony planning this?

The good news is that Adobe, Sony and B&N are hoping to provide compatible DRM approaches. That’s progress but still no substitute for lack of traditional DRM. It would also be nice to see Sony aggressively encourage publishers either to drop DRM or use social DRM, not just less restrictive forms of traditional DRM. Last I knew—this may be changing—Sony insisted that books in its store use DRM. I wonder what the more current policies of Sony and B&N will be.

With B&N, I’d call attention to the fact you can lend a book to a friend—with a 14-day period—only once as far as I know. Again, this is far from genuine ownership.

Meanwhile, in fairness to Amazon and its Kindle, let me note that you can use the K machine’s Web browser to download nonDRMed public domain books and even commercial books without “protection.”

Detail: I’m curious about Boing Boing’s mention of the Daily Edition as having a nine-inch display. Last I heard, Sony was saying the screen would be seven inches. Is Beschizza accurate here?

Related: How the New York Times was fooled? Sony’s misleading ePub-related news release, in TeleRead, and Seattle’s Bill McCoy, E-Books and Digital Distribution Expert, Leaving Adobe, in Xconomy.

So who typically buys dedicated e-readers right now? “…a 47-year-old married man with a college degree and an average household income of $116,000. About 30 percent of e-reader owners use them on business trips, while about 17 percent rely on e-readers during commutes. They read about 3.5 books each month, more than the average Internet user. About 83 percent consider themselves ‘technology optimists.’” The article is rich with other statistics even if we’ve seen a bunch of them before.

Post retail writer Ylan Q. Mui’s article is also notable for the concluding words: "Sony’s Haber argues that if it’s women you’re after, technology is man’s best friend. Pull out a book in a bar and you look lonely. But whip out a Sony Reader and watch the magic happen. "If you want to meet a girl," he says, "don’t get a dog, get a reader." Agree?

An aside: It’s nice to see a Post writer with a decent WordPress site (with help from a friend). I just hope that the Posties’ guidelines don’t inhibit her. They might. The site seems mostly a collection of repros of Post stories. Still, with the articles presented by topic and organized in a certain way, you at least can get a sense of where Ylan Mui is coming from.

Related: The best of today’s e-book readers, in PC World.

Image: CC-licensed photo by Ed Yourdon.

He pasted a transcript from his contact with Sony on-line support:

Curtis_ > The eBook Store uses Geo-IP technology to identify where you are located based on the location of your internet service provider (ISP). This is done to ensure that eBooks are only sold to customers who reside in countries where the titles have been cleared for sale.

Curtis_ > Jay, it is required to be in the U.S. to purchase eBooks from the eBook Store using a U.S Credit Card.

Ironically, he could order the physical copy of the book from Amazon or another paper bookseller with no problems—military post offices are usually considered part of the USA for shipping purposes.

Of course, there are still plenty of sources for this soldier to buy books that will work on his device. Baen, for instance, is happy to support our soldiers. But these places may not have specific books he wants.

It is time for the publishing industry to begin straightening out this geographical restriction mess. Hopefully they will get around to it soon.

Uninstall 3.0 first if you’re using Windows 7. That isn’t necessary if you’re using other OSes. Mac users will still be downloading Version 3.0.

Sony warns: “Using the PRS-500 with Windows 7 operating system or 64-bit versions of Windows Vista operating system will require a firmware update for the PRS-500.”

In a related vein: I don’t see a mention of ePub support for the PRS-500, due by the end of the year, but I assume things are still moving ahead. The PRS-500 site is here.

I agree despite the existence of spiffy new gizmos like Barnes and Noble’s Nook, shown here. The reason isn’t just the expected Apple tablet, which should be good for a bunch of tasks, not just book-reading. My guess is that a slew of e-readers will be out with Pixel Qi technology. PixelQi will let one screen work in an E Ink-style mode (low power consumption, high resolution) or a traditional LCD one (color).

So what does that mean? Well, B&N Nook, which includes a small color screen to go with the E Ink one, might not seem so hot with all the Pixel Qi-based competition I anticipate (nothing definite here, just clues from Pixel QI).

I also wonder about the recently unveiled EnTourage eDG e-reader/netbook, another two-screened creature. What’s the use of LCD and E Ink in one reader if Pixel  QI can handle both modes well well?

Of course, factors such as the number of books available should also matter, not just the capabilities of the hardware.

Amazon might be the winner in the numbers game if you exclude the hundreds of thousands of public domain books that the Nook can access. But that could change and maybe already has if you go by the B&N line.

At any rate, keep in mind the e-book-capable Apple tablet on the way; and besides, a Kindle-capable app should be available for it.

Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised if a widely circulated Adobe reader app for the Apple will appear and be able to read books in ePub. A German reader for Adobe-DRMed ePub books on the iPhone has already been announced, one more sign that the ePub standard is winning over large publishers.

What’s more, Adobe and B&N are apparently moving toward a common DRM system for ePub. Amazon may well find it harder in the future to compete with Kindle-only books and may well adopt ePub. With or without Adobe DRM? I don’t know—just that if Jeff Bezos were really smart and wanted to disrupt the competition, he’d back off from DRMed books, the way he did from DRMed music. Or he could use social DRM. If the big houses didn’t go along, Jeff could think seriously about playing up books from more enlightened smaller publishers. Talk about all the changes that just might be ahead, or at least should!

Meanwhile Amazon’s Kindle reading apps for the PC—downloadable in November, with a Mac version coming a few months later—should help you buy a little time, if you’re insistent on reading Kindle-format books but don’t want to buy a an actual Kindle right now.

And for ePub and Adobe-DRMed ePub, Sony offers a desktop reading app for PCs and Macs.

Bottom line: Think twice before locking into 2009 products, at least dedicated e-reading hardware, when the 2010 variety could be so much better. If nothing else, remember that a netbook or general-purpose tablet might be best for you both today and in 2010.

Related: E-book comparison matrix from DealNews, via D.A. Also see Technologizer’s cheat seet (via Reading 2.0 list).

Like most e-book fans, I read the news with interest. Following the not unexpected but still disappointing news that neither the international Kindle nor the B&N Nook would be made available to Canadians soon, I started wondering about people who shop based on features and people who shop based on brand loyalty.

I always thought I was a tough customer who researched every purchase carefully and shopped on the features. But as I read the details about these spiffy new products—available to everyone but YOU, Ficbot, you CANADIAN, you—I looked at my Sony in a new light.

Canada love from Sony

Sony loves Canada. They want me to buy their readers. I got mine in a store, even! Retail! From a clerk who even was properly trained and knew his stuff! Sony has given me the Mac software. They have given me the Google Books access.

The Sony Reader is my only hardware besides a proper computer on which I can read library books—and my local library system seems to loves the Sony just as much as the Sony loves them, because they have about 200 novels, as recent as the new Dan Brown best-seller, available in ePub and PDF via Overdrive.  Add in the non-fiction and young adult categories, and there are about 300 books I can download for free, from home, and read on the go. And what does it say on the Overdrive FAQ about the Amazon Kindle? No library books for you! Take that, America!

All kidding aside, my takeaway from all this is an important one. The PR war may be as important, at least in some markets, as the actual product features. Sony has been in the game long enough to prove that they are committed to their e-book customers. I read Project Gutenberg books on a 1st gen Clie when I was living overseas where I had limited access to books. I have progressed since then to other gizmos, including my beloved 505 from Sony. When Amazon offered wireless, Sony matched it. When ePub became an emerging standard, Sony heartily approved. Lesson number one: the features aren’t so important. If I wait long enough, Sony will match them eventually.

And lesson number two: given the choice, I would prefer Sony to, because for the first time in my techie life, I am feeling brand loyal. I buy Macs because they work better for me, not from any particular love of Apple. if someone else made something cheaper that worked just as well, I’d sign up in a heartbeat. But the Sony…nobody else has cared about the Canadian market, and there was Sony going, “Hi, Canada! Amazon locked you out, but WE have a Canadian store! With Mac support! And Google Books.” There was every e-tailer slapping on the geographical restrictions, and a month later, half those books are available through Overdrive at my public library for free. Readable only on…The Sony.

So, if anyone from Sony is reading this, I have a message for you. Sony, you have won the PR war, at least as far as this reader goes. You have earned my loyalty.

I can’t promise I won’t be tempted by a snazzy new feature or two (hint: some people want to use dictionary lookups with languages other than English…) And I can’t promise an Apple Tablet won’t woo me to the dark side. But I appreciate that you’ve been plugging away at the Canadian market when everyone else is shunning us so unjustly. I’ll keep an eye on you, and prefer your products should they do the job for me.

Note: Ted Treanor, founder of NetGalley, has just joined the Gilbane Group as a senior publishing strategies consultant. Congratulations, Ted. – P.B.

The video shows a Sony prototype of an OLED color e-book reader that rocks. One complaint of my speed reading friend is that page-flipping on any current e-reader interrupts his reading when he flips to the next page while the screen pulls in the content. Wait until you see the smooth and rapid page-flipping technology from Sony. The video is from last week’s Ceatec conference in Tokyo. To succeed in publishing over the next five years, we will need to embrace digital publishing and engage e-books, e-reader technology and social media.

Related: Earlier TeleRead items mentioning Sony OLEDs.