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reduced production costs
more profit for the publisher
greater market share
easier to update and correct
quicker to market
reach younger audience
interactive features (quizes, etc.)
can display larger characters for visually disabled
multimedia features (video clips, etc.)
easy to store (for those of us with overflowing bookshelves)
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I'm not sure about all your arguments, and I greatly enjoy e-books. This wasn't always true though.
The first time I tried the concept was on my desktop, some 10 years ago. I downloaded some classic in PDF format, and tried reading it, but it was a pain. The text never wrapped, so if the text size wasn't perfect you spent time going to the sides to read it all.
I then tried Microsoft's Reader and while much better, reading an actual book was still uncomfortable this way. When HTML became more common for some of these experiments, the visualization became better, but not the comfort.
Then I got my first laptop, and decided to give it another go. I managed to actually read 2-3 of them, but it was still not fun. I knew this wouldn't be like holding a paperback or even a large hardcover, but was willing to try to be flexible, hence the insistence to read more than one and give the idea a genuine try. PDF still sucked, MS Reader was much better this way, and HTML was probably the best though finding books in this format was very tough, even old classics. The biggest issue was reading in a way I found really at ease. One can claim that it isn't much different than playing a game, or lots of chatting, but it *is* very different. When you sit down to read, and expect to do this for at least a couple of hours, you try to settle down and place your reading material in a way that will be ok. The lighting of a laptop is far better as it isn't a cathodic tube, and one can reduce the brightness, so this much was solved. On the other hand there is the weight of the laptop on your lap, and the heat. Kid yourself not, after a while you begin to really notice this, whether it be from the unit itself, or the fan blowing it out on a particular point.
In the end, I concluded that it was still a nuisance.
When I read about the Tablet PCs, I thought this might be the solution, and then I saw the prices, and decided it wasn't. The experiment might work, but it also might suffer from the same problems the laptop had: weight, heat, etc. Remember that even if your laptop is light, it won't feel that way after being on your lap for 2+ hours. I want to be able to sit up in bed and read after all.
And then, about 2-3 years ago, it all changed. I bought a nice Pocket PC, with a decent-sized 4-inch screen (decent for a PPC), and decided to try the idea once again. After all, weight and heat were already non-issues from the beginning. The first experiments weren't a great success. The unit was fine as it was light enough to be comparable to a paperback, and small enough as well to fit in one hand. The problem was the software.
The PPC Word, and other variations were just lame. The MS reader for it was much much better, and was my first truly positive experience with an e-book. I reduced the brightness of the screen, resized the text to my comfort level and read away. It wasn't perfect, since it insisted on huge margins on all sides no matter the settings, which meant changing pages was very very frequent, but the other issues were solved. After searching the specialized sites, I ran across a brilliant little piece of software called
uBook that would readily read .TXT, .RTF, HTML, and others, and render them in a very pleasant reading experience. It was easy to use, got rid of the dreadful margins of MS Reader, and I was cruising. A dozen books later I was clearly hooked, and oddly enough, this became the major use of the machine. I'll add that there are numerous other perks reading this way. Perks you'd hope to get with this sort of technology:
- changing pages is easier because your thumbs will be positioned on a button that does this at a small click.
- When you close the unit, it always remembers your page, and if you are reading more than one book at a time, it will remember the page for each book.
- You can add notes such as highlighting and others (though I never really do this to be honest)
etc.
The fact that I can playback VGA videos on its 4-inch screen when traveling, or play chess, are other big perks, but that isn't the subject here.
I recommend it to anyone, but I'm not sure this is an argument for 2+2 to produce books this way. The first and foremost reason is simply the price. I don't regret spending $400+ for it for one instant, and am still in love with it (and reading on it), but that doesn't make it a good market.
How many people are going to have such gizmos to justify Mason thinking about developing for this market?
I think he's right to hold off personally. Perhaps if the iPhone and co. takes off with the larger screens than the current generation of SmartPhones, and this type of technology becomes far more widespread, he might reconsider, but as it stands, I don't think it would make good business sense.
Just my 2 cents.
Albert