5 Reasons Why E-Books Aren’t There Yet I've read a lot of nonsense about eBooks, but this latest article from Wired (of all places!) just about takes the biscuit. I'll briefly go through the points that @johncabell makes - see what you think.
1. An unfinished e-book isn't a constant reminder to finish reading it.
If you haven't finished a book there's probably a reason for it. There's no written rule that says that I have to finish a book - and indeed I have plenty around my house to prove the point. However, with my Kindle I've always got that book to hand for as and when I want to continue. I may be just in the right mood to return to a book - but the physical copy may be at home on the 'unfinished books shelf' so I can't. With my ebook reader, it's at hand.
2. You can't keep your books all in one place.
I can't keep all of my books in one place now! Because of the number of books that I physically own most of them are in the garage where I can't quickly get to the one that I need. With my Kindle I've got them in one place. I agree that if you're getting books from different vendors this might be an issue, but I've gone down the sheep route and I have one major format, and that's the Kindle. However, having said that, there's no reason why I can't (and I have) got eReaders from other publishers on my iPhone and iPad.
3. Notes in the margins help you think.
I don't like writing in books. That's why I like my Kindle, because I don't HAVE to write in the margins.
4. E-Books are positioned as disposable but aren't priced that way.
Really? I have plenty of ebooks that cost nothing or next to nothing. In order to buy a book, I have the expense of getting to a book shop, which for my SF needs is Forbidden Planet in London, so I'm already almost £20 down before I start.
5. E-Books can't be used for interior design.
I'm not even going to bother to respond to the trite inanity of this point.
You gave up on point 5 then? Strangely, it's this one that really resonates with me - and it's what I'd miss if I went down the ebooks road. I love the look and smell of books in my home. I love rearranging them, deciding where to put my new ones, shuffling the ones on my bedside table and, of course, judging all those whose homes I visit by their bookshelves! Books are not just content and they really do furnish a room!!!
Posted by: Paige Turner (Librarian) | July 08, 2011 at 12:02 PM
Regarding point 4, there's a brilliant new way of buying physical books without incurring the expense of a trip to London - I think it's called the information super web or something simliar. I've heard people talking about it... you just tell your computer which book you want and the postman brings it. Simples! ;-D
Posted by: Paige Turner (Librarian) | July 08, 2011 at 12:15 PM
Paige - yes, you're quite right on 4) but I want my books NOW. To be fair, I do order uh.. quite a lot on Amazon as it is. :)
Point 5)I agree, there's a love and fascination in getting a lovely row of books together. But mine are all different sizes etc and the whole system soon turns to mush. I did have an entire room devoted to a library once, which was a great extravagance, but we loved it. However, space as with everything else, is at a premium.
Posted by: Phil Bradley | July 08, 2011 at 01:37 PM
I'm so glad someone else said it. I can count on one hand the number of books I've felt compelled to write in a book, and I stopped doing it a long time ago. When it comes to ebooks, the ability or inability to make annotations is not a deal-breaker for me.
Posted by: sharon | July 08, 2011 at 02:29 PM
"E-Books can't be used for interior design"
Why not?
Buy up a load of unwanted 1st generation kindles, superglue them to the wall - not my taste in wallpaper but someone might like it!!!
(Ok it's friday afternoon and ablout time I left the office!)
Posted by: Roger Fairman | July 08, 2011 at 04:32 PM
"There yet". If, by that, they mean mainstream, then the sales figures show they are. Heck, I've even found myself in rural midwest American bars of late, surrounded by rednecks - reading kindles and ignoring the TV sports. Several times, not once.
If they mean "Only format" then that will never happen. Same as the paper print book hasn't been the only format, ever.
Also of note is that in the most registered for/attended talks at #ala11, several about ebooks were in the top 20.
Posted by: John Kirriemuir | July 09, 2011 at 07:32 PM
Hmm... I think ebooks "aren't there yet" mainly because of two reasons: (a) the content and the container are separate and there's a larger "startup" cost to buying the container, i.e. the ebook reader. And (b) the content that I want may not be available for the container that I have. Actually the last point about ebooks not being able to be used for interior design -- I interpret the point as saying there's a wider and more aesthetic function of printers books. Whereas ebooks are merely single-purpose in that sense.
Posted by: Ivan Chew | July 10, 2011 at 04:31 AM
I know they are very popular now but I just don't think I could get used to reading books off a screen, maybe I'm just old fashioned.
Posted by: Anita | July 10, 2011 at 09:27 PM
When you live aboard a thirty eight foot sailing boat, far away from your home country nothing can replace an e-reader. In my case a Sony. My wife also recently bought one.
We can get our books in any language we like. I don't have to go ashore and the boat doesn't fill up with books. What can be better?
Posted by: Bo Wiberg | July 12, 2011 at 04:25 PM
Anita: I thought that too. Then used the Kindle and Nook, got the former. And have read eight books on it so far, in different environments. You forget, in about 10 seconds, that it's not paper. And, unlike paper, you can adjust the font size, other aspects of the layout, to whatever is comfortable.
Reading off an ebook reader is (very) different to reading off a desktop computer. But you won't know until you try reading a whole book...
Posted by: John Kirriemuir | July 12, 2011 at 05:21 PM
Phil, while I broadly agree with you I have to take issue with you on point 5. To quote Anthony Powell, books do furnish a room. Entering a room with a well-filled bookshelf makes me salivate, while entering a bookless room makes me feel like something's missing. Interior design will be a sad, pale thing if the paper book is eradicated.
Posted by: Helen Leech | July 18, 2011 at 03:14 PM