E-readers are the future. The e-reader is dead. Where between these two poles does the future of electronic reading actually lie? But first, the even more important question: do e-books have a future?
They started with a bang, but e-book sales have now peaked and then flattened in the US and the UK, while they never really took off in Europe, with India not even a blip on the radar. Still, with one out of every four books sold in the US being an e-book, the numbers are large enough in their own right.
But never mind the numbers. If you read books regularly on a Kindle – or on the Kindle app on your phone, tablet or computer – the future of the e-reader will certainly matter to you. Especially since the vision that Amazon, makers of the Kindle, have for their device actually envisages forcing your reading off your phone or other devices and back to the e-reader.
The device
Some pointers to this vision are available already on the Kindle Voyage, the latest version. Crafted after meticulous study of reader-behaviour, the Voyage incorporates features created to meet readers’ needs discovered through study. For instance, the Kindle is light enough to be held in either hand, since research showed that people often change hands when reading a book.
Similarly, the buttons to flip pages forward and backward are located on both sides, precisely for the same reason. There’s also a very unobtrusive way to turn a page over, simply by pressing on the bezel surrounding the screen.
Just like… a book?
The objective? Make reading on the Kindle as close to reading a paper book as possible, with the benefits of an e-reader thrown in. In fact, the ultimate vision is to have a Kindle made of something just like paper, which has endured years of technological progress to remain the favourite medium for books.
The way Amazon sees it, the Kindle should be invisible as a device, leaving the reader with only the actual content of the book in their hands. In much the same way that today’s paper book makes you forget what it’s made of.
Likewise, the Kindle of the future should work very, very long without needing a recharge. Just like a book. That’s why the design philosophy of the Kindle has always eschewed flashiness or bling. With more effective e-ink and the possibility of flexible screens looming large, tomorrow’s e-reader could have several surprises up its sleeve.
Digital features
That doesn’t mean, though, that convergence with the physical book is the only thing that the e-reader has in mind. Readers can now look up word meanings on the same screen as the book, find out how long it will take them to get to the end of the book, sneak-peek the last chapter, share their favourite lines on social media, and compare notes on Goodreads.
Even though reading is essentially an asocial activity, these sharing hooks could make books more valuable to an always-connected generation.
Getting more books
But what about new ways of getting e-books on this new device? Two key programmes might help readers expand their (temporary libraries) without paying for each book. The first, of course, is the Kindle Unlimited service, which enables readers to “borrow” any number of books for a fixed amount of money - currently $10 a month.
The second is even more interesting in its possibilities. This is a personal lending option, which allows someone who has bought a Kindle e-book to ‘lend’ it to another person for 14 days. As with a physical book that is lent, the owner will not have access to the book till it is returned, up to a maximum of 14 days. (This enforced time limit could have saved many a friendship in the real world which have broken over books borrowed and never returned.)
Reading on the phone
If Amazon were only a manufacturer of the Kindle, the competition from smartphones might have been a problem. Since it actually makes money from selling e-books, which can be read with the Kindle app on almost all devices, the challenge of the smartphone is much more formidable.
After all, reading on a Kindle can be as immersive an experience as reading a paper book. In contrast, a smartphone or a tablet is a cacophony of notifications, apps, messages, websites, music - dozens of distractions, in other words. That’s why the e-reader - rather than the Kindle app - is likely to remain a critical part of Amazon’s e-book strategy.
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They started with a bang, but e-book sales have now peaked and then flattened in the US and the UK, while they never really took off in Europe, with India not even a blip on the radar. Still, with one out of every four books sold in the US being an e-book, the numbers are large enough in their own right.
But never mind the numbers. If you read books regularly on a Kindle – or on the Kindle app on your phone, tablet or computer – the future of the e-reader will certainly matter to you. Especially since the vision that Amazon, makers of the Kindle, have for their device actually envisages forcing your reading off your phone or other devices and back to the e-reader.
The device
Some pointers to this vision are available already on the Kindle Voyage, the latest version. Crafted after meticulous study of reader-behaviour, the Voyage incorporates features created to meet readers’ needs discovered through study. For instance, the Kindle is light enough to be held in either hand, since research showed that people often change hands when reading a book.
Similarly, the buttons to flip pages forward and backward are located on both sides, precisely for the same reason. There’s also a very unobtrusive way to turn a page over, simply by pressing on the bezel surrounding the screen.
Just like… a book?
The objective? Make reading on the Kindle as close to reading a paper book as possible, with the benefits of an e-reader thrown in. In fact, the ultimate vision is to have a Kindle made of something just like paper, which has endured years of technological progress to remain the favourite medium for books.
The way Amazon sees it, the Kindle should be invisible as a device, leaving the reader with only the actual content of the book in their hands. In much the same way that today’s paper book makes you forget what it’s made of.
Likewise, the Kindle of the future should work very, very long without needing a recharge. Just like a book. That’s why the design philosophy of the Kindle has always eschewed flashiness or bling. With more effective e-ink and the possibility of flexible screens looming large, tomorrow’s e-reader could have several surprises up its sleeve.
Digital features
That doesn’t mean, though, that convergence with the physical book is the only thing that the e-reader has in mind. Readers can now look up word meanings on the same screen as the book, find out how long it will take them to get to the end of the book, sneak-peek the last chapter, share their favourite lines on social media, and compare notes on Goodreads.
Even though reading is essentially an asocial activity, these sharing hooks could make books more valuable to an always-connected generation.
Getting more books
But what about new ways of getting e-books on this new device? Two key programmes might help readers expand their (temporary libraries) without paying for each book. The first, of course, is the Kindle Unlimited service, which enables readers to “borrow” any number of books for a fixed amount of money - currently $10 a month.
The second is even more interesting in its possibilities. This is a personal lending option, which allows someone who has bought a Kindle e-book to ‘lend’ it to another person for 14 days. As with a physical book that is lent, the owner will not have access to the book till it is returned, up to a maximum of 14 days. (This enforced time limit could have saved many a friendship in the real world which have broken over books borrowed and never returned.)
Reading on the phone
If Amazon were only a manufacturer of the Kindle, the competition from smartphones might have been a problem. Since it actually makes money from selling e-books, which can be read with the Kindle app on almost all devices, the challenge of the smartphone is much more formidable.
After all, reading on a Kindle can be as immersive an experience as reading a paper book. In contrast, a smartphone or a tablet is a cacophony of notifications, apps, messages, websites, music - dozens of distractions, in other words. That’s why the e-reader - rather than the Kindle app - is likely to remain a critical part of Amazon’s e-book strategy.