What get’s me excited about this format change is that since Sony is not the only ebook retailer out there selling that format ereader consumers get choice. This choice is present in pricing and content availability that varies between retailers. Publishers, product manufacturers, and independent retailers all selling the same products form a competitive market for content able to be read on an ereader, that I recently read had an estimated 30% market share. I’m hoping that may be prices will truly begin to stabilize. I’m also hoping that maybe this will cause a format to emerge that is universally compatible with ereader devices and programs (that’ll take some work with manufacturers) similar to the mp3 format in music (except with protections against unauthorized sharing).

However I am getting excited about ebooks. What started this excitement was discovering my library’s digital book library through overdrive. I’ve since then been reading Julia Quinn’s backlist on my computer. Setting a goal to read 2-3 chapters a day so that the book would be completed by the time my right to read it expires. This has allowed me to read 2 books at once.

This excitement got even bigger when I heard that Sony is now using Adobe for its content format. This a major step in persuading me to buy a reader. I think there’s a lot of potential for ebooks. They take up much less space-no need to take up half your suitcase or ten bookcases.

Print is special but digital is not to be feared.

I do admit to some concerns if ebooks were to take off in a huge way, primarily related to access (money is required in a way it isn’t with print books), environmental issues (the heavy metals involved in production and disposal of digital devices, as well as being non-biodegradable), & piracy. I also cannot comprehend why ebooks have become a social movement of sorts, causing all sorts of divisions. What used to be a community of readers has become splintered in a way that, imo, serves no one.

Personally, I like holding, feeling a book, and to me, there IS something inherently valuable about the turning of the page through space. But if reading digitally works for others, I bid them enjoy.

I agree that the print publishing model of delivery is fundamentally flawed in ways that are not sustainable in our culture over the long haul, but I don’t see that ebooks are the only way to solve them. Very certainly they will be part of a solution, but they need not be not the only one.

For instance, the quoted comment “

An industry that spends all its money on bookseller discounts and very little on finding an audience is getting things the wrong way round.

is, imo, an accurate observation, but print publishers need not resort (only? at all?) to ebooks to resolve it. What they need to do is get more focused on such issues, & more creative in problem-solving them.

Also,

A system that requires the trucking of vast quantities of paper to bookshops and then back to publishers' warehouses for pulping is environmentally and commercially unsustainable.

is true, and of course, will simply have to change, and yet again . . . ebooks may not be the only solution.

Then too, people work in these industries. You start removing things to ship and store (i.e. books) you take away jobs.

No, I am not advocating maintaining an archaic & environmentally unsound system of book delivery simply to keep truckers and warehouse workers and local booksellers employed. I’m simply pointing out the effects of sweeping change, especially when it occurs swiftly, and bidding a reasoned appreciation of those vast ripple effects.

It’s also important to consider that if, say, 10 million (rich enough) people have a reading device or 2 or 3 that gets replaced every few years, well, this will have environmental costs as well. Heavy metals. These devices require high-impact power to operate (electricity & batteries). They get shipped, just like books. And later, shipped again to be non-biodegradably buried in the earth. In poor nations.

Again, I’m simply pointing out this is not a ‘good book / bad book’ argument. Or at least, it shouldn’t be.

I also agree that part of what is being challenged is our connection to the past, and memories of reading print books. But that observation seemed to demean the impulse to stay connected to that, or rather, neutralize it. “It’s only this.”

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be worried about losing a sense of connection to our past.

While change is inevitable, paradigm shifts happen, and industries rise & fall, never has such vast change occurred with such rapidity as now. Never has what was been so devalued in the service of what will be, while also having the power to leave the old behind so quickly.

(i.e. we might reach ’100th monkey’ critical mass with all technologies, where people want the New and scorn the Old, but never have so many people been able to get the New so swiftly. And then scorn the Old to its face, at such a distance, with such anonymity, on such a vast platform as the internet.)

These fundamental alterations in the speed & process of change matter, to our collective psyche.

I think there is value in staying connected to our pasts, in a variety of ways. Print books may be a way to do this for some. Such appreciative connections may be one of the losses of our fast-moving, ever-interfaced but not necessarily connected world, where there is rarely time for reflection or contemplation, and everything beeps and is backlit.

Even as I write, a copy of Mary Balogh’s “Wood Nymph” is being mailed from person to person, eventually to end up with the original sharer of said book. It might even be her only copy, I’m not sure. And this originated online. I offer this as an example of the almost incalcuable joy that can result from sharing something that is so special, and personal, with a stranger. Really, in the same way that reviews here can send one careening to order the book. How would that be done “legally” and ethically, in an e-reader world? Possibly it would be even simpler but there’s something about the notion of a book being mailed (and for the curious, it now sells in the $35.00 used range online) that’s pretty magical in its generosity.

I’ve bought nearly a hundred books which, if they had been paper, would probably have made my house explode from the overload. Or, at the very least, they’d have eventually made their way into one of many unsorted, uncatalogued filing boxes from which they’d be difficult to unearth without a protracted search.

Digital books are easier and cheaper to store and move around. Before I migrated from my previous location to my current one I had to dispose of a third of my book collection and leave behind another third. (To this day I mourn the loss of my Seabury Quinn collection). The balance took up about half the volume, and therefore the cost, of my personal/household effects cargo. International shipping is expensive. If the entire collection had been digital (and DVD writing technology available) at the time, it would have occupied three DVDs at most.

On the community thing: I don’t share my books because they invariably come back to me (if at all) with cracked spines, coffee stains, dog-eared pages, torn covers or any combination thereof. (Okay, there’s one person that I’m willing to lend books to, and he reads graphic novels only). The non-sharing habit extends to e-books, simply because it is a habit.

Reading, for me, is a completely solitary activity. I don’t care to show others what I’m reading, and I don’t want people to strike up conversations with me just because they see the cover of my book — particularly when I’m reading it. An eReader solves all that.

As for formats, DRM, georestrictions? Let’s just say there are technological solutions for that. I think the substantial time I spend on cleanup, formatting, renaming, cataloguing and multiple backups (of books, catalogue data and software) is well justified. And if someone released yet another ebook format tomorrow, there’d be someone else out there, writing a conversion program for it.

I still have a large video collection and I still have a video machine. I can’t buy either of those things any more, but I can still use what I’ve purchased previously (until it breaks down, but even print books eventually fall apart, so that’s something I’m prepared for). I haven’t rebought my entire video collection on DVD; I’ve bought new and different films. When HD becomes unavoidable, I’ll start a new film library, but without something really special to tempt me I won’t rebuy the films I already own.

If I buy an eReader and build a library on it, I want that library to remain accessible even after the eReader and formats have been delcared obsolete. I can buy a new eReader and buy different books to fill that one up with, but I don’t want to have to rebuy books that I had on my my obsolete-but-working (hopefully) old eReader. I don’t want Amazon or Sony to decide that since the format/eReader is obsolete they’ll yank the books from their library, and while they’re at it mine too.

I’ll be sad, too, that’s there’s no secondhand market with eBooks. No chance to find a 70 year old newspaper cutting in an eBook, but I suspect I’ll eventually shift to a large secondhand print collection and a slightly smaller new eBook selection, unless all those blue sky promises that eBooks will bring back out of print books at affordable prices actually come true one day (I have… ‘difficult’ tastes in reading, sometimes). That is, if I can ever afford an eBook reader.

When you say long live the content, it’s dependent on whether the content’s long lived!

I’m resigned to the fact that I will one day probably own some kind of electronic reader and will probably have to deal with all the DRM stuff (a point on which I have no faith of a reader-friendly resolution at all) and versioning and whatever. It’ll probably happen and when it does I’ll just have to cope. Does the use of “resigned” and “cope” indicate how excited I am about my future as a reader?

In addition to what Sarah T. and ReaderFan contributed – and I agree wholeheartedly with them both – I want to add (only slightly tongue-in-cheek): I have one charming-if-absent-minded husband, two children, two cats, a dog, a full-time job, aging parents, community responsibilities, and a houseful of the kinds of items with some sort of battery and/or charging requirements (desktops, laptops, cell phones, etc.). I really, really, really, really do not with to tie my reading life – which is dedicated to a kind of hedonistic autodidact’s pursuit of pleasure – to the sort of device that makes me completely insane in its maintenance needs. I do not want another blasted thing in my life that requires me to think about the charging, does this battery fit?, is this the right cord?, don’t drop it!, no honey that’s mommy’s really expensive reading thing please don’t touch it, is that dust from the pitcher’s mound wafting this way? oh, I bought that book in that other format and can’t get it now, or it’s on the other laptop that husband has three states away, the cat dragged the cord into the laundry room…..

This is my life and reading is meant to be an escape from that. Fix DRM and I’ll reluctantly get on board. If someone could find a way to give me a reader that’s as mindless to use as a book, well, we’ll see. My demands might be unreasonable, but there you are.

I’ve been using computers for 20+ years and not one of the files from back then still exists unless I kept a printed copy. Every book I saved is right here with me. The books that belonged to my mother sit on my shelves. It’s a connection to my past that transcends content. The book I held while watching the moonrise behind the pyramids, one that is tattered and worn, but belonged to my dad.

In all my years I have never formed a sentimental bond to a piece of electronic equipment. I like it, I use, but it means nothing. When I read a book that I sincerely want to keep, I buy a print copy. 15 years from now, I’ll still be able to read the thing. It’s like saying you can see the Mona Lisa on your computer and it will look the same as when you see it in person. Have you ever watched a movie filmed where on location and remembered walking those streets? Isn’t it different than when you see scenes of places you’ve never been?

The invention of movable type changed the world. It gave the masses a chance to learn. Somehow I doubt the first e-reader will be valued like the Gutenberg bible. If you think the tactile experience is of no value, then perhaps for it is. Would you really place your faith, your history, your trust in some digital file?

Yes, we lost the art of storytelling, but it was kept alive in poor areas because books were for the rich. Digital media is not for the poor. I read my ebooks on a laptop that cost $1500 + software using an ISP service that costs an additional $600 a year. A digital reader would be a one time cost – till it dies and I have to buy another one. Or the file format changes and lo and behold, I can’t read my books any more. No one came to my house and took 1984 away. If they tried, it would have been breaking and entering and petty theft. Do I care if they get my romance books? No. But if I don’t care about that, when do I care? Is everything disposable? The books sitting on my selves are immutable and unchanged over the decades.

The love affair with electronic media and social networking means you sit in front of a computer, or you have a an iphone or Blackberry as you text away, play computer games, chat, or respond to blogs :-), but every time you do, you aren’t enjoying real life. I have a football game on, and instead of watching the Packers and Bears as closely as I should, or reading one of the hundreds of print books in my TBR pile, I’m here trying to make a point. Content is critical, yes, but how easily corrupted is a digital file? No one will change, delete, modify or alter one of my print books. The content of those books hasn’t changed in 30 years. Yes, I can lose them to fire or flood – even rodents, but I can lose digital content far more easily. And the next person might not have the luxury of a digital reader, so when I give my books away, all they’ll need is enough light to read.

Tell me you’ve never looked at an old psalter and not wondered who once held that book. The sheer weight of history books can hold. If you didn’t, then I do feel badly for you. Have you ever once felt the same awe holding an e-reader? I don’t bond to my computers, or cell phones, or any other electronic device. They are just disposable tools. My bond with books goes beyond the content – or at least it does for the memorable ones. I have no problem buying digital books that I’m very unlikely to pass on to others. As for the rest, I’ll stay with print and share they with others – including those who don’t sit with a laptop on their knees while watching the NFL. :-)

Go Packers!

Maili wrote,

As for a general comment about obsolescene? Did anyone keep old televisions and old cassette players? Kitchen equipments? Gadgets we thought were useful but weren't? How about toys? As children age, we ‘upgrade' toys to fit in with their ages. Clothes? There are so many similar products over years, so why the concern about ebook readers?

Comment win! So glad I am not the only person who thinks this.

Most folks who love their e-readers do so because it cuts down on their buying of actual paper books and the space issues. I’ve not found that true for me at all. I still buy copies of paper books where they are available and I’ve been trying to find my favorites in e-books so eventually, I aim to have at least 2 copies of every title I own – one e- and one paper. That will take a few years because my library now contains about 3,000 titles.

Which leads me to the thing that’s been most prominently on my mind. What I really want more than anything is to be able to take the book I’m currently reading – be it in paper or on my Sony reader – with me in the car and have it read to me while I’m driving down the road. I travel long distance a lot and while I have audio books to entertain me, I really want to continue with the book I’m currently reading rather than listen to something else.

So I guess what I’m saying is I want a device that can do all three. Simulate a book, be an e-reader and an audio device according to what strikes my fancy at the particular moment in time. I hope the cutting edge developer folks are listening! :)

It’s really disappointing that AG managed to kill the text-to-voice function on the Kindle. While I’d never buy a Kindle, I was hoping other e-reader manufacturers would be interested in incorporating a better version. I dislike most audiobooks because the narrators annoy the hell out of me with their emoting and dramatizing. I just want somebody to read the words to me and I would not object if the audio companies added to the original text with some tags (a la ‘he said, she said’ where necessary, rather than the narrator trying to impersonate a different gender; I have 5 of Catherine Asaro’s titles I love to death in audio and I cannot stand to listen to them because Anna Fielding just *butchers* the male voices to the point where they are caricatures).

So, I’ll never give up my paper books, I still read and re-read them frequently, but I also heavily use my e-reader for those titles that are only available electronically and those that are available in both media.

For a less far-future wish than the above described all-around magic machine, I really, really, *really* want a combo deal on books, where I pay, say a buck or two more, and get both a print book and an e-book.

IMO, if one doesn't like a certain format or medium, there are other formats or media to use. So why the fuss?

My frustration stems from the fact that I’d love to go over to digital. I see its potential advantages. However, at the present time, it simply makes no sense for me to do so. I’d have to jump through hoops to get a handheld device and then only be able to buy certain titles to read on it.

Any contempt I have is solely directed towards the publishers. Whatever their reasoning, they are – in my opinion – going about it the wrong way. If I recall correctly, Jane had a post up a while ago in which she asserted that it was as if publishers wanted to kill digital before it took off. I think she’s right. Either that or they are simply oblivious to their customers’ needs.

Regarding the broader picture of print vs. digital: Digital is undoubtedly the way of the future. I don’t think many print books will exist in twenty years. I just hope that digital publishing evolves in such a way that it benefits the masses, not just a few people who can afford the necessary hardware and happen to live in a specific location.

When television slowly became commonplace, cinema supporters were convinced it’d destroy the cinema industry. When Laserdisc/Betamax/VHS were launched, the same old fears about the fate of cinema appeared. How it is today? People still go to cinema. Same with the music. Phonograph, vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD, Midi, digital, etc. Yet my husband still prefers vinyl and CDs.

As for a general comment about obsolescene? Did anyone keep old televisions and old cassette players? Kitchen equipments? Gadgets we thought were useful but weren’t? How about toys? As children age, we ‘upgrade’ toys to fit in with their ages. Clothes? There are so many similar products over years, so why the concern about ebook readers?

Books of various types are no exception — how many of us kept every book we bought all our lives? Coffee table books? Cookery books that caught our attention in passing? Novelty books? Textbooks that almost broke our financial backs during our uni years? We can’t even give those textbooks to younger generations because the edition would be badly out of date. So they have to buy copies of their own. Some of us would buy revised editions of keeper novels. The list is endless.

And how about audiobooks? Why these are all right while ebooks aren’t? To me, an ebook is just another form of reading or entertainment. My number one preference for reading is actually the hardback format. However, considering the situation I’m in, the ebook format is the best and most practical solution for me and that’s what I’m going with.

IMO, if one doesn’t like a certain format or medium, there are other formats or media to use. So why the fuss?

What bothers me about the entire debate is, the contemptuous tone in some comments (from both sides, here and elsewhere). Is it really necessary? :/

I have to engage with this system in order to own a laptop which allows me to do my work, but I’m reluctant to buy a piece of plastic junk for the sake of pleasure reading when there’s a long lasting and recyclable alternative at hand. I challenge Sony et all to provide me with a reading device that is designed to be repairable and upgradable, and that can be safely broken down and recycled when its useful life is over.