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

Kim Holburn kim at holburn.net
Thu Feb 5 20:09:38 AEDT 2009


On 2009/Feb/04, at 10:01 PM, Ivan Trundle wrote:
> On 05/02/2009, at 1:04 AM, Kim Holburn wrote:
>>> Text
>>> messages are short, you say? I'm willing to bet that the average
>>> American will read substantially more text off his or her cell phone
>>> screen this year than from a book.
>
>
> 'substantially more' is probably not the point. Americans are well- 
> known for their paucity of book readers. That phenomenon is likely  
> to spread.
>
> I'm currently reading a series of classics by Joseph Conrad on my  
> phone (tele-prompt style) - it's an interesting experience, and not  
> one that is as enjoyable as a real book. As much as I try, there  
> isn't enough contextual information for me to absorb the details of  
> the story.
>
> I regard it as being akin to driving a car at night in a complex  
> environment with poor lights and no street lighting, but with the  
> tail lights of the car in front remaining prominent - unlike daytime  
> driving, where it is possible to soak in the richness of the  
> environment.
>
> And yet I've got enough pixels, my eyesight is still good enough, my  
> comprehension generally more than adequate, but the whole experience  
> is not as rewarding as having pages that I can flick in and out of.
>
> Sure, it's possible to go forward and back, etc, in a digital book,  
> but there is so much contextual richness in knowing where you are,  
> and where you are going.

I have been reading ebooks of various sorts for a while as I don't  
have access to libraries at the moment;-(.  (I would normally read two  
or three books a week.)  I have been using an eeepc although at some  
point I would like to get hold of a proper ebook reader like a sony or  
a hanlin.  The kindle looks good but I object to the kindle business  
model so far.  Some of the issues you raise can be fixed by decent  
reading software.  As that original article talks about having say a  
graphical measure of the size of the book and your position in it  
built into the software helps.  Being able to search in the book and  
look up a word instantly in an onboard dictionary sounds great.  I  
have been mostly reading PDFs but what I would really like is  
something like tofu <http://amarsagoo.info/tofu/> but it's a Mac only  
thing so far.  I love books too but the fact is that most of what you  
said is just a matter of being used to something different.  I'm sure  
when people went from scrolls to books some readers objected in  
similar ways.

I meant to ask you about the Conrad.  I thought his books were out of  
copyright.  Shouldn't they then be free?  Probably available from  
Gutenburg?

> Kindle2 might well help to diminish these problems, but until I can  
> replicate the book reading experience electronically, I won't enjoy  
> it as much.

Yeah, I don't enjoy it as much, on the other hand I don't see much  
option going forward.

> Incidentally, I read far more on-screen than in print, yet I am a  
> member of a very active book club, I have at least two novels on my  
> bedside table at any one time, and every room in the house has at  
> least one large bookshelf or more crammed with books.
>
> I do see an advantage down the track for e-books, however. My music  
> collection has been transformed into the digital age long ago, and  
> the shelves and drawers that I have full of CDs, cassettes and vinyl  
> are all simply gathering dust: if I want to play music, I simply  
> grab my phone, use its wireless link to the server which is now full  
> of music, and choose what to play. The replacement box and  
> associated hardware is 1/4 the size of my hi-fi gear, and once I  
> ditch the old media, it will free up more room for ... books.


So the question is when really.  I think ebooks have been held up by  
print publishers and authors holding out for some hope of rights over  
digital copying.  We seem to have reached the point where it is going  
to happen anyway.  The success of the kindle is just going to push the  
process forward in the same way that iTunes has forced DRM-free music  
to be legalised on-line.

Kim
-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
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