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Book Editor Sees Ups, Downs in E-Book Prospects
1/3/00
Sometime in this new century, books may make a permanent leap from paper to pixels as the publishing industry transforms traditional print to electronic—or maybe they won't. Jane Henderson, book editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch points out numerous pitfalls along the path toward a digital-only world of books.
In her piece, "The Reading Edge: The Electronic Revolution is Changing the Way We Buy, Store, and Consume Books" (Jan. 2), Henderson notes that there has been a great deal of hoopla over electronic books and digitized content in the last year or so but the practicalities of e-books haven't quite measured up yet. E-book readers are still clumsy to use, relatively high-priced in the eyes of consumers, not particularly durable, and they need batteries to operate.
However, Henderson also sees signs that electronic books will become prevalent and popular at a much faster pace than many naysayers believe. She recounts several trends that may affect electronic publishing: mergers of publishing houses, on-demand printing, online self-publishing, digital conversion of out-of-print books, and the ability of consumers to communicate rapidly with each other over the Internet about books and authors.
She also thinks e-books may find their way to college campuses first, noting that attendees at a conference sponsored by the Missouri Center for the Book all agreed that "the obvious first use for an e-book may be as a tool for students."
Sound Off!
Rodger Dickinson (rddatl@bellsouth.net) 11/4/2002 6:18:07 PM
I feel that e-books would be very preferable for students in a college setting. I take 3 backpacks to school with me every day to take all of the books with me that I need. At the same time, I have 4 books loaded on my PDA at any one time. Which makes more sense? If I had the option to have e-textbooks, I would. I only need the textfor a few hours a day, and I genereally do most of my homework at my computer anyway. I could print pages that I needed, and I could also search for and quickly find important terms and section headings.
As a transitional step, the e-text could come with the purchase of the actual book, letting the student make the decision for themselves.
I also like e-books because I enjoy having the books in a searchable format. Often I am looking for a specific passage or quote. An e-book allows me to find these much faster than a paper book. It also takes up much less space. The collected works of Charles dickens can fit onto one CD-ROM, or take up an entire shelf on a bookcase.
The problem that I have with e-books, right now, is that they cost exactly the same as a paper book. the publisher is not having to print the book and distribute it. They are not having to pay for shipping or storage. So, why does it cost the same? More people would be willing to purchase e-books if they were cheaper that a paper book.
Harold Ball (hballitex@msn.com) 1/12/2000 6:40:25 AM
There is no doubt that the e-book is very practical for certain types of material, especially where one wants to do rapid research, locate a subject or text quickly, or store files of maps, illustrations, etc.
But like the paperback book in the 50's when many speculated that the paperback would replace the hardcover book, it never happened.
I believe that the e-book will have a large part in the market, but will never totally replace the printed book.Many of us will still want to pick up the book, browse the pages, make notes in the margin, and place it on our library shelves with the thousands of other titles that line our santuary from the cares of the world.
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