Saturday 7 March 2009

Will books disappear?

It seems the book reading world is evolving. Will we see a time when paper books finally disappear?

Barnes & Noble
have purchased e-book seller Fictionwise.com for $15.7 million, in an effort at running an e-book store. The transaction, broadcast on 5th March, is part of Barnes & Noble's strategy to introduce its own e-book store later this year.

Last month, competitor Amazon, released Kindle 2, the second edition of its e-book reader. And this week, Amazon revealed its Kindle application for iPhone and iPod Touch.

So will books disappear?

Fictionwise, from Barnes & Noble will present its own eReader application for handheld devices, desktop computers, and laptops. Likewise, opponents Lexcycle have its Stanza application for e-book reading. So someone somewhere certainly thinks books have competition.

While customer awareness in e-books has improved over the years, they have yet to attract a majority market. Analysts ascribe cost as the stumbling block to the widespread adoption of e-books.

However, as with all things electronic, prices will eventually tumble – and then we shall see.
Maybe it’s time for me to take a serious look at getting some of my work into e-format…. Maybe books will disappear.

Will books disappear **** Will books disappear **** Will books disappear ****




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End of post on Tell Me a Story - Will books disappear?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really do things that some things are just better off left as there are. I love books, I enjoy going to a bookshop and choosing them. The look and feel of a book is really important you aren't going to get this with an ebook or ebook reader. I hope this technology does not take off!

Marsha Myles
www.marshamyles.net

Anonymous said...

I love the real thing too. I think the real advantage of e-books are the instant gratification. When you are desperate for good information, sometimes an electronic version is the quickest solution. It's also a very green way to go. We need both.

Anonymous said...

I see what you mean about instant information, however, I prefer the real thing. Whether you should write for that market - difficult one - personally I think i'd write a book in the normal way and if it can be adapted then so be it. I think I must be gettin old! However, I do feel it is very difficult for writers to get established in the normal way now (via a publisher through an agent) who is not going to rip you off, and so I suppose e books do open the door.