Summary
There are three questions to consider when discussing the value of e-books. The first question is about how devices are dedicated to a single use, reading. Over the last ten year, e-books have become available on other non-dedicated devices. Why buy a single-function product when e-books can be read on other devices too, your PC, PDA or even cellphone?The next question is about connectivity. A continuing product differentiator has been the choice between a direct device connection to a source of content or connection through a PC. Depending upon your needs which is better?The last question is about the value of your investment in e-books. Sony is the only manufacturer to offer products continuously since the early 90's. For consumers to invest in e-books standardization is needed to ensure the e-books bought can be read after vendors leave the market.
Analysis
March 16, 2000 horror writer Stephen King became the first best-selling author to publish a work exclusively in electronic format for the Rocket e-book. First-day sales of "Riding the Bullet" surpassed first-day sales of all King's best-selling books on paper.
The e-book had its beginning in 1968 with computer visionary Alan Kay’s concept of the Dynabook, a tablet-style computer capable of wireless communication. At Apple, Kay turned the Dynabook concept into the Apple Newton. The Newton, a PDA with a large touch screen, could be used to read e-books in NewtonBook format. Hundreds of e-books were produced. The product was discontinued in 1998 as other more portable PDA entered the market.
In the early ‘90s, Sony developed the Data Discman or Electronic Book Player. It played books on CD. Compton’s Concise Encyclopedia, Wellness Encyclopedia, and Passport’s World Travel Translator came with it. A Sony Electronic Book Authoring System, for $9000, was available to produce more content but few e-books were produced with it. An expensive, $9,000, authoring system, small screen size and resolution poor were problems. It was replaced by the Sony Bookman that used cartridges to store content. It was better product but its high price and continued lack of content limited its sales.
The first big seller, the Rocket eBook was released in 1998. It had a 3 x 4.5 inch touch screen. Content was ordered online, downloaded to a PC and transferred to the device. In 2001, it was replaced by a similar product the REB 1100. Both needed a PC to download content from the internet. Another product released in 1998 was the SoftBook Reader. It had a larger screen than the Rocket eBook, 6 x 8 inches, and a proprietary format. Content was downloaded with an internal modem so it did not need a PC. Together the SoftBook Reader and the Rocket eBook sold around 50,000 units. In January 2000, the products were bought by the Gemstar eBook Group. The Rocket and the SoftBook are no longer manufactured.
Today there are still two popularly selling devices. The first, released in 2007, is the Amazon Kindle. It has a 4 x 5 inch screen, a proprietary e-book format and self contained downloading like the SoftBook Reader. It uses cellphone technology whereas the SoftBook Reader had a built-in modem. The Amazon Kindle can store and display other formats after they are converted online for a fee. The 2009 Kindle version 2.0 has an improved display, longer battery life, more storage and a text-to-speech capability. To what extend does a consumer need immediate delivery of a book? Perhaps since both of the earlier products coexisted there are continuing basic demands for both the wireless and PC connected products. The second device is the Sony PRS-700BC Reader Digital Book, released in 2008. It has a 4 x 5 inch paper-like e-Ink technology touch screen. Like the Rocket eBook, content is downloaded from the internet through a PC. With bundled conversion software, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, BBeBformat, and other personal text file formats can be transferred from PC to the reader. Today both readers have about the same screen size and the functionality is similar. However, there is a significant product difference with regard to the acquisition of content. The Sony PRS-700BC Reader Digital Book uses the internet to download content through a PC whereas the Amazon Kindle has built-in a wireless downloading.
Which is better? The Amazon Kindle uses a proprietary method to buy and download e-books into the device that is convenient and simple. As Amazon wants to sell books this is a good feature. To import other personal files in popular formats, conversion software and a PC is required to upload files for conversion. There is a fee for file conversion. For those consumers who want personal files on their Kindle the method is not as convenient as buying e-books.
The need to use a PC to convert personal files brings up the question of the value of a dedicated e-reading device. The e-readers are optimized for reading comfort. There are feature to enhance the reading experience such as a dictionary, book marking and annotations. Nevertheless, when handheld PCs and PDA became popular e-books became available for reading on PCs and PDAs. Many consumers preferred to use small handheld PCs and PDAs for e-book reading because one device is easier to carry around than multiple dedicated devices. Call it the Swiss Army Knife movement.
However since PDAs and cellphones are getting smaller and less useful as reading devices perhaps there will be an increasing need for a device optimized for reading comfort. PDAs, cellphones and e-books have been available since the last 90’s. There was a time when PDAs had larger screens more amenable to reading for longer periods. However, PDAs have gotten smaller and combined with even smaller cellphones. Current devices are too small to be comfortable reading devices. Maybe now, because of size, the better reading quality e-books will be in greater demand.
There is one more question. It is about standard formats. Current devices use proprietary formats for content that lock the consumer into their product. There is a need for standardization so that the consumer can read the e-books they purchased even if vendors discontinue their products. That was a reason for Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF). Unfortunately it too is proprietary but it is widespread enough to be a defacto standard. Printed books do not have the problem. Yes, after many years, maybe centuries, paper books deteriorate. However, with the current fast pace of technological change there is a greater chance of proprietary electronic formats being abandoned than books deteriorating. Could it planned obsolescence? An advantage of standardized formats is that the market for e-books could be increased because they could be read on multiple devices. That is why Amazon announced that it would make Kindle e-books available on cellphones.
One final note. Things change but remain the same. February 24, 2009, rather than lowering the price of the Kindle 2.0, a novella from Stephen King, called "Ur," which incorporates the device into the story, will be available exclusively for buyers of the latest version.
