The Ebook Reader Is Not the Future of Ebooks

摘要

The future of ebooks and reading is far more complex than any single ebook reader or internet site could ever satisfy. Following the examples of cell phones and other successful innovations, maybe we need to begin by looking at the "book" as the complicated technology that it truly is and in all the forms that it has presented itself - from children's classics (like Pat the Bunny) to art books to popup books to atlases to cookbooks to religious classics and more. Another important issue involves reading tastes and practices. Perhaps it's time, also, to uncouple reading from books and focus on the needs, interests, and tastes of particular types of users. At this year's BookExpo America, an annual trade show for the industry, Amazon's Jeff Bezos announced that the Kindle's ebook sales now account for 6% of Amazon's unit sales for books that are available in both paper and electronic formats. Kindle users, he noted, are not replacing print books with electronic, but buying "just as many physical books and two and a half times as many books overall, or three electronic books for every two physical copies" (12). The fact that initial audiences for Kindle are heavy readers should come as no surprise; however, the low sales figures for Kindle, when backed by the legendary online bookseller, Amazon, may show the future for ebook readers more clearly. Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. is innovatively showing that cell phones can be productively (and profitably) used to distribute their romance and mystery titles. Harlequin readers can download titles to be read by chapters on their cell phones, play games, take quizzes (such as a pre-mar-riage quiz), share comments, and get advice - all from the same web page. This movement into social networking has proven very financially successful for the company. Given the historic experiences of book clubs and other methods devised to share books, reading and ideas, social networking may provide a better model to explore in future product ebook development. Does even Jeff Bezos forecast an imminent end of the printed page? "Anything that lasts 500 years is not easily improved upon. Books are so good you can't out-book the book" (13). Perhaps the industry would be wise to start at this design point in developing the next-generation ebook reader.