Ebooks: love ‘em or hate ‘em?

September 6, 2009 by Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook)
Filed under: Digital publishing 

Jo work picA quick definition: ‘ebook’ (electronic book) is commonly used to mean a literary work that is published and stored in digital form and designed to be read on computers or hand-held devices.

The makers of Star Trek predicted them back in the 1970s (along with hypospray and matter transporters) but despite ebook technology being available since the 1990s, it’s only recently that demand has really taken off. All the major publishers now launch hundreds of ebook titles every month. And despite resistance from traditional book lovers, ebooks are set to become a firm feature in our reading (near) future. Not convinced? Keep reading …

Still reading? That’s right. So many of us today are used to reading on screen in some form or another. Most of us are broadband connected, get info from websites (how else would I know about Star Trek technology? I’m no Trekkie, I didn’t even watch Buffy), download our music and watch iPlayer repeats, so why not books?

Don’t get me wrong, I love papery books and have often argued that traditional books are good technology in themselves. They are cheap, light, smell lovely whether old or new, you can scribble in them, turn the corners down (I do). I also love to look at people reading books. I’ve passed many a contented half hour on the tube counting how many people were reading the latest bestseller (I have very fond memories of the ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ phase).

So what’s going for the ebook? Well, the three main things are portability, searchability and immediacy. A holidaymaker can carry the equivalent of a whole bookshelf in one handheld device. Business travellers can take all their documents neatly compressed. Ebooks reach markets that printed books cannot – an ex-pat geologist in Azerbaijan is unlikely to pick up the latest must-read except as an ebook. And a student swotting at 3am for an exam can buy and access en ebook at any hour. It makes sense.

Then there’s the environmental issue. What happens to all the books that have been read and are no longer required? Charity shop? Recycling bin? Both good, but it’s worth noting that it takes a fraction of the energy to download a book than it does to print one (if I’m wrong here, do correct me).

You might think e-readers are expensive, but they won’t be for long. Companies are investing in the technology, and – like most things electronic – prices should drop as more devices enter the market.

So maybe it’s a case of don’t knock it till you try it. Considering that billions of us carry laptops, iPods and mobile phones every day, ebook readers might just be a natural progression.

Warm wishes, Jo

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Comments

11 Comments on Ebooks: love ‘em or hate ‘em?

  1. lawrenceez on Sep 6, 2009 at 13:25pm

    2. Thanks for the article. I’m extremely interested in e-books and the digital publishing.

    btw – what are your views on self-publishing e-fiction?

  2. Karen Carter on Sep 7, 2009 at 02:12am

    3. Funny you asked… :) I’ve spent much of my summer researching e-books. See four articles on all things e-books at KnowSomethingProject.com under Publishing: http://www.knowsomethingproject.com.

  3. Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook) on Sep 8, 2009 at 11:53am

    4. Hello, things are no different when it comes to self-publishing in the digital realm. There are a number of services out there available to authors who want to investigate this method. See the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook for more info. All best, Jo

  4. Paul Lamb on Sep 10, 2009 at 22:48pm

    5. I was reading a nice, old-school paperback novel the other night when its battery went dead. When I got up to get a new battery, I dropped the paperback on the floor and it broke irreparably. Oh, wait a moment. That couldn’t happen.

    I don’t see anything intrinsically wrong with ebooks and ebook readers, but I think it will be a generation before old style books are effectively replaced.

  5. Claire Fogg (Publisher, Yearbooks) on Sep 11, 2009 at 09:03am

    6. They’re not too good as a holiday read on the beach either!

    On the green issue, latest research finds that the environmental ‘cost’ of producing an e-reader is offset after one year of use. They’re still pretty niche though.

  6. jlmw on Sep 17, 2009 at 19:20pm

    7. I love my Sony e reader. Fits in my handbag for journeys on the train, allows me to read something else if I finish one book or get bored with it. Lent it to my son when we were visiting relatives so that he could read The Brothers Karamazov (now how likely was he to find that where we were?) Best way of reading invented yet.

  7. Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook) on Sep 18, 2009 at 12:38pm

    8. Hi jlmw, it’s really good to hear from someone who uses and loves their e-reader. Like I said in my blog, those against shouldn’t knock them till they’ve tried them! Happy (e)reading. All best, Jo

  8. sam on Sep 19, 2009 at 03:27am

    9. I don’t know about the rest of you, but my immediate concern with e-books is… security…

    I read on the train, and I also walk around the streets, reading… My spatial awareness is fantastic, however… I cannot envisage behaving in the same way with an e-book… head stuck in my e-book, and a junky mugger runs past, and bingo- ebook goes bye-byes… similiarly, I am also then a target on public transport… I can pull out a book anywhere… I cannot do the same with a laptop, or an e-book. Perhaps one day we will all live in a world where old ladies do not get their purses stolen for their pension money, where teenagers do not hold each other up for pocket money and mobile phones, but we are not there yet. And, until that day…

    I also like to read in the bath. I do occasionally drop my books in the water, or they get soapsuds on them. I cannot do that with an e-book.

    Books are paper. You read them, you pass them around to friends, maybe one day they end up on a shelf in Oxfam. Good books? You keep them forever, on a shelf in your study because you know you will one day want to read it again. And you will.

    However… look at the problems people are creating due to music piracy- downloading, file-sharing, passing around songs? Not allowed. There is even talk of terminating people’s internet connections as “punishment”. Will this happen with e-books, too?

    Probably… but… is that what writers and readers want?

  9. jlmw on Sep 22, 2009 at 11:26am

    10. Just because I use a e reader it doesn’t mean that I don’t read paperbacks! However, for portability the e reader cannot be beaten. I travel quite a lot and have never felt that anybody is likely to grab my e reader, perhaps the average mugger can’t see a market for it! By the way I do read it in the bath…

  10. Ben Rama on Sep 24, 2009 at 14:25pm

    11. (if I’m wrong here, do correct me).

    paper you save paper save the earth and help the enviroment the most important thing in the world beyond all other causes and charities is the world /global warning cos with out the earth ……….nothing

    : )

  11. Claire Fogg (Publisher, Yearbooks) on Nov 12, 2009 at 11:04am

    12. It looks like that lovely smell of old books can even help libraries and museums preserve precious books, according to this article from the BBC called Sniff Test to Preserve Old Books. Not sure I can sense grassy notes, a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla as well as the mustiness though!

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