Burn out news frowndup

8 comments on “Burn out news frowndup”

1. Chris says:
   October 31st, 2009 at 3:49 pm

   The only thing I can think every time I see an ebook is ‘Who Cares?’?

2. Stephen Rowe says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 1:32 pm

   There’s so much concern over ebooks and, quite honestly, I’m starting to gloss over it in the literary news. It seems that companies want to produce them and make a killing (obviously) and that there are people who hate the idea. I haven’t experienced an ebook myself, or a Kindle, or any ereader so I can’t really argue one way or the other beyond that, for now at least, I feel there’s something significant about holding a book in your hands and not a piece of electronics. Whether that changes or not is yet to be seen.

3. Dave says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 5:26 pm

   The eBook thing seems to be a non-entity for me. To quote the Simpson’s my attitude is one of “Meh”. Could be I feel that way because I prefer holding an actual book in my hands as opposed to yet another electronic device, but I suppose time will tell if they actually do catch on.

   Like I’ve said before. Amazon claims the Kindle is a hot selling item, but curiously enough, they haven’t released any sales data. As someone else mentioned, me thinks Amazon is just trying to build hype.

4. Paul says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 9:27 pm

   I downloaded an e-book reader application to my i-Touch. The software worked fine, and the display was legible. As a reading experience, it sucked. I don’t expect this to be a very popular way to read outside of gadget nerds.

5. Rob Payne says:
   November 2nd, 2009 at 12:32 am

   No one will want to give up the audio quality of vinyl.

   Digital music won’t catch on because people like to display their CD covers as trophies.

   And people don’t want this new-fangled auto-mobile cause it’s too noisy and you’ll end up breaking your neck.

   5 years, we all Kindle.

6. Andrew S says:
   November 2nd, 2009 at 7:45 am

   The difference between the examples you cite, Rob, and the e-book is that the e-book doesn’t really solve any consumer problem.

   Vinyl records were prone to wear, warping, and scratching, took up a lot of space, etc. CDs are not particularly portable for people who want to listen to music on the go, the portable players were bulky and skipped, and so on.

   But outside of gadget nerds and a few specialized users, consumers don’t have a need to carry a library with them. The e-book reader really doesn’t have anything a book doesn’t, except cost. And consequently, you won’t see widespread adoption until the price of the reader comes down significantly.

   Five years? Unlikely, I think. The e-book phenomenon is driven more by hype than reality.

7. Rob Payne says:
   November 2nd, 2009 at 8:26 am

   Ever moved house with 500 books? Moved countries? Tried to read large hardcover on a subway? Gone on vacation?

   I’m not sure you can argue that vinyl records took up space, but books do not. Or that CDs aren’t portable but books are. And as for not ‘really solving any consumer problem’, what about the resource literally ‘consumed’ to make millions of copies of Sarah Palin: Going Rogue? Mountainsides of trees getting pulped might strike some as a minor problem to solve…

8. Andrew S says:
   November 2nd, 2009 at 8:50 am

   The difference, Rob, is that the driving force that killed vinyl and CDs was portability — the Sony Walkman actually killed off the CD before the CD was even adopted. If we hadn’t already made music portable, there would be no drive towards the mp3 player.

   There’s no similar consumer desire to make libraries portable. Books are not background music.

   Incidentally, I spend more time in airports each month than most people do all year. I do understand the potential benefits of e-book readers. But I also understand the cost tradeoffs.

Discuss