Comments on: Why e-book readers don't stand a chance

Don Reisinger thinks e-book readers don't stand a chance. Is he right?

[flareback]

One argument that could be made for them is for people who travel. If you travel regularly and don't have a lot of extra room in your luggage for extra books you could download several books and keep them on one device.

[royauty]

I think the author is a little out of touch. First, paperbacks (the book of choice for those of us in what I like to call the "mass market") are closer to 10 dollars than 30. Second, if you really can't envision a use for being able to carry 4 or 5 (let alone 200) books in the space/weight usually reserved for one then you've never brought more than one book as carry-on luggage, you've never thrown a book into your luggage for a train ride, you've never smuggled a book into the bathroom, and you've never used your public library.
My guess is that the author probably owns a portable DVD player (did you pay about 300 dollars for that puppy?) and maybe a PSP, too. Personally, I can't see owning one of those even if they were 30 dollars, but maybe that's why I'll be buying something like an e-book reader and the author of this less than incisive piece will not. The real question is: how many people feel the same way I do?

[wilswrld]

I have been hanging out more than I want to in small Podunk airports and strange small Podunk towns (flying any where involves lots of down time - and since 911 leaving the Terminal to shop is a problem - one can't just walk across the street to a book store). At my age I can't carry a lot of weight. The book selection in Airport book Stores and Grocery Stores isn't good and most carry the same books every where one goes (I've usually already read all the ones that I want to read). Gift Shops at Medical Facilities and Nursing Homes are even more limited (if they have any Books at all - for some reason I've spent the last 4 years hanging out in these places). And it is really hard to find books in English, if one is living in Foreign Countries. For those over the hill age wise, it is really nice to be able to adjust the print size (my Father's little dog ate my bifocals the first day I arrived in his small town - LOL oh woe is me!). No eye Specialist for me there, and no time to drive to larger town to see one and/or wait for new glasses. It would have been so nice to have an e-book with large print. Next week, I'm going to a large city where I plan to purchase and e-book. Maybe we should have had 2 reviews. People that love reading seem to have a different view from those that spend their life in front of a computer, playing with their cell phones and/or watching TV. Now, if the Airports would just add more electrical outlets, so we could charge things while we're hanging around.

[perumula]

Wait, wait. Ok, I'm sitting here in Peru and have to order from Amazon to get books or mags I want to read in English. But... why do you think i would not just LOVE to be able to download--yes, and pay for-- books and mags I like to read, mark up with my own scintillating, if personal remarks, and keep them in easy storage form, i.e. maybe a CD for future use.
I want to be able to lay in my bed on my side and prop the device up against a pillow just like I do with my book. Have a page turn button on each side and read till I fall asleep. Or if I'm outside on the swing, be able to open my "book" and do same as above.
I've been drooling, waiting for a really useful eBook hard device. Maybe Kinder's not quite there yet, but please don't think that there aren't millions of us who move every few years who really want to keep all our heavy, perishable, bundlesome collections like that forever.
Let's see the entrepreneurs go at it now.

[AmericanCliche]

I'm in the National Guard and travel a lot. Initially I was excited by the idea of an e-book; however I've come to prefer regular books. A few reasons why:

1. Books are durable. I can keep a book in the cargo pocket of my uniform. I can crawl around on the ground, go through a dust storm or even stand in the rain (I keep my books in plastic bags). The book can take all that abuse and still be readable.

2. Books don?t need batteries. I can read a book anytime I have down time. I don?t need to worry about plugging it in or running out of juice.

3. Books are cheap.

I would change over to a e-book reader if the battery life were longer, the devices were cheap ($50 or less) and all books available in print were available in digital format. One thing I don?t like about books is that I see them as environmentally irresponsible; paper is an outdated technology. We have the capability to do everything electronically?we just need to be dedicated to the cause.

[cfw123]

This is a classic comment of a person who doesn't own a Kindle, and who has probably never even seen on in the flesh so to speak. I got my Kindle on Dec. 4th, and absolutely love it as do all who really own one based on their comments I have read. I have an 8 GB memory card and now have over 500 books stored in my Kindle. It has fulfilled a dream of mine being able to own a very complete classical library. For example I have all of Charles Dickens, many of which I have never seen in book form.

I have been an avid reader since the age of 5, when my then 10 year old sister taught me to read. As I am now closest to age 82, that has been a while by now, but I have never forgotten it, and my love of books has increased, leading me to my college degree major in English Literature.

Now through the magic of free out-of-copyright ebooks, I actually have all or most of those books, and literally carry them safe in my Kindle whereever I go, in the hope of finding bits of time to continue reading -- I normally am reading in at least 4 or 5 books at a time as the mood strikes me.

My big problem is what to do with my many bookcases of hard bound and pocket books which I will seldom look at any more, and surely never read in that dead tree format. I am told that when you die, all of these are just junked in the recycle trash, as no body wants them anymore. I've tried donating them to libraries, but they don't want them either. But I want them to go to people who can appreciate them as I do/did.

Charles Wilkes, San Jose, Calif.

[cole169]

I understand the convenience aspect of the Kindle, but I'm not ready to commit your kind of investment to it. your totat expenditure now is in the range of $5400---$400 and 500books@$10. If my 50 cent yardsale copy of Great Expectations gets trashed--I'm out 50 cents. If your Kindle gets lost or goes onthe fritz, you lose $5400. No Thanks

[cporpheus]

A major point missed in the article is that the ebook industry is still young and it is difficult to determine the future of something people aren't used to. Give the industry time to develop, make the readers cheaper and wait for ebook prices to stablilize to reasonable prices and then make a better informed decision. Being a college student, having a collection of etextbooks that can fit in my backpack is very advantageous and if the prices can come down because of the lack of manufacturing paper books, I would definitely buy a 200 dollar reader and etextbooks at half the price of paper texts rather than the current state of the textbook market. Ebook readers have this niche where they can do well, but only time will tell.

[mewcomm]

I'm eager for a Kindle Rev 2 for many of the reasons stated by other enthusiasts in this thread.

That said, if the Kindle or the E-Book concept at large is never a huge success, it won't be because of the technology or even cultural habits. It will be because most Americans don't read much.

[TimDraper]

Why do people who admit that they 'don't get it' insist on pronouncing the future for those who do?

I've been using eBooks for years now; in fact, since my first PDA using Windows CE 2.0. I have a library of over 100 eBooks on my Sony reader and nearly 100 books on my Samsung Windows Mobile phone, with only about a 50% overlap. The Sony's display is much larger and easier to read, but then, my smartphone is always with me.

Some people will like and enjoy and use eBook readers. Many more will not understand why, or will not want to invest in the hardware (and in most cases invest in the re-purchase of books they already own paper copies of.)

I dare you to try and get 100+ books onto an airplane nowadays without having to pay extra for the spare luggage. Most eBook systems allow you to keep track of where you are in a book, without damaging it or hoping the marker doesn't slide out during travel.

As usual, the main advantage is convenience - portability and near-universal access. The disadvantages are the cost of the hardware - which can be effectively $0 if you use a multi-purpose device like a smartphone/PDA instead of a dedicated eBook reader - along with the cost of purchasing eBooks, since many (most? darned near all?) eBook readers are first and foremost READERS - people who simply enjoy reading and do it a lot - so a lot of eBooks are owned in paper also. Finally, the methods of purchasing eBooks currently are a bit of a maze, with multiple incompatible formats and no real standard way of purchasing.

Will eBooks ever kill the print publishing business? I'd say almost certainly not in any short time frame. I doubt it'll make a serious dent in the print side of the business. But it can continue to be a viable market for the growing number of people who've added eBooks to their lifestyle.

I read my eBooks while eating out quite often, and at least once a week I get approached by people who ask me what I'm reading and how. Certainly that indicates a wretched market penetration by the existing eBook providers, but it also indicates the potential for growth.

Take a look around. How many of your friends have cell phones? How many had them 10 years ago? How many have smartphones? How many years into the cellphone era are we and only recently has anyone even bothered to ask if cell phones will kill the home phone market? (Kill? No. Take market share from? Definitely). Compare the time portable phones have been around to how long eBook readers have been around. Compare the marketing budgets.

eBooks aren't and as far as I know never have been intended to be a replacement for print books; they're simply another way for people who enjoy reading to be able to do so.

[zman_11]

I have been reading Ebooks on my smartphones for years now. I used to use Adobe Acrobat reader and Microsoft reader to read them. I still use them some, but primarily use Mobipocket Reader. It will take PDF, word files, etc and change them into it's format so I can read them on my PC, Blackberry, or Blackjack. When I plug my phone into my PC, it also will load the books onto my phone, and if the software isn't already on the Smartphone or Blackberry, will download and install the correct version for it.

For me, owning a Kindle would be a high priced mistake considering that I also already carry a smartphone or Blackberry all the time anyway.

zman_11

[purpleLightning]

Terrible logic. "Until then, this industry has no promise", might as well say that no newborn baby has promise either, in which case, should we throw them out with the bathwater, Mr. Reisinger. It's more of the same black/white perception of the world that has no bearing on reality

The tradeoffs are always bigger for new tech in the beginning. Those tradeoffs diminish over time. If you want to make a claim as to e-book readers truly have no promise, why don't you focus on explaining why they won't improve, rather than simply complaining about why they're not currently as good as they could be?

[paladintom]

I second the "out of touch" comment above. The eBook market is in its infancy compared to other markets. Just look at the digital music industry or the internet in general. I never would have imagined 10 years ago that I would cancel my local newspaper subscription and never have to buy a music cd or volumes of encyclopedias ever again.

The point being is that there are clearly enough people in this world to support varying forms of media and media distribution. The fact that books aren't going away any time soon does not mean that there isn't a viable market for ebooks and readers. I agree that the Kindle is decidedly first gen. But to write them off wholesale is a bit sensationalist I think...

[galonso84]

Wow. This article seems pigheadedly naive. Sure, it might not be the Kindle that will achieve mass success. And the e-book industry may never kill the actual book industry - who the hell knows.

But here's the quotes that bother me most: "The fact of the matter is e-book readers will never have commercial relevance." "Simply put, the idea of an e-book reader is fundamentally flawed." All because you "just don't understand the rationale behind owning an e-book reader." And that's the main problem of this article. You make these big predictions about the future, claim them as facts, and base them all on *your* opinion of the product as it is *today*

You seem to forget that it took more than a few years for iPods to take control of the market, that they were not an overnight mass market product. e-book readers will probably take even longer, because instead of replacing records/cds (something that has only been around for less than a century), they're replacing books - which have been the main source of knowledge for most civilizations for centuries.

The early adopters now are probably the few who are in the midst of more than one book at any moment, or those that like constant reference to every book ever written by Hemingway, or perhaps those that read more than 5 hours everyday. So, of course, ebook readers are still a niche product.

There are other advantages to e-readers (like being able to start reading a book i'm actually interested in when i have an unexpected 6 hour wait in an airport), and it's likely that these will grow the market until the masses start getting into it. Will it take long? Sure. But to outright discount ebooks from ever having commercial relevance, that's ridiculously shortsighted. Especially when every one of your arguments comes from personal opinions and preferences, and with regards to the current product out there. The mass market isn't just comprised of Don Reisingers. And e-book readers in 20 years won't have the same price, features and limitations as the Kindle has today.

What's ironic is that I don't have an e-reader and don't plan on buying one anytime soon. I'm not that much of an avid reader, and so far, the features of Kindle aren't enough to reel me in. But, you know what? Chances are I will end up buying one, but not as an early adopter - I probably will when they achieve "commercial relevance". Not if.

[galonso84]

Sorry, for the double post - but I'd be willing to bet big money that Mr. Reisinger will change his mind about this the day Apple unveils their new e-reader.

[mcooper13]

E-books will always be a niche market. Print technology is centuries old. It's perfect. E-books are a linear experience. It's cumbersome to flip back and forth. Pages are relative depending on device and font size. Too many weaknesses to mention here. Print is here to stay. As for the environment: good books last hundreds of years. All your E-book readers of today will be landfill in five years.

[gspira]

The author's comments are illogical. First off, an argument that "will never have commercial relevance." partly because the Kindle is $300 is pretty silly. Eventually, the price of these devices will come down and be virtually nothing.

Second, with all the books priced at $9.99, the economics of the Kindle do make sense at $300 for some. If you buy 30 books that you would otherwise have bought in hardcover in kindle format instead, you've already made up for the price of buying the Kindle.

Third, as many people have mentioned, it's impossible to carry many books on a trip. I've gotten seriously hurt because I loaded too many books in my luggage. Having readable ebooks would make it much easier for me to carry around all the books I might need to reference when I travel.

Fourth, books take up room. I have over 4000 books. I sometimes have to store books in my refrigerator because I have no room elsewhere. I don't keep these books around because I want to have the books; I want to have the information in them. I would happily get rid of many of my books in exchange for digitized versions.

Having digitized versions would also save me from the trouble of spending lots of time finding a book when I need it.

Now, I love books, and I don't plan on giving up on the physical kind anything soon. And I have not bought an e-reader myself, because the solutions out there haven't impressed me enough yet. But the Kindle is a significant sign of progress, and I have no doubt that a model will come along in the next five years that does meet my requirements.

E-books are not going to wipe out physical books - there are many things that physical books will always have over e-books. But there are just as many thing e-books will have over physical books, and so the two will co-exist in the long run.

The idea that e-books have no future is ridiculous on its face; it's like when someone said that there will never be a reason for people to have computers in their home.

[burningbird]

Sounds like most people don't agree with you, and I'm one. I have a Kindle and I love it, but not just for reading books.

I use my Kindle for research. I've uploaded several papers that I've converted into Kindle format. I use Kindle to bookmark specific pages, as well as copy quotes to my internal clipboard, which I can then copy to my computer. No more having to read and write a quote at the same time.

For entertainment, most of the books on my Kindle I received for free: from FreeBooks, provided by Tor, Baen Free books, the Gutenberg book project, and so on. There's an enormous pool of free books online, most of which are a whole easier to read on my Kindle than on my computer.

The ones I have bought through Amazon I've been able to get cheaper than buying a paperback.

Tell me, what kind of cellphone do you have? I bet you have something like an iPhone or other high priced gizmo. Yet you can get a cellphone virtually free if you go with something included in your phone plan. Frankly, I find something like the Kindle to be far more useful than something like an iPhone, and a lot cheaper, too.

Will the eBook industry "kill" the paper book? Hard to say, but if they do, it won't happen for a long time. However, I do think they will impact on the publishing business, if for no other reason than you and I can create a book and sell it on Amazon, without once having to go through a publisher.

[phbradley]

why pay for an expensive laptop when I can write with pen and paper? Sell me a laptop for cheap, and then sell expensive fonts. Works for razorblades, surely works for digital (easily copied, pirated, low perceived value, convenience, commoditised) goods. CNET biz strat 101.

[hps6649]

It is amazing they let you write a column. E-books will help end the cutting down of trees and the deforestation of the world. They cost less then printed books. I own the Sony and have read about 20 books on it since getting it last September. It is easier on the eyes then printed books and more convenient to carry around. I carry mine every day and read from it at work, in the car and if I am in a restaurant alone. I realize you don't get it. You probably never will. Electronic books and readers will go down in price as those who get it buy into the new technology in ever increasing #'s. No more books with the type running into the center binding forcing you to bend the the binding to read the full sentence.

[cole169]

Like mcooper13 said "As for the environment: good books last hundreds of years. All your E-book readers of today will be landfill in five years. "

[rpm7777]

The problem with using ebooks for travelers is takeoff and landing.

[relaxedguy]

The quality of this article is why I rarely visit CNET anymore.

Don, sounds like you are writing an article about something you know nothing about. Have you every used an eBook reader? I can't believe you didn't mention the Rocketbook.

E-books are too expensive, whopping revelation there. So were early cellphones.

"The economics of the e-book reader industry are off and so far, no one in the business has realized it. It's time they wake up and see what's really going on."

You think Amazon isn't bummed out about the sales of the Kindle? Did you talk to anyone at Amazon about this?

Whole article feels like you wrote it in a noisy Starbucks.

Feel free to actually dig into the ebook market a bit, try a few out for a month and then tell us what you really think.

[judahw]

The writer actually is most in need of a calculator! Average best seller costs $24. As an ebook at amazon it is 9.99. At a $14 per book savings the Kindle cost is recovered in about 20 books. From there on it is all blue sky. Of course the fact that I can carry any number of books on my travels and choose based my mood is only overwhelmed by the fact that I can have virtually any current book I want in my hands in seconds.
Might I suggest to Don that he retire his cell phone and go to see whomever he needs to speak with on the back of his horse and to always follow up with a hand written note! Too bad Don was not around in the time of Guttenberg or those of us with fine handwritting might still find employment as scribes... P. Waxelbaum