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Explore the journey of electronic books (e-books) as they revolutionize the publishing industry. From the focus on devices to the hurdles faced by ebook producers, discover the significant events and players in the e-book marketplace. Learn about the potential markets and opportunities for e-books, including the student market, niche markets, and libraries. Uncover the issues faced by libraries in incorporating e-books into their collections.
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Not Dead Yet Coming Back Electronic Books:A New Publishing Revolution Donald T. Hawkins Director, Intranet Development And Editor-in-Chief, Information Science & Technology Abstracts Information Today, Inc. +1-(215)-654-9129 D.T.Hawkins@att.net
Quotes—2002 • “E-books Are Solving a Problem Consumers Don’t Have.”Chicago Tribune, August 9, 2001 • “E-books may be the greatest work of fiction yet.” CBSNews.com, May 14, 2002 • “There is absolutely a future for e-books; it’s just a question of how quickly that future comes.”Toronto Globe and Mail, September 18, 2002 • “The e-book market is more of a distant promise than a present reality.”Information World Review, May 2002
Too Much Focus on the Container What Is An E-Book? • The device? • Standalone readers • The content? • E-text, digitized books • Printed books stored in digital format • Print on Demand?
People Still Like To ReadFrom Paper • The biggest hurdles that ebook producers must surmount are: • The quality of print portrayed on screens • The reluctance of users to switch media and read books from a screen Electronic Books: A Major Publishing Revolution Donald T. Hawkins ONLINE 24(4): 14-28 (July/August 2000)
Questionable Value Added “The fact that technology is able to represent documents on the screen is clearly not sufficient justification for converting every piece of paper into electronic format.”Landoni, M., et al., The Electronic Library 18(6): 407-19 (2001)
Demise of Dedicated Readers Glassbook Everybook SoftBook Franklin EBookMan
OEB Consumer Survey Results • 67% would like to read an e-book. • 62% would read an e-book from their library. • 61% said that e-books should be priced the same as paperbacks. • 70% said they would buy an e-book if it could be read on any computer.
Major Significant Recent Events • Elsevier alliance with netLibrary • German and French language editions of e-books developed for Palm reader • Cleveland Public Library to integrate e-books and local materials • MS Office adds e-books to its eServices site (http://office.microsoft.com/services)
Project Gutenberg • Began in 1971 • Free access to books for everyone • Only public-domain material • ASCII text • Over 6,700 books • Staffed by volunteers • http://promo.net/pg
netLibrary—Current Status • Now a division of OCLC following bankruptcy • Focused on the library market • Follows the “one copy, one user” model • Considering permitting simultaneous users • Over 42,000 books in collection • Over 7,300 customers (3,000 academic)
The Student Market for E-Books • Many textbooks cost >$100 and weigh 2-3 kg. • Textbooks are a large continuing market. • 62% of students prefer electronic books over print. (Versaware study)
Enhanced goReader Designed for Students • Pocket PC features • Windows CE operating system • IE browser • Modem support • OEB, HTML, and MS Office document capability • Full color, high resolution 10.4 inch touch screen • Weighs less than 3 pounds • Holds up to 150,000 pages of text
The Student MarketRecent New Cautions • Difficult to utilize during brief periods of time (It’s quicker to just open a book and highlight passages) • Reading experience still inferior to printed books • Some tasks are harder to do with e-books, and less information is retained.(http://publish.bsu.edu/cics/ebook_final_result.asp) • Some students printed large portions of e-books.
A New Business? Source: Ariadne, Issue 29, September, 2001
Other Appropriate Niche MarketsFor E-Books • Small publishers (“mid-list”) • Travelers • Technical books/training manuals • Controlled environments • Government • Military • Proprietary • Consumers X
“Bringing the e-book into existence by attempting to electrify the printed book is turning out to be more complex than anyone had imagined… By putting a printed book into digital form we are unleashing an unknown quantity into the information ecology, and it is difficult to predict whether the consequences will ultimately be positive or negative.” Dennis Dillon, “E-Books: the University of Texas Experience, Part 2.” Library Hi-Tech19(4): 350-62 (2001)
Dedicated E-Book Reader Issues For Libraries • Titles must be purchased for a specific device (Many libraries are using RCA’s REB—a descendent of the Rocket E-Book) • Incompatibilities among reader brands • Difficult and slow downloads • Some users unwilling to assume responsibility for reader • Must catalog both book and reader • Technology problems
CDL E-Book Study(D-Lib Magazine, July 2001, http://www.dlib.org) • All elements of a viable e-book market are not yet in place. • Need added functionality over printed books (like online databases) • E-books are not a panacea for storage/archive problems “The role of e-books in academic libraries is still not clear, and there is considerable development of standards, technologies, and pricing models needed to make the market for e-books viable and sustainable.”
E-Book Market Conclusions • A shakeout has occurred. • Many players have disappeared. • Most dedicated readers are obsolete. • Overly optimistic predictions have been replaced by more realistic ones. • Customer concerns must be addressed. • Some players are still active and are prospering. • Some new players are entering the market.
