eBooks will not replace the printed book. They will be available in parallel with printed books and will stimulate reading behaviour. The book market is facing an exciting future. If publishers are to benefit from this process, they must invest now.
---
Digital publishing appears to be reaching critical mass. Most consumers have an understanding of eBooks and eReaders, thanks to media coverage, as well as extensive reporting ahead of this year’s major book fairs. Apple’s new iPad, which can serve as an eReader, also brings more attention to the market for the digital technology.---
Intermediaries will have to redefine themselves in the digital environment. It is true that numerous tasks will continue to exist as a result of the co-existence of digital and printed books, but they will become less important. The intermediaries would therefore be well advised to adapt to the new requirements and to develop services for publishers and stores that have difficulty in providing such services on their own due to their weak financial position or lack of technical skills.
This includes support for converting content to an eBook format, the establishment and maintenance of a content management system and payment processing, document hosting, eBook storage, and digital delivery of eBooks.
"Turning the page: the future of eBooks" by PwC
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pwc.com/gx/en/entertainment-media/publications/future-of-ebooks.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/entertainment-media/pdf/eBooks-Trends-Developments.pdf
This new study examines trends and developments in the eBooks and eReaders market in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany, and discusses major challenges and key questions for the publishing industry worldwide. It also identifies market opportunities and developments for eBooks and eReaders, and makes recommendations for publishers, traditional retailers, online retailers, and intermediaries.
Given that publishers, internet bookstores, and companies that manufacture eReaders have high expectations for the digital future of the book industry, the study asks if a new generation of eReaders may, at last, achieve the long-awaited breakthrough that lures consumers away from paper and ink.
It's worth pointing out that this report only projects to 2015. Of course we know that printed books aren't going away that soon, but if history is any guide, we should anticipate that paper will indeed disappear, at least in its dumb form (there is a such thing as smart paper, and that's on the near horizon.) Written language has a long enough history for us to judge, and anyway it's not as directly analogous to television, radio, and cinema which, in the scale of history, arose in near simultaneity. But they were never direct replacements for the written word and still aren't. Instead, we have to look at the transition of written language from one format to another: from clay tablets to scrolls, papyrus, and vellum, then on to the modern book. Viewed in this light, we can certainly paint the paper book as a doomed creature.
ReplyDelete