By Joanne Potter, Editorial Director, International News, RISI
BRUSSELS,
Sept. 22, 2008 (RISI) -
This month sees the launch of Sony’s new eBook Reader in the UK. I’m very tempted! Despite being a die-hard book fan, the thought of being able to take 160 titles with me when I travel is quite a pull, especially on holiday. Who hasn’t tried to pare down the stack of books for the beach to fit into the suitcase, trying to balance the page-turners with something to keep you going for the whole trip? Less Dan Brown and more Dickens? (Never did finish Bleak House, though!)
It strikes me, however, that this is likely to be a complementary technology rather than a replacement for the good old-fashioned book. Ideal for commuting to work, or for business or leisure travel, maybe, but can a portable electronic device really outdo the joys of the smell and feel of a book, whether new or second-hand?
I haven’t got my hands on one yet to decide. Peter Crawshaw from Lovereading has, though; he tried one out for the BBC and seems to agree. Cultural critic Stephen Bayley, writing for the BBC, believes the technology “faces an uphill struggle against a truly beautiful knowledge delivery platform”, i.e. the book.
This should be music to the ears of papermakers, since people have long been touting the death of paper products with the rise of electronic media. Mostly this has focused on the threat of the internet to some more traditional sources of information and advertising like newspapers, which do indeed seem to have suffered. But is the book really in danger of extinction?
There might in fact be opportunities for papermakers and printers. Bayley reckons: “It may be the end of the cheap paperback, but a new era of more expensive books will be a pleasing stimulus to publishers and a new source of delight to human readers. […] Better papers, more adventurous design, and quality typography are all now delicious prospects.”
High tech for the briefcase
Another new kid on the block is looking to replace some papers used in the business arena. Unveiled earlier this month at DEMOfall 08 in San Diego, USA, Plastic Logic’s electronic reader is about the same size, weight and thickness of a pad of paper, according to CEO Richard Archuleta. The company has developed its own plastic display technology for the reader, making it more robust than an LCD screen, while the transistors are also based on plastic, rather than silicon.
Designed specifically for business reading, it can support e-books, digital magazines, digital newspapers and pdf files, among others. With a screen the size of an A4 sheet of paper and a battery life of days, this might prove quite tempting for the business traveler who doesn’t want to carry reams of paper.
Plastic Logic has just celebrated the opening of a commercial-scale manufacturing plant for the reader in Dresden, Germany. The firm aims to launch the as-yet-unnamed product early next year. It will be interesting to see how it fares.
So, do you?
All of this brings me, at last, to the title of this blog: do you Kindle? That specific question is really directed more to our American readers, since this e-book reader, launched by Amazon in the USA last year, is only available there for now. Perhaps some of you use different devices, such as the Cybook or iLiad, which are also available here in Europe?
Everyone I’ve asked about this type of product so far is rather skeptical about the likelihood of it replacing the book. Unlike the ubiquitous mobile phone, I can’t help thinking that this may be more of a novelty item that ends up at the back of the drawer while the glossy book stays on the coffee table.
