Day of the digital book may be dawning

[MacBytes]

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Category: Opinion/Interviews
Link: Day of the digital book may be dawning (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20060224091748)
Description:: Let’s see. Apple has music and videos at the iTunes Music Store (which evidently needs a new name—The Apple Media Store, perhaps?). Maybe Jobs & Company should add a literary slant to the offerings since many experts are convinced that digital books are finally ready for takeoff. But it may take a company like Apple to really launch digital books into stratosphere.

Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)
Approved by Mudbug

[Applespider]

Please, please, please, please, please.

I'd love to be able to carry my 'library' around like I do with my Music. 'Course, it's slightly harder to 'rip' a book into iStory than a CD into iTunes but I'd love to be able to read 'on-the-go' rather than lugging books around - particularly for new edition hardbacks

[nagromme]

I was thinking that would be a nice little extra on the alleged all-screen iPod.

Held sideways, an all-screen iPod the size of a 5G would be about wide enough for the text area of a paperback. You'd have to scroll to see the whole page, so some people might prefer portrait orientation--and the device could offer both options.

There are already quite a few e-Books for iPod, but not from Apple... and in rather tiny type :o

[thedude110]

E-books won't take off until screen resolution can match paper resolution (and cheaply).

Think about the way e-books will change the face of learning and create even greater stratifications in learning equity ...

Not to mention how much I love paper books ...

[angelwatt]

I'm all for eBooks taking off. Having search functionality would be great for reference books, like when I'm programming. Currently I tend to use google for programming help because it seems quicker than trying to find answers in my books. Though I'd want a book reader to be in color, not just black and white.

[Kernow]

I'm still not sold on the idea of reading off a screen - like thedude110 says, there is something about real paper books.

Having said that, if they do manage to find a convenient way to display the text, then I am really liking the idea of iTunes style store for books. There is so much that I want to read and being able to download it quickly, easily and cheaply (and legally) would be fantastic. I already have two (large) groaning bookshelves full, so any method of conserving space would be great.

[Applespider]

I'm still not sold on the idea of reading off a screen - like thedude110 says, there is something about real paper books.

I already have two (large) groaning bookshelves full, so any method of conserving space would be great.

I love paper books too but I have 15 6' shelves full of books none of which I'm prepared to give away and I'm running out of room... Electronic versions of 'new' books would be a great, great help!

[Kernow]

I love paper books too but I have 15 6' shelves full of books none of which I'm prepared to give away and I'm running out of room... Electronic versions of 'new' books would be a great, great help!

That's the problem - letting them go :) . Both my bookshelves are double stacked, with more books on top and around the sides, but my girlfriend doesn't understand why I won't get rid of any of them :D

[ITASOR]

Forget story type books....we need text books that are electronic...imagine how much cheaper and easier to carry they would be. I could carry my iBook around all day instead of 349934593485 text books.

[Seasought]

If anyone could pull this off and well it would be Apple.

I've really grown accustomed to reading eBooks and would jump on a portable device that is explicitly for such a purpose.

Bring on the iTome with downloadable eBooks from "iTunes" and interoperability between one's Mac and iTome. Full color, high resolution, touch screen drag and drop display, ultra-thin and light, bluetooth capability, and white, brushed metal or black for style. :D

[nbs2]

for textbooks and manuals, i'm all for this. for my enjoyment books - never. there is something comforting about a paper book. maybe it is the ease with which i can skim through it, maybe the warmth of paper, maybe the fact that i get sick of staring at a screen all day...

[Seasought]

for textbooks and manuals, i'm all for this. for my enjoyment books - never. there is something comforting about a paper book. maybe it is the ease with which i can skim through it, maybe the warmth of paper, maybe the fact that i get sick of staring at a screen all day...

That's where I think a thin, light and durable eBook device (with multiple brightness, color adjustment settings) could make the experience better. While using a laptop can be comfortable to an extent going smaller, lighter and tougher would improve the experience even more. You wouldn't have to have a brick on your lap, you could toss the device onto the couch and get up and do something else without worrying about it. Much like a paper book.

I too appreciate the novelty of paper books, but the potential of such a device far outweighs the novelty to me.

[Kernow]

Does anyone know how many books actually exist in digital form and how easy it would be to convert them if not?

I would imagine that more recent books would exist electronically and shouldn't be too much hassle to convert to a publishable form, but how about older books?

[stoid]

Forget story type books....we need text books that are electronic...imagine how much cheaper and easier to carry they would be. I could carry my iBook around all day instead of 349934593485 text books.

350 billion books?!? Yeah, it must be difficult to lug that warehouse around on your back everyday! If each book weighed on average 1 kg, it would be about half the estimated weight of Mt. Everest! You should probably have a chat with your school administrator or counselor of something. ;)

Also, I would expect the text of book to be no smaller than an average song (probably larger. Still though, I suppose it would be easier to lug around a LaCie terabyte Bigger Disk Extreme than half the weight of Mt. Everest! :D

[thedude110]

for textbooks and manuals, i'm all for this.

Even for textbooks I think this is a bad idea. Unless there's a system in place to ensure that all public schools receive equal funding for e-books, contemporary pedagogy (and teacher training) would essentially be reduced to pedagogy for the privileged (the potential of the e-book is large enough to attract huge amounts of scholarship that might otherwise be reserved for students from all districts and financial situations).

The power of hypertext for education is huge -- for learning contexts, for reading comprehension, for vocabulary development -- and I really do believe that the migration from the page to the screen is fundamentally an issue of social justice.

[Lau]

Hmm. I've always found this an interesting dilemma. Personally? I can't see myself ever wanting this - I absolutely adore paper books and can't imagine reading them off an electronic screen.

There's something about a pleasing stack of books in your bag, and buying a new one, or buying an old one, and the boxy size of them, and the feel of the paper, and the way the ink looks on the paper, and the type, and the cover and the way paperbacks bend, and the little stripy bit of cloth on the spine of a hardback, and the way the pages are all crisp when they're new, and the way they get all soft and rounded like an old pack of playing cards when they're old, and the smell of a new book, the smell of an old book, and...er - did I mention I rather like printed books? :D

For these reasons, and many more, I can't see myself buying or reading books electronically (in spite of the fact if I'm looking for something in a book that I really miss Apple+F :p). . For me it's totally different to owning music, which I have no problem with electronic copies of. I could be eating my words in 5 years, but I doubt it.

[Josh]

I'd buy one.

I'd like it to have the ability to display the text on the screen, as well as play an audio version of the text on the screen.

The click wheel would have to go. It takes up too much space to have a screen large enough for text to be read at length, and I wouldn't like it to appear on screen over my text either - the screen should be free and clear.

My mockup:

[AtHomeBoy_2000]

I believe something like this will revolutionize the book industry......
Sony® Portable Reader System (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=PRS500)

http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/imagesProducts/650x650/ebook.jpg

[nagromme]

Paper books aren't going away, nor would I want them to.

But I carry my iPod everywhere--not my iPod PLUS a book. It's not practical. Now combine the two and I would do a lot more reading :)

I don'ts see resolution as a big problem (we spend hours a day reading tiny text of LCDs already). A bigger problem is viewing-angle weirdness if you're too close to a cheap/small LCD. But that's not true of all devices.

[AtHomeBoy_2000]

Let's also not forget how a digital book would revolutionize newspaper distribution!

[Loge]

Sony device looks interesting; particularly as it supports display of PDFs; looks like they've learned something about standard formats. Unfortunately it appears that the software required to transfer the files will be PC only.

[sjk]

I believe something like this will revolutionize the book industry......Trouble I have with that is it's smaller than full-sized pages in most books. And books have facing pages for even more context.

For comparison, check out the Iliad ER 0100 (http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/irex-announces-its-first-epaper-device-the-iliad-er-0100-144254.php). That's similar to one kind of "tablet" device I'd like to see from Apple.

[danny_w]

I have tried several of the ebook attempts, starting with the RCA ebook (still my favorite). I last read ebooks on a Sony NX70 pda until I sold it. I would welcome an ebook reader that got it all right, but for some reason I have never liked reading ebooks on a laptop or computer screen. While no ebook reader will ever make me give up paper books, I enjoy reading short stories and artibles that I would not care to keep in ebook form (mostly public domain stuff), where they don't take up space on my shelf.

[mkaake]

I need one that won't hurt my eyes from looking at it for a couple of hours.

Toss that in with the ability to get my RSS streams, and I'd be *very* happy...

[gekko513]

Yeah, with the Apple convenience and legality I would definitely jump onto the eBook market if they release the full screen iPod and eBooks on iTMS.

[danny_w]

I need one that won't hurt my eyes from looking at it for a couple of hours.

Toss that in with the ability to get my RSS streams, and I'd be *very* happy...
That's what I liked so much about the RCA, it glowed very softly compare to most others I have tried, but it was simply too heavy, and is now no longer produced. You can still find them on eBay, however (I sold mine there for more than I paid for it).

[dubbz]

Sounds interesting... But I don't read that many books... and if I remember correctly, the last books I've read has actually been on the computer. Not in paper format.

I could see some potential problems with this though... like hardware issues. It's not like a paper book can crash is it? And what about battery life? Don't have to worry about that with paper books. Not that I think they'll consume a lot of power, but still...

That, and they'll probably be DRM infested. I'm certain that all kinds of interesting abilities will never been seen of them because of that.
And, yet, sometimes in the future they'll probably be complaining about how "piracy is destroying the industry" and bla bla bla... I can hear it already :rolleyes: