[LINK] The once and future e-book: on reading in the digital age

[Michael Skeggs mike@bystander.net]

On 05/02/2009, Ivan Trundle <ivan at itrundle.com> wrote:
>
>
> Contextual information also includes jacket covers and fly leafs, and the
> placement of images in certain places which can easily be referred to either
> to glance at, or absorb over time. to date, no e-book comes remotely close
> to offering all of these features, though I know that one day someone will
> claim that they have achieved this and make millions.
>
> Beyond this, I also dislike having to buy a gadget to read: there are
> enough books in circulation (ignoring current publishing efforts) to keep me
> busy for a long time to come, and I believe that my environmental footprint
> will be much smaller by choosing to NOT buy a dedicated book 'reader', with
> the accompanying development costs, environmental costs, energy costs, and
> disposal costs.
>
>
Fair enough, but this argument is very similar to one that says iTunes will
never work because people want their CD covers (or CDs with their little
covers will never replace the gatefold LP with its accompanying context).
People will discard these elements of the 'book' package if there are enough
incentives to do so. For iPods it was free pirate music and the ability to
cart around 1000 albums. I suspect for ebooks it will be pirated university
texts and the ability to cart around a whole library.
As for the environment, I tend to buy books second hand, indeed only buy new
books as gifts. Recycled electrons on my palm or iPhone would be even
friendlier.

Regards,
Michael Skeggs