Posted in
Design
There's a battle rumbling over the horizon. Two players have already come into view and others prepare in the shadows. The question is are they trying to take the right hill?
Quite a bit of effort and some media have been focused on the purpose-built eReader market with Sony's Reader ($199 - http://bit.ly/nGxOa) and Amazon's Kindle ($299 - http://bit.ly/xpGj1). The idea is that today's digital world makes carrying, buying and receiving a larger collection of books infinitely easier, "affordable" (once you have the device) and convenient. Bored while waiting for a plane? Buy and download a book and start reading it right now. Finished your last book? Start reading another in your digital collection without missing a beat. The story of Chris Anderson's "long tail" theory that made Amazon such a hit as an online bookstore also seems to lend support for the concept. That is, virtual shelf space on the Internet makes it possible to inventory and deliver a far wider range of titles than a brick and mortar store could offer. So you can serve a much wider range of tastes. With digital books, this becomes even more true. There is virtually no storage issue. So a huge number of titles could easily be offered by vendors, puchased virtually online anywhere and stored by the user without overflowing either's shelves.
Wow. This is a simplistic view.
Let's think about a few human behaviors that dampen the logic above. People tend to like to thumb through a physical book. They enjoy that sense of nearing crescendo as the number of pages held by my right hand becomes smaller and the left becomes larger building that sense of nearing the end. Once the book is finished, if it was a good book, there's pleasure in handing it off to a friend to read and share in my fulfillment both of sharing the experience of the tale and in giving something to someone else. If I'm on a trip to the beach, I don't mind throwing a paperback into a carrying bag with the suntan lotion and getting some sand or salt water on it. It's a sign of the book being my travel companion or, in some cases, of its disposable nature. There are group psychology issues at work as well. I make a statement about what I care about or how well read I am when others see what I'm reading. eReaders remove this subtle statement or force the reader to be more self promoting.
So are eReader's a good idea?
eBooks are. Sure. eReaders? Maybe for some. Here's my case.
Usability
If you own a compatible device and normally have it with you, it's convenient to buy and carry eBooks. Also, if you have ever tried to read a PDF of a book and compared it to using an eReader, you quickly note how nice it is to have bookmarks where you left off and some of the other eReader features. However, does the eReader fit the way that you read a book naturally or do you have to adapt to it? It depends on the reader.
Cost
If eReaders were sold like cell phones (give away the phone to get my service fees), then the cost / benefit may work out. But they are not currently sold that way. We make buy now vs. wait decisions all the time with technology. We've learned to jump when the obvious advantages, lifestyle/convenience, prestige and other factors make a clear case, but we have also learned to wait when something looks like it is still trying to find its role in our lives. eReaders are going to be tested by early adopters and either morph into different devices or get refined until there is a winner (think MP3 players pre-iPod). Consider the difference between the iPod story and eReaders. The iPod was a hit with the messaging "Put a thousand songs in your pocket" and the value was delivered in a truly classy way, with style. The Amazon Kindle can hold over 1,500 eBooks. I don't need a single purpose device that holds every book in my library. Songs are 3-4 minutes long. I go through a lot of them in a stretch. I go through far fewer books (or movies for that matter, but even movies are only two hours long). It's just easier to carry the book or put the eBook on my iPhone with the Kindle Reader for iPhone. A Forrester Research study showed that interest explodes when the eReader price gets to $98. Maybe that will happen.
Form / Factor
eReaders are showing up in different sizes to try to address the readability issues and that sense of holding something in your hand comfortably. Some may even fold in the future to have larger screens and yet collapse to fit smaller spaces. This is a step in the right direction. For those who are "book people" (vs. laptop people or iPhone people), might they carry one of these around regularly, especially if it let them read today's news online via wireless as well? For laptop or iPhone people, carrying yet another device may be a stretch, so having software readers such as the Kindle for the iPhone is a smart move. If/when Apple reveals its tablet, I expect to see a rush on stores, but not because of the books, but because 1) it's Apple, with a rabid fan base 2) it will support large screen movies AND books AND browsing and 3) Apple will get the styistic touches right.
Durability
The fact is that the eReader itself is just another device to have to remember to bring and protect from damage (drops, rain, saltwater spray, extreme temperatures, banging against other devices...). If you have ever dropped your iPhone, you know that pit in your stomach as you check the screen and turn it on. I have really never had that same fear with a book. If I am going to have to protect, charge and carry something with me, it need to be really worth it. Are eReaders worth that care for the convenient?
Sociology
It will be interesting to see where this goes. Wouldn't it be a stroke of genius (and costly) to have an eReader that can display the jacket cover on the back of the eReader for others to see? Amazon recently re-introduced the "is digital ownership tangible and to be trusted?" issue when they grabbed eBooks back out of purchasers' Kindles over a rights issue. Apple has never done that with songs. Is there a good match between book lovers and those who will enjoy anonymously reading something on a flat panel. Will they cuddle up with an eReader in bed or at the pool?
Conclusion - The Entertainment Panel will win, not eReaders.
Ultimately, I predict that Apple will deliver the category killer with its tablet. It will marry style with cost/benefit while being so much more than just an eReader. It will be an entertainment panel. Now that's a category that I could fully endorse.
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