Read This

Bit of a geek’s digression here. For years I’ve wanted the powers that be to produce some sort of e-book; a device like an oversized PDA that can display electronic texts. Sony has finally taken a step in that direction with the Reader. It’s a baby step, but a step nonetheless.

An e-book won’t ever take the place of traditional bound volumes. Nobody longs to sit at the beach under an umbrella with a computer on their lap. (Nobody except my boss, who’s his own form of damaged.) A rainy night in front of a fireplace with a computer just doesn’t have the same ring. That said there are some very practical applications for an e-book. One of the best features is the ability to load several books onto a single device. Every time I go on vacation I end up packing several books as I’m never sure what I’ll be in the mood for. Also, e-books should have the ability to display PDF files. This would be a great leap forward. PDF is the standard for online publishing. Reading PDFs on a computer gets tiresome after a while. (Try reading this online without going cross-eyed.) A better interface would help.

If the publishing industry was a little more forward thinking they would realize this technological leap could save their bacon. What are the production costs to put out a million copies of an electronic text? Older works that are in the public domain could be digitized and sold for almost pure profit. As I’m learning in reading The Long Tail, the money lies in the niches and not the big hits. Amazon has mastered this but run up against the physical barriers of storing and shipping. A little fact I learned from the book: Amazon has started digitizing some titles and printing them on demand when ordered.

The Sony Reader has some serious limitations that will keep me away. The first is it’s monochrome screen. That was probably a trade-off for size and power consumption, but a color display is non-negotiable. Second is Sony’s iTunes-style online store. The lack of title diversity will be rectified with time. Prices will have to become more reasonable. There is no good reason to charge 10 bucks for 200 year old book that is no longer copyright protected. I suspect that Amazon or Google will rescue this orphan and make it their own. Finally, the $350 price tag is simply too much. It’s gonna have to be less that half that price before anyone but the truly geeky will take interest. However, it’s worth remembering that CD players were nearly a grand 20 years ago and there were almost no titles available. Same for VCRs and DVD players. History has shown that “if you build it they will come”. Somebody please build it.

Ares