The New Kindle

As you may be aware by now, Amazon have announced that their Kindle ebook reader will now be available in 100 countries across the globe.  Couple this announcement with Sony’s recently released readers and things are getting very interesting in the ebook world.  Of course the Kindle news isn’t without a downside.  It will only be available to UK users through the US website at a cost of £200 once import duties are taken into account.  Sadly, affordable ereaders are still a pipe dream at the moment.

That said, it is still exciting news.  With the imminent UK release of the Kindle we will see some much needed competition in the ebook market over here.  Sony has been by far and away the market leader, holding a fairly dominant position in the market for sometime.  The release of the Kindle could, however, lead to a price war with the cost of the hardware decreasing and the appeal of owning a machine increasing.  An added benefit may well be an improvement on the retailing side of ebooks.  The current offering is still pretty poor with prices still not markedly different from paper copies.  A new name on the market (and a leader in the largest ebook market – the US), could kickstart a revolution in the retailing of ebooks and make for a fare better customer experience (I get rather frustrated with the current offerings, Waterstone’s in particular has a poor site), as well as reduced prices for ebooks.

I remain optimistic about the future of ebooks and, when getting people’s views on ebooks, I sense that there is a lot of interest in them once a number of problems have been resolved.  I believe that they will really start to take-off once Amazon fully enters the market here.  For that reason, I think it is essential for public libraries to get onboard (in a considered way of course) as soon as is feasible.  How great would it be for users to be able to ‘borrow’ your books and take them on holiday with them without physically taking the book?  Borrowers wouldn’t have to worry about either losing their book while they are away or the baggage allowance (although admittedly losing the reader would be a major worry – although not for the library as the books will not be lost!).  As for the ability to alter the size of the font, the advantages for those that rely on large print books are obvious.

In response to the growing media interest in ebooks, I have set up a twtpoll to see what would convince people to invest in an ereader.  The poll closes on Sunday and I will post the results at the beginning of next week.

Ebooks – Is A Breakthrough Near?

With the press coverage that has accompanied the release of the latest Dan Brown ‘novel’ (I’m not a fan!), I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to look once more at ebooks and share a few thoughts of my own experiences, as well as what I think publishers need to do to ensure the success of the format.

It has been nine months now since I first got my hands on my Sony Reader.  Although I have always read a great deal, I am not particularly precious about hard/paperbacks.  The thing that has always been of primary concern to myself is the actual content.  Now, some may say that there is nothing like the smell and feel of owning a book, and that may well be true for them but I don’t buy books for smell and appearance, I buy books because the content interests me.  That’s not to say that the opposing view lacks legitimacy, it’s all about personal preference.  At this point I feel I should re-iterate my position on ebooks and their place in the publishing world.

In my view, ebooks are simply an alternative format for the delivery of text.  They will not replace paperbacks or hardbacks anymore than audio books have displaced paper copies.   My attitude to ebooks is much the same as it is to MP3s.  Some bands I set out to purchase hard copies of everything they release (in my case everything by Pearl Jam or Radiohead).  Some other bands I will mainly buy hard copies, but the odd EP/single I will download (for example, I own all Bloc Party’s albums, but I only have digital copies of their EPs), whereas some others I will simply buy the digital download and that is all.  For me, this is the same with ebooks.  Should it be a book by Bret Easton Ellis, I will purchase a hard copy without hesitation.  If it is an author I am less interested in, I will simply download a copy of the text (I have recently downloaded Slaughterhouse 5 having never read a Vonnegut before).  To me, it is not a case of either/or, there is much more to it than that.

Anyway, I digress.  I have been very happy with my Reader since I received it as a gift.  I find it exceptionally easy to read from the screen and although there is a slight delay when turning pages, it has become barely noticeable with time.  I like the way that I can carry a whole library of books around with me and dip in and out of any of them at any moment (aided by the fact that you can have multiple bookmarks on as many books as you like).  I like the fact that I can organise them into collections (such as ‘non-fiction’, ‘fiction’ and ‘classics’ – you can categorise however you see fit) just like I was carrying my own personal library.  One of the biggest benefits, however, has been when travelling.  On my last trip to Spain I had read all the books that I had taken with me, leaving me nothing to read on the flight home.  However, instead of rushing to the nearest bookshop and hunting down an English language text (both hard to find and ridiculously expensive), I visited the WHSmiths ebook store, found an appropriate title and downloaded it, all in a matter of minutes.  Thus I ensured that I didn’t have to endure the flight home without something to read.  Overall, my experiences with my Reader over the past 9 months have been very positive and it has become one of my best loved gadgets.

Despite my attachment to my Reader, there are a great many people out there who are very sceptical about ebooks.  A recent poll in The Guardian suggested 77% of people would not consider using an ebook reader (although the poll itself is flawed as it uses the common either/or dichotomy which is not appropriate as I have already indicated).  The comments that follow certainly seem to support this viewpoint (although they are perhaps misled by the false dichotomy of the poll in question).  Whilst a number of comments relate to the physicality of books and an emotional attachment, there are a number of valid comments from people regarding the format itself.

Although the potential for ebooks is great, there are still a number of factors that need to be addressed for the sceptics to be won over and for ebooks to become a popular alternative:

1. Reduce the price of ebooks and readers – The cost of ebooks is still far too high compared to paper copies.  When you also factor in the cost of the equipment needed to read ebooks, it is clearly an expensive option.  A case in point: Dan Brown’s heavily promoted novel is retailing for £13.29 in ebook format and the hardback is available for £4.99 at Amazon.
2. Publish more ebooks – Although more and more ebooks are coming onto the market all the time (and perhaps more will after the release of Dan Brown’s latest), there is still not enough choice to warrant the purchase of a reader.  Even now, it is quite a rare thing for me to find something that I really want to read in ebook format.
3. Support one format –  The best way for ebooks to succeed is for one solitary format to be the preferred method of delivery.  Amazon are still promoting their format over all others for obvious reasons.  EPUB would be the preferable option (in fact that format is pretty much accepted as standard now so one wonders how Amazon intend on proceeding with their format).
4. Address DRM – Digital Rights Management is still a concern.  Whilst some ebooks have been relaxed regarding DRM (Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science allows 35 copies every 7 days) others off no such relaxation.  If ebooks were to take off, the DRM issue needs to be seriously considered and addressed, particularly with the associated danger of losing your entire collection.
5. Improved retailing – At present, ebook retailing in the UK is pretty poor at best.  There is a very limited choice of retailers (at present you can only purchase through Waterstone’s, WHSmiths and Borders) and the actual purchasing experience through any of these retailers is pretty poor (the fact that WHSmiths of all places is the best tells you all you need to know about the state of ebook retailing in the UK).  There needs to be a dedicated UK based ebook retailer who can provide a much better purchasing experience).

Although addressing these issues would not necessarily ensure a bright future for ebooks on their own, they would remove some of the doubts in people’s minds about the rationality of purchasing an ebook reader.  If these issues are not addressed, ebooks are in danger of becoming very much a niche product that will never break into the mainstream, no matter how hard manufacturers try to appeal to the iPod generation.

Ebooks at Borders

Good news for UK ebook readers, Borders has now started selling ebooks bringing some much needed competition.  Until now, there have been only two retailers in the UK supplying ebooks: WHSmith and Waterstones (WHSmiths being the cheaper and more accessible option).  The introduction of ebooks on the Borders website could be good news indeed.

Ebook page on Borders website

At first sight, the website looks far easier to navigate than the Waterstones website (which I find particularly badly designed).  For example, when clicking on one of the categories on the Waterstones website, you are presented with a list of books, but the categories disappear.  On the Borders website, however, the categories are permanently fixed in the sidebar, making navigation far easier.  So far, so impressed.  The deal clincher will, of course, be competitive pricing (something that has been alien to ebooks so far).  This is something I am sure to look into a little closer over the coming days, so expect a blog post comparing the three main retailers of ebooks on value for money in the near future.

Waterstones Release Ebook Sales Figures

Just noticed this on The Guardian website:

Four months after Waterstone’s entered the digital era, putting the Sony Reader on the shelves, the first set of sales figures for the electronic book show a market which is finally on the move.

The chain has sold almost 30,000 of the £224 readers since the launch in September, and has seen downloads of electronic books from the Waterstone’s site pass the 75,000 mark.

Waterstones also reports that there was a sevenfold increase in the sale of ebooks on Christmas Day, suggesting many were bought as Christmas presents (like mine!!).  Of course these figures are helped by the fact that the Kindle is still not available in the UK.  One wonders what impact that will have when released over here.  The article also notes that Canongate are planning to digitise their entire catalogue.  Surely won’t be long before all major publishers do the same.

With sales figures such as this, maybe 2009 will be the year of the ebook after all.

Sony Reader PRS-505

Yes, as you might have guessed, I was fortunate enough to receive a Sony Reader amongst my gifts from Santa this year.  As regular followers of this blog will know, I have been banging on about e-books quite a lot recently, mainly because they finally seem to be on the verge of a breakthrough on the market.  After years of being seen as a niche product, the release of a number of increasingly affordable models has led to a growth in their popularity.  As I have said before, I do not envisage e-books replacing paper books, not for a long time yet anyway.  Instead, I see e-books as an alternative to the paperback, a different format but not necessarily a competing one as very different markets will be interested in them.  So, that said, how does Sony’s Reader measure up?

Well, the Sony Reader is certainly an impressive bit of kit.  The design is attractive yet functional.  There has clearly been some thought put into making the Reader as comfortable as possible for the user.  On the top of the Reader, there is a power switch plus memory card slots for both Sony’s Memory Stick Pro and an SD card.  The Reader already has enough internal memory to store around 160 books (obviously dependent on size), the addition of an 8Gb card means you could probably carry an entire library in one portable machine!

Top edge of Sony Reader

To the right hand side of the screen, there are a series of numbers designed to help the user navigate through the menu screen, as well as jumping to  a specific page number.  Sony have also cleverly placed two buttons almost exactly where your thumbs would naturally rest to allow the user to turn the page (one to turn back, one to turn forward).  Personally, I really like the positioning of these buttons as they feel perfectly natural and allow the user to comfortably hold the Reader whilst reading.

The Sony Reader PRS-505

At the bottom of the Reader, there are small number of neatly laid out buttons that help the user to navigate around the reader.  On the left hand panel, there are left and right arrows that turn the pages of the book (much like the

Navigational buttons

buttons on the right-hand side of the Reader).  Above these buttons and slightly to the left, there is a magnification button that enables the text to be magnified through three different font sizes.  This has obvious benefits for those that have problems with their eyesight and are unable to read the smallest font size.  Slightly to the right of these buttons, there is a ‘Bookmark’ button which does exactly as you would expect – marks the page to enable the user to easily return to it at a later date.  The right-hand series of buttons simply allows the user to navigate the menus as well as returning to the previous menu via the ‘menu’ button.

So that’s the layout, what about the machine itself?  Well, the screen is incredibly easy to read from.  As the Reader is not backlit, it puts no strain on your eyes whatsoever.  This is also means that, should you wish to read when you go to bed, you will still require a light in order to read.  As it isn’t backlit, the Reader also has a very long battery life.  According to the blurb on the back of the box:

One battery charge is equal to 6,800 page turns (that’s enough to read War and Peace five times over on a single charge!)

Whether this is true or not is a different matter, but it is still quite impressive.  The page turns themselves may initially cause the reader some frustration.  The screen has a slight delay before the page turns and flashes rather distractingly before the next page appears.  However, this is only a minor irritation and I am not sure that the time it takes to turn the page is that much different from turning a page in a physical book.

Navigation through the menus is also pretty straightforward.  The menu enables the user to view their books in title, author and date order.  There is also the facility to congregate books into Collections if you choose to do so (which can be handy with .pdf files if you want to group together your journal articles).  Bookmarks for all of your texts are also accessible from the main menu and you can also access bookmarks for individual texts by selecting the text from the menu.  It is also possible to change the screen orientation and read horizontally rather than vertically, but I found this rather uncomfortable and decided to stick with the standard layout.

In these multimedia times, it is also possible to upload music and photos to the Sony Reader.  Luckily, there is a headphone socket on the bottom of the Reader so you won’t disturb those around you whilst you are reading.  As for the photos, due to the nature of the screen itself, any images uploaded to the Reader are only viewable in black and white.  Although it would be nice to share colour photos on the Reader, it is not really a great loss as the primary purpose of this machine is to read books, not to share your photo collection.

Much as I like the Sony Reader, it does have some slight flaws.  Firstly, unlike many other e-readers (Amazon’s Kindle for example – although this is still not available in the UK), it does not have a wi-fi connection.  Downloading books means physically connecting the Reader to a computer via a USB cable rather than just pressing a button on the Reader.  This is a pretty major flaw as I think this will be a standard feature of all future e-readers.  As well as lacking wi-fi capability, the Sony Reader also has some problems with .pdf files.  One of the things that makes an e-reader so desirable to me, is the ability to download a whole load of journal articles rather than waste hundreds of sheets of paper printing them out.  By downloading them, not only do I save paper, but I also make it easier to carry a large collection of articles around with me when I am travelling.  As I often go to Spain to visit family, it would be useful to take a few e-journals with me to read and study while I am away.  Sadly, the way the Reader displays .pdf files is hardly practical.  At the normal font setting, the text is far too small to read without putting a massive strain on your eyes.  However when the text is magnified, sentences are broken in two with full lines of text alternating with three words of text throughout.  Of course, it is still readable, but it is a little annoying.

There is one other problem with e-books at the moment, but it has nothing to do with the Reader itself.  At present, there are still not many e-books available on the internet.  Waterstone’s does offer a selection of e-books via its website, but it is by no means a comprehensive selection and is not exactly user-friendly.  This is bound to change over time and I am sure that there will be increased competition in this area once e-reader sales take off (which appears to be imminent).

Overall, I really like Sony’s Reader.  Yes it does have some limitations (lack of wi-fi being the most glaring), but it is a nicely designed piece of kit that is very easy to use.  It is still early days for e-readers, and they are sure to advance way beyond this first generation reader, but I have no problem recommending the Sony Reader to anyone who thinks that the e-book might be the next big thing.  Those who are not entirely convinced may need to wait for the next generation of affordable e-readers to hit the shelves before they are finally convinced.  Whatever your view, it looks like e-readers are here to stay.

Pros: Excellent screen, long battery life, functional yet attractive design 

Cons: No wi-fi capability, some difficulties with .pdf files

Customer Services and the Digital Divide

I was reminded today of a particularly infuriating article that was recently posted on the Bookseller website.  Under the headline ‘Saving our libraries’, Martin Latham wrote an article that managed to infuriate me beyond measure (and that takes some doing).  Putting aside for one moment the thought that perhaps Waterstone’s ought to get their own house in order first (yes their performance has improved, but what a sterile environment – oh how I miss Ottakar’s) before they start offering libraries any advice.

Anyway, there were many aspects of the article that irritated me, one of which was the snobbery about the growth in recruiting an increasing number of people with experience in customer services.  Now, I have no problem with this whatsoever, although I may speaking with a particular bias in this case.  After graduating many years ago, and struggling to obtain the Holy Grail known as a ‘graduate job’, I spent many years working in the retail sector.  I didn’t enjoy it, but it paid the bills and got me through a bit of a tough time.  Now, despite graduating in English Literature and History, I never believed a career in libraries would be a possibility, particularly as I had been stuck in retail for so long.  I thought it required qualifications and experience, how could I gain post-graduate qualifications earning ten grand a year?  It all seemed so unobtainable.  And then, one day, I picked up the local paper and saw the words ‘Customer Services Officer’ and ‘library’.  Well, this looked promising I thought.  I met the criteria, why not give it a go?  So I did and, as you might guess, I got the job (go me!).

Upon starting the job, one thing became clear to me very quickly.  Even though the job was predominantly customer facing, there appeared to be a lack of skilled customer service assistants (mainly because it was not seen as a priority in the past I guess).  I actually joined at the same time as another person who had retail experience and we were rather taken aback by the differences.  It became very clear to me that the rot had set in years ago, when librarians were holier than thou, all knowing and were to be addressed as ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’, whereas ‘frontline’ staff were only allowed to perform limited functions and were pretty much treated with utter disdain by the ‘professionals’.  How alien to someone coming from the outside!  In short, it was clear that there was a real need to recruit staff with experience in customer services.  An imbalance had occurred and needed to be addressed if the library service was to prosper.  Consequently, I take issue with Mr Latham.  We need customer services in our libraries and we need to up our game.  Sure, I believe that there are aspects of retail that we shouldn’t incorporate into the library service, but we should certainly focus on providing a high standard of service.  That’s not to say that all there should be no ‘specialists’, but the scales need to be balanced somewhat.

But that is not all I took issue with in this particular article.  Take this line from the same piece:

They have tried internet terminals: another dead end, as every schmo now has the web at home.

Just how out of touch could you be to make such a statement?  Working in a public library, I see what good these terminals do (thankfully, according to the comments thread, I am not alone).  There are a great many people out there with neither the skills or the access to make the most of what the internet can offer.  These terminals are vital.  Particularly given the growth in online applications for benefits, jobs etc.  Take away these terminals and suddenly thousands are stranded.  If we are to seriously address the growing divide between the information rich and information poor, we need to ensure that there are computers accessible for all.  To deny such access, would be a gross dereliction of our duty.  After all, should we not ensure access for all, no matter what the format?