Posted on 05/10/2006 by Shawn Simmons • Permalink • Comment (1 so far)
Today I purchased my first eBook. And it wasn’t the slightest bit painful.
I’m not sure why I’m so distrusting of the digital age, but here I am again, surprised at the ease with which a person can feel comfortable with a new electronic solution. It’s happened to me before. I was a late-comer to cell phone ownership, and was given both pda and digital camera as gifts long after they were popular. I received them all with raised eyebrows but was quickly won over by each. I admit that I was as hesitant with eBooks, and I probably wouldn’t have even bothered with it if not for this article.
Apparently, I’m not alone in my skepticism. I did an informal survey of a random sampling of my friends and family and found that the majority who answered, 24 out of 28, had never downloaded an eBook. The individuals I surveyed were a mixed crowd, who range between 25 and 60 years old, have varying educational levels, but are all computer literate (at least enough to answer the eSurvey). Of the 4 who admitted to eBook involvement, three had downloaded non-fiction (manuals and academic texts) and the fourth, a friend’s story which had won an award. Not one person downloaded a novel to read in their spare time.
When I asked why the surveyed hadn’t ‘caught the eBook wave,’ the answers were consistent: I spend too much time staring at a computer screen already; I appreciate the physicality of books; I had no idea that eBooks even existed. When asked whether they saw a future for eBooks, the responses were mixed: some felt dreaded inevitability and some thought they had no future at all.
The most common comment, however, was that eBooks will only become popular if better hardware is created to read it. This seems to be a delusion that many non-eBookers have. Because all recent ventures into eBook-specific hardware have failed, we’re left with laptops or pdas for our eBook-reading pleasure. Amazingly, this doesn’t seem to be an issue among actual eBook buyers. A survey conducted by the IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum) in 2006 found that 88% of eBook readers rated their hardware average or better for reading, and a whopping 96% said they found eBook portability better than that of paper books. While there’s definitely interest amongst eBook readers in enlarged screen size and resolution, the current hardware isn’t stopping the previously converted.
The big complaints amongst regular eBook readers are more focused on software, websites and legal issues. They’re frustrated with the lack of pre-purchase browsable excerpts, as well as the still-substantial cost of purchasing them (approximately 0 - 25% less than the paper equivalent). One interesting point in the whole eBook debate is that with the industry still in an infant stage, not only are few books available, but the genre is limited as well. I looked up books that typically have a plethora of visuals (like comic books, and books on graphic design), and there wasn’t anything. Adobe .pdfs are definitely advanced enough to deal with graphics, so why is it so uncommon at this point?
It seems that the eBook industry faces a difficult binary market. On the one hand they have the non-eBook readers, who clearly have some biases and misperceptions, just as I did. On the other hand, they have their current users; publishers, retailers, and electronics producers are being asked to make advancements in the software, websites, hardware in order to retain their current customer base. It’s complicated, but I see a future for eBooks, whether dreaded or not.