I think we can all agree that ebooks are part of our present and future, right? Obvious, right? Of course, there are all those open questions about format and timing and volume and functionality, and what print will be like, etc., etc. But the basics are in place, aren't they?
Like many people, I reacted with a blend of anticipation but skepticism (let's call it skeptitation) when the iPad dropped earlier this year. The hype around technology products, and Apple products in particular, can be overwhelming. I rage against this over-hyping as much as I can, but there is no denying that the iPad has made a significant impact on information providers and their strategies.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the future. I find that so much more actionable than thinking about the past. The problem is, to quote the great wordsmith Yogi Berra, "The future ain't what is used to be."
As reported in The New York Times last week, a major publisher (Little, Brown) is taking its first title directly to e-book … no print version. It’s a book about immigration by Pete Hamill.
Two recent articles reflect a couple aspects of reality that I see about e-readers: The dust has not settled yet, and the single, catch-all solution that many would like to grab onto may never exist … nor should it.
One is an article in BusinessWeek about how the Kindle has not wowed college students. This is the part where I trot out my sarcasm and say, “Gee, ya think?”
A few years back, I was giving a presentation about all the wonderful things our company was going to be able to do with XML, and that we should get to it. Only thing was, our company was in the midst of being acquired by a major Dutch company that had a pretty strong reputation in their handling of XML (names have been omitted to protect the innocent).
Shortly after I became the proud owner of a Barnes & Noble Nook, rumors started intensifying that Apple was on the verge of releasing a tablet computer that quite possibly could make my e-reader (and all the others like it) seem as antiquated as the Brother word processor I used back in college. I was disheartened. I had invested a significant amount of time researching e-reading devices before deciding on the Nook. Now, I had barely opened the packaging on my new toy, and something even newer and better and more colorful—and with apps!—was already stepping up to take its place.
I had a lot of fun last week speaking at the SIIA’s Brown Bag series on a panel called “Beyond the eBook” with a few colleagues, new and old (the relationships, not the people). But there was an interesting element to it that I thought was funny, and would like to share.
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, I quickly became labeled as the “curmudgeon” or “technology cynic” because of a number of factors, all of them self-inflicted. Again, it was all good natured, but my unwillingness to rush out and buy an iPad transformed me into the technology curmudgeon in the room. I absolutely I loved it.
It seems every week I receive a press release or read a news article about a new e-book exclusivity agreement an author has struck with Amazon. This week, it was best-selling science fiction author F. Paul Wilson.
According to the press release I received from Amazon, Wilson has made five of his books available in the Kindle Store exclusively for one year using Amazon's e-book self-publishing tool, Digital Text Platform.
I just returned from an incredible vacation to Colorado. It was the first time I traveled with my Nook, which, of course, is one of the great benefits of an e-reader—it’s portability. I tend to be a, shall we say, slightly heavy packer (OK, I’ll admit it, my suitcase was just shy of 50 lbs., but I still contend that every one of those pairs of shoes was essential), so it was a relief not to have to lug one or two cumbersome print books along, too. And from my admittedly limited, unscientific perspective (that is, seat 18D on the plane ride out to Denver), it appears e-reader use is indeed increasingly—in addition to my Nook, I spotted two Kindles in my direct vicinity.
