Amazon has released a product following in the path of products that have failed before – an eBook reader! You can now cuddle up with an electronic screen, displaying pages of a book and using buttons to flip the page. This one is a little more fancy than previous versions – offering access to an online book store, as well as the ability to read Word documents and access Wikipedia. But the premise remains the same; this is an electronic device released with no demand or market.
Think back – when is the last time you found yourself dissatisfied with a book? Maybe it was a heavy, heavy textbook you had to lug to class. Maybe it was an extremely expensive book you were forced to buy. Maybe it was a disappointing read. An eBook reader addresses none of these issues.
1. Heavy – the reader is light, but a heavy book probably contains a wealth of information not accessible in an eBook. Large colorful photos, charts and diagrams, the ease of flipping between pages, and published for academic audiences in a tough binding. You aren’t going to get the reproduction in an eBook reader that you can from the actual book. Besides, if there was demand for lighter books, they’d publish with lighter paper or in two volumes (and charge and make more money).
2. Expensive – an eBook reader will surely lower the printing costs, but those are decreasing already with new technology. The real expense of an academic book comes from the subject matter and also from the market itself. We’ve all bought books that cost over $100. Professors didn’t avoid these books because of the cost, and thus the market keeps the cost high. While it is possible than an eBook could bring the cost down somewhat, it’s not likely that this will change the pricing of academic literature.
3. Disappointing read – this doesn’t take away the library system, where you can read books for free. It also doesn’t make eBooks free; you still have to buy them. It does stop you from reselling your book, however, should you not like it. Or giving away the offending book as a gift. Or donating it and feeling good about yourself for doing so. You are just as likely to buy a disappointing book on a digital store as you are to buy one in real life.
Now, perhaps the eBook is likely to revolutionize reading. Maybe we can lower printing costs by applying DRM to the eBook. Now no one can resell the book and keep publishers down. Maybe we can have screens that are so excellent and an interface so well designed that the eBook reader is actually BETTER than a real book. Maybe. But let’s think further about the downsides of an eBook.
1. It’s an electronic device. That means it uses batteries. It can get damaged if dropped. It is a target for theft. It may not perform well in damp, hot, dusty, cold, sunny, et cetera environments.
2. It’s too much. It’s a mini-tablet PC with poor input and an ugly screen. How many tablet PCs do you see out on the market? People are generally satisfied with the large screen of their laptop or the small screen of their iPod/cell phone. The middle range (such as the PDA) are rapidly becoming extinct.
3. There is no demand! It’s not as if people have largely started reading books on their laptops, but are dissatisfied with the screen and the portability. If that were the case, then a nice portable eBook reader would be just the ticket. But not only do people dislike reading things on their laptop (to the point that they often print them out, hence you can still buy printers), they also LIKE books! Imagine that! There are large book stores all over the country and more opening frequently. People like browsing and buying books.
So, Amazon – you’re stupid. I hope this experiment fails horribly. I dread the day (should it ever come) that I can’t easily find a book I want to read and curl up with it in bed. I like the heft, the feel, the smell – I like books for what they are, not just for the words they contain. Kindle may display the words, but it lacks the soul of a book.