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.

As an avid book collector, I felt a mixture of both excitement and alarm when, in the early 1990s, the imminent future of the electronic book was announced. At the time, I was working at a bookstore where I was lugging heavy volumes around, watching the number of published books rise exponentially to fill our little store, and creating a personal collection that made my shelves and floors sag. While these books gave me a backache, they also provided great pleasure and still do today. Part of the appeal of paper books for me, and for many, is the physicality of them – the feel of good paper, the virgin opening of a new volume, the details of the type, the potential for note-taking and marking favorite passages. Could any benefits of an electronic collection of books outweigh these pleasurable moments?

Apparently this question is still unanswered by the consumer masses: the eBook industry continues to teeter, trying to decide if it’s on the same track as the DVD or Betamax.

While I have no friends who have ever bought, or even considered buying an eBook (and they are a relatively educated crowd), the eBook industry websites certainly make this market sound like it has legs. The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), a trade and standards organization dedicated to the development and promotion of electronic publishing, recently released statistics that an impressive 1.6 million eBook units were sold in 2005, with almost $12 million in sales revenues. Of course, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the 2.3 billion printed books sold each year.

The eBook industry has a number new concerns that they can’t appropriate from the paper publishing industry: what hardware an eBook will be read on, what software it will be read with, what format it will be read in, how a reader will purchase an eBook, and finally who will publish or provide the eBooks for purchase. The kinks in all of these areas are still being worked out, but with some effort and time, those kinks are definitely starting to straighten.

While the early speculation for eBook hardware was bibliocentric – imagine a computer the same size and weight as a book, which would open up with the sound of pages turning at appropriate times – the transforming vision for eBook format is now slightly different. There have been several attempts to create a book-like computer, and a few hang on even now, but the inclination of designers has mostly been to format eBooks to hardware many of us already have: our Mac, PC or pda. There are still some complaints about these formats being either too small or too large, unwieldy, and heavy, but at least they don’t require the additional cost of new hardware.

Once you have picked your hardware, buying eBooks is actually a relatively easy thing. Currently there are three common formats to buy your eBook in: Adobe .pdf format for Mac or PC, Mobipocket format for your pda or Pocket PC, or Microsoft Reader for your PC. All of these require some sort of free reader software, which can be upgraded at a slight price, and which are relatively user friendly. There are many websites that provide ebook services and all it takes is a quick search and a credit card to download your reading material. One website, eBooks.com, boasts a selection of over 52,000 popular, professional and academic books, all of which usually run at a slightly lower cost than paper books. One downfall is that it’s likely that you’ll only find a limited number of your favorites online, much like you might with audiobooks, but keep in mind that despite only typically offering bestsellers, the audiobook industry is still thriving.

In addition, some thoughtful individuals might be concerned with copyright and authorial authority issues in regards to the growing eBook availability. Don’t worry – the publishing industry is on top of this one, carefully protecting author’s rights (and their profits) by creating all kinds of rules and regulations to govern eBook usage. For example, in most formats, there is a limited number of times you can save and move your file, and copying and printing the text is prohibited. With those rules in place, publishing companies haven’t hesitated to enter into this industry; mega-publishers like HarperCollins, RandomHouse, and Penguin all have eBook sections on their consumer websites. After all, as one saavy commentator said “Publishers who put their titles online risk having their electronic versions stolen, but publishers who stay offline aren’t safe either. Pirates can cheaply scan paper bestsellers into their computers.” (1)

Ultimately, it is clear that eBooks are here to stay in some fashion, if only for bumbling novice authors to offer free copies of their most recent imaginings. The industry has yet determine what kind of force it will be beyond that, and we’ll just have to wait and see.

Next: more in depth reviews of various hardware, software and eBook websites.