It's a little early to tell, wouldn't you say?
There's a big difference between a technology that develops slowly and a
technology that the market ignores and will disappear forever (such as WAP).
Let's have this conversation again in 5 years. When you're developing a
product to supplant another product that has been successful for 500 years
(and even thousands of years depending on how you define the book), you have
to give it time. I expect that there will be a significant parallel market
for paper books for at least 20 years (maybe 30 or 40) and there will always
be a niche market for paper books.
It's premature to say that the e-book has flatlined simply because
Publishing Consultant, Jim Lichtenberg and Kurt Vonnegut say so. AKAIK KV
has given retired from *all* writing. Timequake was his last novel. Hardly
someone looking to the future.
The article itself is interesting. 'This is like having a car in 1905.' And
look where the car is now. Despite the fact that horses are so satisfactory
and responsive to our fingertips...
Nick
-- ========================================================= Nick Smith Executive Officer :: Australian Digital Alliance Copyright Advisor :: Australian Libraries Copyright Committee PO Box E202 \\ Kingston ACT 2604 Ph: 02 6262 1273 \\ Fax: 02 6273 2545 Email: nsmith@nla.gov.au \\ Web: www.digital.org.au =========================================================> ---------- > From: Frank O'Connor[SMTP:foconno1@bigpond.net.au] > Sent: Tuesday, 7 August 2001 22:19 > To: Tony Barry > Cc: link@www.anu.edu.au > Subject: Re: [LINK] E-books said to be "utterly unneeded" > > Mmmm ... you picked another turkey long before the market did. They > should get you into the product testing process before they go ahead > with developing these things. It'd save them a heap of unnecessary > expense. :) > > On the e-book fiasco ... Mmmm. Three or four different and > incompatible standards ... all of which have tiny title ranges, I > find HTML so much more readable and accessible, the copy protection > process is a really inconvenient one, and the pricing of product is > ridiculously expensive compared to paper product (it should be so > much cheaper.) And besides that ... like many others ... I prefer > hard copy for serious relaxation and browsing. > > I think they better go back to the drawing board with the concept > before its a goer with Joe Public. > > Regards, > > At 6:24 PM +1000 7/8/01, Tony Barry wrote: > >Linkers > > > >I hate to say "I told you so" ... :-) > > > >Tony > > > >E-BOOKS SAID TO BE "UTTERLY UNNEEDED" > >According to publishing consultant Jim Lichtenberg, the e-book business > is > >floundering: "There's no standardization in technology. It's all a big > >mess. This is like having a car in 1905. It breaks down constantly, which > >means you have to travel with your own mechanic--and since there are no > >roads, there's nowhere to go anyway." Prize-winning novelist Kurt > Vonnegut > >agrees: "The e-book is a ridiculous idea. The printed book is so > >satisfactory, so responsive to our fingertips. So much of this new stuff > is > >utterly unneeded." But a spokesman for Random House [see Honorary > >Subscriber section below] thinks that reports of the demise of the e-book > >is greatly exaggerated, and that its potential is yet to be realized.(Los > >Angeles Times 6 Aug 2001) > >http://www.latimes.com/business/la-080601ebooks.story > >-- > >phone +61 2 6241 7659 > >mailto:me@Tony-Barry.emu.id.au > >http://purl.oclc.org/NET/Tony.Barry > > > -- > ************************ > Apathy is a great cause for concern > ... but who cares? > ************************ >
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