e-readers are the next big thing

If you are an avid reader, you will inevitably have a good collection of paperbacks and hardback books. You may have shelves creaking with exciting novels, reference books, encyclopaedias, text books, education books, and books which transcend you to another level of imagination.

Books reigned supreme

For hundreds of years books have been our friends. But now, things are beginning to change and the humble book is being relegated, in our estimation.

The new kid on the block is the e-reader. This sleek, shiny, versatile, digital marvel is usurping our books and changing everything ‘on the page’.

Book readers/e-readers are trendy, versatile and becoming more useful everyday. On the face of it, an e- reader is little more than a PDA but new technology and software have elevated it’s status to ‘the most desired piece of hardware’.

Almost everyone now owns a desktop computer, a laptop, a games machine (playstation, xbox or Nintendo) and a smart phone. The next acquisition for tech lovers who are slow off the mark or perhaps waiting for the bugs to be ironed out, is an e-reader, aka page reader, book reader.

e-reader market place

There are now a plethora of e-readers on the market. The favourites are Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle. The big hardware manufactures have been slow to recognise the appeal of the book-reader but are all now on the same page. Their foray into the market is good for consumers because book readers are still very over-priced pieces of hardware and seen as an unnecessary luxury by some.

The humble book has reigned supreme for hundreds of years and they have served us well but the e-reader is up to the challenge of carrying the torch for the next millennium.

e-reader limitations

E-readers have their limitations though. They are battery powered but yet, eat electricity! Electricity, the stuff we all need so much, to power our tech devices is getting more expensive by the day. And e-readers can be engaging, even time consuming. However, they also stir the imagination in a way books can’t(probably). Soon, every ebook or story on an e-reader will come with audio, video and kick-ass graphics. Your humble evocative novel will soon take the form of a blockbuster movie.

The e-reader can revolutionise education. In the classroom and at home, every child can now have immediate access to their own library of text books, literature and classics.

Book publisher have a dilemma. Book sales have dropped massively in the past couple of years whilst the emergence of the book reader has helped them to develop a new stream of revenue from their old back catalogues.

The demise of the book is not a good thing and there is room for both paper and digital books to co-exist. The technology tide is sweeping through the publishing industry like a tsunami and only by embracing the popularity of e-readers can they continue to flourish.

Some e-reader features:-

Related Links: http://www.leedsway.com/2010/10/ereader-dichotomy-for-publishers/


Autor:ChisB
@copy; Leedsway