Can e-books win global appeal?
By Marjorie Kehe | 09.29.08
Maybe, maybe not. “Reading devices developed especially for e-books should provide a pleasant reading experience,” says Gudrun Bolduan of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association, quoted in a piece in the Bangkok Post.
Rumor has it that devices like Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s digital Reader – now on sale only in the United States – will soon be available worldwide. The Bangkok Post states that, “One indicator of this was Sony’s presentation of its Reader at Berlin’s IFA electronics show this past August,” although, “the company did not name a price or a precise release date.”
But a piece in today’s Toronto Star suggests that some readers remain skeptical.
The Sony Reader was on display at a book fair there yesterday. “There is something about turning the pages and the discovery,” explained one reader as she turned down a chance at a free Sony Reader. “I don’t know if just hitting a button compares.”
Comments
2. John Danielson | 09.30.08
The only things holding back ebooks are the prices and secondarily the Digital Rights Management used to ‘protect’ the Intellectual Property. Dedicated ebook readers aren’t required, current PDAs, smart cell-phones and (the almost pocket sized) netbooks can also be ebook readers.
Some publishers are selling ebook downloads for the same price as a hardback and ‘locking’ it to a single reading device. An ebook has less value than a paperback as you can’t give it to a friend to read on their reading device, you can’t sell it at a garage/yard/rummage sale and you can’t trade it in at the used book store. Ebook publishers are really selling a rental of uncertain duration. I’ve lost ebooks because I replaced/upgraded a reader. I wouldn’t mind if the password to unlock the ebook on my reader was linked to my personal information (credit card number, SSN, etc.) used in the purchase, but restricting me a specific piece of hardware means the lifetime of an ebook is limited. Locking an ebook with DRM like this may be OK for a read-once trashy summer vacation novel, but for building a personal library I can carry with me the current DRM just doesn’t work.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
Leave a Comment
We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. The comments feature is a forum to discuss the ideas in our stories. Constructive debate - even pointed disagreement - is welcome, but personal attacks on other commenters are not, and will not be published.
Tip: Do not write a novel. Keep it short. We will not publish lengthy comments. Come up with your own statements. This is not a place to cut and paste an email you received. If we recognize it as such, we won't post it.
Please do not post any comments that are commercial in nature or that violate copyrights.
Finally, we will not publish any comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence.
1. Sheryl Hill-Tanquist | 09.30.08
My husband just ordered a Kindle reader for me because I need large print and it allows the reader to choose the font size. Many, many books that would not otherwise be available for me to read will be available as ebooks. Also, carrying large print books around is hard on my back, so I’m looking forward to relief in that area, too.