Is the time right for your book-reading to go electronic?
If industry analysts are right, for many ’tis indeed the season.
Estimates are that anywhere from 1 million to 2 million new e-reading devices will be purchased during the holidays.
And it won’t stop there. Forrester Research predicts the number of e-readers will more than double to 10 million by the end of 2010.
Amazon’s Kindle isn’t the only game in town anymore, and new and different devices are expected from Apple and others in the coming year. Deciding which of the available readers to buy is one issue. Deciding whether to wait is another.
No doubt, Kindle lovers love their Kindles. Dawn Kirkwood of Kansas City has one, and she particularly likes to browse samples of books. She likes the short download times — about a minute per book.
“My life is very hectic,” she said. “It’s the instant gratification part of it I really love.”
Kirkwood travels with her e-reader and takes it to bed. She likes that she can make the text bigger on the screen.
And as for the lost aesthetics of holding an actual book: “Guess how long it took to adjust to that. Hmm, 30 seconds.”
Decisions, decisions…
The popular e-readers have their differences.
The Kindle DX has a bigger screen than the Kindle. It’s also more expensive.
The Sony Readers have touch screens and the Kindles don’t.
Barnes and Noble’s Nook, which can be ordered now but won’t be delivered until January, has a feature that allows users to share e-books temporarily with someone else.
And what about those who would say that with the speed of technological innovation it’s unwise to buy anything right now?
Roger Fidler, program director for digital publishing at the University of Missouri’s Reynolds Journalism Institute, understands the sentiment but doesn’t agree.
Sure, within 12 months something new will come along, he said. But that’s true of just about any electronic device, and it doesn’t mean that what you purchase will be obsolete.
“For most of the e-readers, whatever people get today, they should be able to use for several years without feeling like they have to buy a new one,” he said.
Color screens are the upcoming innovation, and while color is nice, it’s not essential for most text reading, he said.
Around the corner
It’s rumored that next year Apple will offer a touch-screen tablet device with a 10-inch or larger display (the biggest so far), Fidler said, and Microsoft is working on a reader device with two screens. But these are likely to be pricey — several readers on the market now cost just $250.
Those who wait because they think the perfect device is coming might be disappointed, he said. And some people will continue to read on laptops and netbooks or on iPhones or other smart phones.
“It’s not going to be one size fits all,” he said.
Fidler and his wife have Kindles and are reading more books than ever. They’re loading up several for a long plane ride to Peru. The price is also right. Many new e-books cost $9.99, compared to more than
$20 for the hardcover.
“We haven’t bought any printed books in over a year,” said Fidler, who also noted that the Kindle, Nook and Sony Daily Edition offer e-reader magazine and newspaper subscriptions.
In transition
To get a bead on the transformation afoot: Amazon’s chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos, said recently that for every 100 copies of a printed book Amazon sells, it sells 48 copies of the Kindle edition (when the Kindle edition is available).
Bob LiVolsi founded Booksonboard.com in 2006, and his company in Austin, Texas, is now considered the largest independent e-book store.
You wouldn’t expect him to be a big fan of the Kindle — Kindle users are tied to Amazon.com to purchase books — and he is not.
LiVolsi said most of his customers read on their computers. More than 70 percent are women, he said, and their household incomes are well below that of most e-reader users.
Many people would rather put several hundred dollars into the purchase of a computer, he said, than purchase a dedicated device.
“It’s a big investment,” he said. “It really comes down to what you want to spend your money on, especially when they think about it in terms of the actual, physical real estate of carrying things around with them.”
COMPARISON SHOPPING
Here are some features of four popular e-readers:
Amazon’s Kindle
The Kindle costs $259 and has a 6-inch display screen. It uses 3G wireless for downloading books and is tied to e-book purchases from Amazon.com. It has a keyboard but no touch screen and stores 1,500
books.
The Kindle DX costs $489 and has a 9.7-inch screen. It can store 3,500 books.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook
The Nook costs $259 and has a 6-inch screen. It uses 3G wireless for downloading and also offers WiFi connection. It has access to e-book titles from Barnes & Noble. It has a small touch screen that also
turns into a keyboard. It stores 1,500 books.
Nook has a “Lend Me” feature allowing e-books to be shared for 14 days, although the sharer has no access while the books are being loaned. The Nook can be ordered now but won’t be available until January.
Sony Reader
The Touch Edition costs $300 and has a 6-inch touch screen. No wireless downloading. A finger swipe turns the page. It has access to e-book titles from Sony and others and allows for public library checkout of materials for 14 days. It can store 350 books.
The Daily Edition costs $399, has a 7-inch screen and stores 1,000 books.
Interread’s Cool-er
The Cool-er costs $249 and has a 6-inch display. No wireless downloading. There’s an on-screen keyboard but no touch screen.
Coolerbooks.com offers more than 1 million e-book titles, although
prices are sometimes higher than Amazon.com and other e-book stores,
which often offer books for about $10. It stores 1,000 books.
Article courtesy of the Kansas City Star.
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