Toward a More Touchable E-Book

Andrew Savikas
February 27, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Even though I'd already read about Tim O'Reilly's experience, when I first picked up my new Kindle, I did the exact same thing: I touched the screen, assuming it would respond like my iPhone. Of course, it didn't, and I'm still clumsily trying to avoid accidentally hitting the Most Enormous Buttons Ever, triggering an inadvertent page turn. Another big complaint is the included case, from which my Kindle is constantly escaping.

Engadget has coverage of an e-Book concept that aims to address both concerns (thanks to Peter Brantley for the link):

Pages can be turned by sliding your finger from corner to corner, though double- and triple-finger gestures will advance the book by ten and 50 pages, respectively. Most notable for real book fans is the inclusion of a leather stitched cover, meant to evoke the look and feel of the device's analog counterpart.

That strong connection between a "reading device" and the book (aka, low-tech reading device) it's meant to replace was apparent in the response to the student project we saw from Manolis Kelaidis at TOC 2007.

Personally, neither of these two complaints of mine about the Kindle stem from a desire to have a more book-ish experience; I've just been trained to expect a touch screen by the iPhone -- I found myself trying to touch my iPod recently -- and just about anything of value that I carry around with me (especially while traveling) is going in a case. (In fact, I'm quite convinced that the first time I bring my case-escaping-Kindle on a plane, something bad will happen.)

Latest Wholesale eBook Sales Figures Released

Andrew Savikas
February 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

The IDPF has released it's latest US trade retail eBook sales statistics:

The trend line certainly isn't surprising, but it's also important to note the caveats (from the IDPF site):

• The data above represent United States revenues only
• The data above represent only trade eBook sales via wholesale channels.  Retail numbers may be as much as double the above figures due to industry wholesale discounts.
• The data above represent only data submitted from approx. 12 to 15 trade publishers
• The data does not include library, educational or professional electronic sales
• The numbers reflect the wholesale revenues of publishers
• The definition used for reporting electronic book sales is "All books delivered electronically over the Internet OR to hand-held reading devices"
• The IDPF and AAP began collecting data together starting in Q1 2006

Those limitations are going to make such statistics less useful as the number of publishers selling eBooks directly increases, and as more authors take advantage of the emerging direct routes themselves, and as the lines between eBooks and other content delivered on mobile devices continue to blur.